Hadley contending at PLAYERS after trying stretch

Click here to read the full article…

ORLANDO, Fla. – In terms of talent, Will Zalatoris is traveling at the speed of a bullet these days, a man whose strike just sounds different, and a tad more pure, than most others. A slender young man built for tough golf courses and big stages, Zalatoris got off to a fast start in the opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard on Thursday, shooting 4-under 68 in friendly scoring conditions at Bay Hill Club & Lodge. At 25, he has yet to win, but with the TOUR in a current run of first-time winners (four in the last five events), it would seem logical that Zalatoris might be a good candidate to join the club. He had his shot on the West Coast, missing a putt to win on the 72nd hole, and eventually losing in a playoff to Luke List at the Farmers Insurance Open. The good news? Zalatoris would be a young man who tends to view the glass as half full. He didn’t collect a trophy at Torrey Pines, but he hardly departed empty-handed. “Honestly, if you even want to call the failure, I guess, of not winning Torrey, it’s going to propel me to win more, because I learned so much about myself,” Zalatoris said. He went off the back nine early Thursday, the wind down, and, after making bogey at the water-guarded, par-4 11th hole, made birdies on five of his next seven. He made a key save on No. 1 after making the turn, laying up to 65 yards after his drive found thick rough, and getting that up and down for par. If he’s to be the last man standing on Thursday here at Arnie’s Place, he has a difficult man to chase in Rory McIlroy, who Thursday shot 7-under 65. McIlroy, the 2018 API champion, made his day appear rather effortless, making six birdies and an eagle. The course is expected to dry out and get firmer over the next few days. The tougher the test becomes, the more likely that Zalatoris is a name that might be sticking around. “It’s going to be fun,” said Zalatoris, the reigning Arnold Palmer Award winner as the TOUR’s Rookie of the Year. “This weekend is going to be tough. … I love it. I love playing firm, fast, hard, (and) rough is up. This is probably the closest to a U.S. Open, especially for a regular TOUR event.” Of course, Zalatoris burst onto the scene with a T6 in the 2020 U.S. Open at Winged Foot. He tied for 10th at Bay Hill a year ago, a nice week that helped to fuel a quality dash – he made seven starts in seven weeks as he tried to break into, and stay in, the world’s top 50. That got him to Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters, where, under the brightest lights, he stuck around to the very end, losing to Hideki Matsuyama by a shot. Zalatoris is a terrific fit for the API because he is one of the very best ballstrikers on TOUR – first in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green and Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green – and Bay Hill can be a place where ballstrikers can separate themselves from the pack. Zalatoris is highly effective out of the rough, too, because of his angle of attack and his strength to gouge the ball out of it. Josh Gregory, who coaches Zalatoris with his short game and putting, considers the Texan by way of California to be an old-school throwback. Two of Zalatoris’ mentors at home near Dallas are Lee Trevino and Lanny Wadkins, a couple of Hall of Famers who were elite ballstrikers in their respective eras. “All the young kids today are kind of robotic, super into Trackman, super into numbers, super into (swing) positions,” said Gregory, who has worked with Zalatoris for three years. “That’s not really him. He’s an artist, and he knows how to hit shots. He’s got more of the Tiger mentality back in the day of the ‘nine’ shots. (Woods would practice after rounds hitting shots through nine different windows – low cut, high draw, etc.) He (Will) can hit it out of any different window, he can curve it, he can shape it any way. That’s how he sees and plays the game, as an artist.” He can hit it out of any different window, he can curve it, he can shape it any way. That’s how he sees and plays the game, as an artist. Zalatoris’ runner-up showing at Torrey Pines was sandwiched by a T7 (The American Express) and T26 (Genesis Invitational). (He also tangled with a bout of Covid-19 after Farmers.) Zalatoris said it’s flattering that people expect him to win soon, and he just watched his pal Scottie Scheffler do it (Waste Management Phoenix Open), but he also is mature enough, and smart enough, to stay patient as he chases it. “Every week is just trying to get better with my golf game, whether it’s any aspect of it,” Zalatoris said. “If I keep doing the day-to-day stuff like I have been and keep asking questions of how I can get better, I know I’ll win. The first win will come, and I know that, if I keep putting myself in that position, the more comfortable I’ll be, and I know I’ll get one soon.” Trying to win at Arnold Palmer’s place would be extra special. Zalatoris attended Wake Forest University, Palmer’s alma mater, on a coveted Arnold Palmer Scholarship. As he visited potential schools and first heard he would be offered “the AP,” the former U.S. Junior Amateur champion really didn’t know what it was. When he discovered its importance, his college decision was a done deal. He would be a Demon Deacon. Zalatoris framed the letter that Palmer wrote congratulating him, and it’s on the wall at his parents’ house. A trophy one day from the API? Why, that would be a nice keepsake, too. All a matter of time, those around him say. “He’s so wise. His golf IQ is off the charts, understanding how to play the game, how to manage his game,” Gregory said. “He plays as smart as anybody, hits it to the right spots, hits it hole-high, 15 feet right or left. He doesn’t short-side himself a lot. My goal is to kind of challenge him with his wedging to keep reining in the targets. “When he’s got it, pedal down. I think he shot 61 twice this year. The wins are coming.”

Click here to read the full article…

GILBERT, Ariz. — Parking was at a premium on a seasonably sunny day at Western Skies Golf Club. Whizzing golf carts, hopeful thwacks on the range, the clickety-clack of spikes and the splash of a fountain contributed to the relaxing vibe. Freshly grilled meat and the unmistakable stench of a cigar penetrated the air. Yet, this was anything but business as usual on a Thursday in mid-March. GOLF IN THESE TIMES California: Ben Everill plays historic Rancho Park just before city courses in Los Angeles are shut down Massachusetts: Jim McCabe sees the start of golf season delayed at Presidents Golf Course If the visual of participants of a small private outing sanitizing their steering wheels didn’t serve as enough of an example of this unprecedented time, seeing pro golfers compete at an event on the Outlaw Tour — a four-year-old developmental circuit based in Arizona that shared the course for three days — was also an oddity. After all, other tours, including of course the PGA TOUR, have canceled tournaments. “We discussed it,” said Western Skies Classic tournament director Jesse Burghart, an Arizona native and composed presence for the competitors. “There are a lot of players who still wanted to play in something. We felt like, if the golf courses were open and we took the necessary precautions, it was still OK to go ahead. Ultimately, it’s the player’s decision to tee it up.” So, 56 players competed in the 54-hole tournament on a modified par 70 tipping at just 6,656 yards. Thirty-three survived the 36-hole cut, of which 18 cashed. On this Thursday, the winner would be crowned. Burghart implemented numerous safeguards to eliminate the threat of transference of the COVID-19 virus and other pathogens. Water in a cooler and tees were not made available. It was agreed that no one would shake hands. Some golfers opted to walk to promote social distancing. (Walking will be required for all tournaments in the foreseeable future.) Canada’s Wil Bateman, a lefty who plays the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica (where he’s won once, in 2015) emerged with victory in a three-way playoff with birdie on the first extra hole. In compliance, only fist bumps were shared thereafter. It was an experience that challenged restraint, which isn’t easy for mostly 20-somethings on the Outlaw Tour, but there was no such governor on scoring at Western Skies. Heavy rain that suspended play in Wednesday’s second round left the short course vulnerable for the finale. In addition to a pair of 60s, a 61 and two 62s (including Bateman’s second of the tournament), Jared du Toit made history with a bogey-free 59. The first-ever sub-60 on the Outlaw Tour featured one eagle and nine birdies. “Honestly, I didn’t think about it too much until late,” du Toit said before losing in the playoff that also included 36-hole leader Carson Roberts. “Brandon [Harkins, who shot 60] and I were going back and forth, like all day. He had the upper hand on me for most of it, and I got hot late. All of a sudden, I thought, ‘This is a par 70 and I’m at nine [under] with a couple to play. I got a good chance.’ “I had a good look on 17. I was mad at the time – it didn’t go in – because I would have loved to have been able to par 18, but I got away with my tee shot. It finished close to the cart path. Had 105 yards in and hit a wedge to 6-7 feet and made it.” For du Toit, a 24-year-old native of Calgary, Alberta, who medaled at the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica’s qualifying tournament in Mexico in January, it wasn’t the first time he’s made headlines. At Glen Abbey Golf Club in the 2016 RBC Canadian Open and competing as an amateur, he sat one stroke off Brandt Snedeker’s 54-hole lead before finishing in a four-way tie for ninth. Du Toit’s memorable achievement piggybacked yet another on the mini-tour. The week prior, two-time LPGA major champion Anna Nordqvist became the first female to compete on the Outlaw Tour. Proving her spot in the Moon Valley Classic in playing from the same tees (7,215 yards) as the guys, she co-led when she opened with a bogey-free, 8-under 64. She’d finish T28. (The same week as the Western Skies, Nordqvist prevailed on the Cactus Tour, also at Moon Valley Country Club.) Harkins, a former PGA TOUR member who finished T4 at Western Skies – he also won the Outlaw Tour’s Papago Winter Classic in early December – currently is 11th in points on the Korn Ferry Tour. He lives locally and hopes to play as much as he can but acknowledged that making plans isn’t easy. It’s a reality to which everyone can relate. “We’re in a holding pattern,” he said. “We really don’t quite know [what’s next]. No one really knows. “I’m really good friends with [PGA TOUR member] Joel Dahmen. We were just talking about it last night at dinner. He’s like, ‘Man, I don’t know what to say.’ He doesn’t know what he’s going to do on TOUR. Likewise for me. I guess, just wait to see what happens these next few weeks.” Harkins arguably was the most notable in the field at Western Skies, but other recognizable surnames peppered the tee sheet. They included Thomas Lehman, Eric Hallberg and Sam Triplett, sons of Tom, Gary and Kirk, respectively, winners of a combined 11 PGA TOUR events and 21 tournaments on the PGA TOUR Champions. Both Tom and Gary were on site supporting their boys. Tom also backed the decision to keep playing. “I think it’s a really safe thing to do,” said the senior Lehman. “Golf kind of has a built-in, social-distancing concept. You don’t get inside the other player’s space. You can play a round of golf with people and you don’t get up close and personal.” “I saw a doctor on television saying, ‘Golf is one of the safest things you can do. I would encourage you to do it because sunshine and heat are things that work in our favor with this virus.’ Exercise always does.” The 1996 PGA TOUR Player of the Year, ’96 Open champion and one-time top-ranked golfer in the world plans to play a lot of golf as the industry muscles through the crisis, but he hasn’t lost focus on what matters most – to keep living. “I think it’s a really good time to accomplish a lot of things you’ve always wanted to accomplish, whether personally or professionally or within the family,” Lehman added. “It’s a great time because we’re kind of forced to slow down. “So, that’s one thing I’m really excited about, actually, is having at least eight weeks to be able to accomplish some of these things I’ve always wanted to do but never really had the chance and the time to do it.” Not that succeeding at one’s profession, while still possible, takes a back seat, however. In between FaceTimes with friends and family en route to his vehicle in the still-packed lot, an enthusiastic Bateman expressed what it means still to have the chance to achieve. While his original plan to return home later in April may be modified, and as we all live in uncertainty, no one ever will be able to take away his title at the Western Skies Classic. “Every day, I wake up and I’m able to come to the golf course and play,” he said. “I just feel like it’s just an opportunity. Seems to me that when I’m out there, with all of this stuff going on, it’s a place to just stay calm.” That’s what any tournament director wants to hear. In fact, if early indications are accurate, the Outlaw Tour will be a destination for a number of familiar faces to stay sharp. “I have some friends that play the PGA TOUR and the Korn Ferry Tour that I’ve gotten to know the last few years,” Burghart said. “They’ve reached out to me, asking if we were going to continue to play. So, we will most likely start to see a few of them enter our next few fields.” Coming Thursday: Helen Ross on the PGA TOUR’s two events in North Carolina.

Click here to read the full article…