Top 30 Players to Watch in 2019: No. 1 Tiger Woods

Will Zalatoris “found the end of Netflix.” He attended the Presidents Cup. He even married his longtime sweetheart, Caitlin. Zalatoris made the most of a four-month rehabilitation process after suffering two herniated discs in his back, but it’s a new year and he’s ready to return to competition at this week’s Sentry Tournament of Champions. It’s the PGA TOUR’s first designated event of 2023, with 17 of the top 20 players on the Official World Golf Ranking set to compete at the Plantation Course at Kapalua. There’s not much time to shake the rust; Zalatoris is quickly back to the throes of elite competition. Bring it on. “I’ve learned a lot about my body, probably more than I think I ever wanted to,” Zalatoris said Tuesday afternoon in Hawaii. “December 1, I think, was the first day I was cleared for full activity, and really just have been doing as much as I can since then … not being able to have a club in my hand for a couple months, I don’t think I’ve done that probably since I was 8 or 9. “But the speed’s the same; everything feels really good. So just keep doing what we’re doing and let the next win get in the way.” After his first TOUR victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in mid-August, the first of three FedExCup Playoffs events, Zalatoris was forced to withdraw during the third round of the following week’s BMW Championship due to injury. He then withdrew from the following week’s TOUR Championship, finishing a disappointing 30th in the FedExCup after entering the week at No. 3. During the hiatus, Zalatoris spent time with Greg Rose, a Doctor of Chiropractic at the Titleist Performance Institute, conducting an assessment with the goal of promoting career longevity. They examined the pressures of his swing, concluding a motor pattern was the root cause of the strain on his back. He tends to push off his right side later than most; with his level of side bend, his right hip is high with his spine tilted back. “As Dr. Rose said, duh, no wonder I had a back issue,” Zalatoris quipped. The fix: adjusting his setup, with the goal of reducing the strain on his back. “Be a little more centered, as opposed to having ball forward with more spine tilt at address,” Zalatoris said. “I’m trying to get more centered over it and work more around my right side, so more a turn as opposed to a lateral shift. When my right hip gets high and the spine tilts back, you’re all of a sudden creating all that stress on your back. “It was nice because I was able to bring the ball flight down; living in Texas, you’re used to hitting the ball low, but it’s doing it by itself as opposed to having to manipulate it. So it was actually kind of a nice fix.” Zalatoris led the TOUR last season in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, after ranking No. 7 the season prior. He ranked top-three in both Total Driving and Greens in Regulation on the 2019 and 2020-21 Korn Ferry Tour, as well. The Wake Forest alum has been a premier ball-striker for four consecutive seasons in TOUR-sanctioned competition, and he admits it’s not natural inclination to want to change anything. But in the name of avoiding future injury, he’s working through the proverbial process. “We’ve looked at everything I was doing, to make sure I was doing all the right things and we were checking all the boxes, and it was strictly a motor pattern thing,” said Zalatoris, who has opted to temporarily decrease his driver length (to approximately 44.75 inches, down from 46 inches) as he works through the setup change. “Which is kind of a good thing and a bad thing, because when I was hitting the ball the way that I was, it’s hard to want to change anything, but at the same time I actually saw some benefits. I’m more efficient in my golf swing — so that’s why the speed is the same with the shorter driver; it’s just because of the efficiency now of how I push into a golf ball.” The 26-year-old has long displayed an aptitude for quickly bouncing back from injury. After withdrawing from the 2021 Open Championship due to a muscular issue, he finished T8 in his next start, the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational three weeks later. Back in 2015, he finished T4 at the Pacific Coast Amateur shortly after returning from an emergency appendectomy. Zalatoris experienced a string of close calls last year – namely six top-six finishes in an eight-event stretch, including runner-up finishes at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open – before his breakthrough victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Suddenly the close-call narrative was put to bed – he memorably exclaimed, “What are they gonna say now!” upon draining a par putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff with Sepp Straka at TPC Southwind. Zalatoris won on the third playoff hole. That’s the most recent tournament he completed before injury struck, and it’s a feeling he’s keen to recapture. “Being in contention as much as I was last year, there’s just no better feeling than it,” Zalatoris said Tuesday. “Whether you win or lose, it’s just what you practice for.” During Zalatoris’ rehab process, his routine might have looked like “have a few putts and then maybe need to go grab a few beers with my boys.” But he’s an unabashed golf addict who will eagerly play four or five events in a row. He admittedly got bored quickly with his recovery routine. Thursday afternoon in Hawaii can’t come soon enough. “Watching some of my friends play, going to the Presidents Cup, kind of keeping my mind active and spending some time with the guys back home, even just riding around in a cart when they were playing,” Zalatoris described his downtime, “keep my mind active, even though my body wouldn’t let me. “Then once I came back, it was pretty easy to keep the competitive juices flowing.”

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Segment 3 of PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO hasn’t been as challenging as it seemed in terms of rationing starts despite it consisting of 14 tournaments, including the first two majors and THE PLAYERS. The ebb and flow of personal scheduling aside, our positive experience is an indication of the strong competitive balance among the elite. Anecdotally, I’ve discussed where to exhaust three starts for any golfer far less than even a year ago. This is sure to change in Segment 4 what with the last two majors, the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and four FedExCup Playoffs events among only nine tournaments, but we’ll cross that bridge at The Open Championship in July. This week’s U.S. Open is the 10th event of Segment 3. Of the remaining five, it’s the only stop at which ShotLink is not in use. This means that overall fantasy scoring will be lower as bonus points are multiplied. And that means that you want to focus solely on leaderboard finish. Actual scoring by round will not resonate, but you still need to get four to the finish line. Even if you’re somehow dry on starts for golfers you’d like to play, because overall scoring will be lower, you won’t lose as much ground if you struggle. This reality leaves any noticeable movement to gamers in pursuit who can slingshot by with the proper combination of contenders. In response, front-runners should focus on playing defense. Go for the stymies and leave the good luck to another week. You’re not going to miss most of the guys for whom you have one start remaining. PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf presented by SERVPRO My roster for the U.S. Open (in alphabetical order): Jason Day Rickie Fowler Dustin Johnson Rory McIlroy Jon Rahm Justin Rose You’ll find my starters in Expert Picks. Others to consider for each category (in alphabetical order): Scoring: Bryson DeChambeau; Tommy Fleetwood; Marc Leishman; Phil Mickelson; Patrick Reed; Justin Thomas Driving: n/a Approach: n/a Short: n/a Returning to Competition Scott Piercy Walked off TPC Southwind after nine holes of his second round last week. An explanation wasn’t released. It marked the conclusion of a week that started stronger at the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in Memphis. He settled for the position of first alternate, and then gained entry into the major when alternates from four sites filled the remaining vacancies in the field of 156 at Shinnecock Hills. It was just two years ago when he shared runner-up honors at Oakmont, but it’s his only top 50 among two paydays in six appearances. Kevin Stadler It was easy to miss that he returned to competition at last week’s Rust-Oleum Championship on the Web.com Tour outside Chicago. Unlike last year’s abbreviated attempt at a comeback, the 38-year-old not only made the cut but he placed T22. After years sidelined for what was a misdiagnosis of a hand injury, he had surgery for a stress fracture in his palm in 2017. Lo and behold, he’s pain-free and bullish about the future. For a detailed recap of last week’s success, click here. Barring a setback, with 26 starts remaining on his Major Medical Extension on the PGA TOUR, he’s going to be an automatic buy in full-season salary games in 2018-19. Notable WDs None Power Rankings Recap – FedEx St. Jude Classic Power Ranking  Golfer  Result 1  Brooks Koepka  T30 2  Dustin Johnson  Win 3  Phil Mickelson  T12 4  Henrik Stenson  T26 5  Billy Horschel  T51 6  Tony Finau  MC 7  Daniel Berger  MC 8  Luke List  T56 9  Peter Uihlein  T43 10  Charl Schwartzel  72nd 11  Joaquin Niemann  MC 12  Adam Scott  DNP 13  Ben Crane  MC 14  Kiradech Aphibarnrat  MC 15  T.J. Vogel  MC Wild Card  Steve Stricker  T18 Sleepers Recap – FedEx St. Jude Classic Golfer  Result Chad Campbell  T45 James Hahn  T45 Matt Jones  T51 Chez Reavie  T6 Braden Thornberry  T26 Birthdays among active golfers on the PGA TOUR June 12 … none June 13 … Peter Malnati (31) June 14 … none June 15 … Lanto Griffin (30); Ollie Schniederjans (25) June 16 … Phil Mickelson (48) June 17 … David Hearn (39) June 18 … none

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