Woods needs good week, good health to make it to East Lake

A week ago, a Saudi-backed league to rival the PGA Tour was gaining momentum. Then Phil Mickelson’s thoughts became public, and everything unraveled in an instant.

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Will Zalatoris is in the midst of a record-setting season on the Korn Ferry Tour. He proved last week that his game is ready for the biggest stages, as well. Now he has another start on the PGA TOUR, and a chance to inch closer to an early call-up. Zalatoris is coming off a T6 finish in the U.S. Open. He got into the field as the top man on the Korn Ferry Tour's Points List. His impressive finish at Winged Foot earned him a start at this week's Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship. "It was a great experience. I've been playing well all year," Zalatoris said. "I've been really working hard over the past couple of years and it's nice to finally see it pay off on the big stage." There will be no Korn Ferry Tour graduates in 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic paused professional golf for several months, but Zalatoris could still play his way onto the PGA TOUR sooner than later. He could win three times on the Korn Ferry Tour (he has one victory so far), win a PGA TOUR event, or earn special temporary membership, which would allow him unlimited sponsor exemptions for the remainder of the season. Zalatoris had a sponsor exemption into this week's TOUR event, but didn't need it after finishing in the top 10 at Winged Foot. He made a hole-in-one in the first round, led the field in Strokes Gained: Approach and finished with rounds of 70-74-70-71 to tie FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson for sixth place in the first of six majors this season. By earning his way into Puntacana, Zalatoris was able to save one of the seven sponsor exemptions that non-members are allowed to accept. The next step is to earn special temporary membership, which goes to a player who earns an amount of non-member FedExCup points that equals or surpasses No. 150 on the previous season's FedExCup points list. Because the 2019-20 season was shortened by the pandemic, the benchmark is No. 150 on the 2019 list; that was Martin Kaymer, who earned 288 points. Zalatoris earned 105 for his U.S. Open finish. Zalatoris' play on the Korn Ferry Tour has been, in a word, impressive. He has finished in the top 20 in his last 11 starts, the longest streak in that circuit's history. He's hitting 81% of greens this season, which is on pace to be the most in KFT history, as well. He's also first in Scoring Average and Ball Striking. "He might be the best ball striker out there," said Josh Gregory, a performance golf coach based out of Maridoe. Zalatoris credits a lot of his recent success to his work with Gregory along with Troy Denton, who is the head golf professional at the club. Denton calls Zalatoris a "freak ball-striker." Gregory works with 11 golfers across the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA TOUR, and has been with Zalatoris for the last 18 months. He said Zalatoris was the "perfect candidate" for his way of teaching - mostly wrapped in games and drills and repetition. "That's perfect for his nature. He's extremely structured in everything he does. That's where the immediate connection was. Most importantly... he always worked hard. He just needed a bit more consistency for how to go about things each day," said Gregory. "Candidly of all my TOUR guys, there is nobody that's stuck to the plan better than he has." Past FedExCup champion Jordan Spieth has seen Zalatoris' fine ball-striking up close since they were youngsters. They play frequently together at Dallas' Maridoe Golf Club in matches with fellow TOUR stars Ryan Palmer and Scottie Scheffler and grew up playing junior golf in Texas. "He's always been a good player, and a really good ball-striker," said Spieth. "We've been playing quite a bit over the last couple of years and the progression of his game... he'll just be able to contend everywhere." Spieth said Zalatoris struggled during a growth spurt while in high school that saw him go from 5-foot-4, 140 pounds to 6-foot-1, 145 pounds in less than a year and a half. His golf as junior was solid to that point, but he said he felt his body was "growing at all different speeds" Zalatoris received the Arnold Palmer Scholarship from longtime Wake Forest Men's Head Golf Coach Jerry Haas despite his growth spurt struggles, and that was key for Zalatoris' psyche. He knew someone believed in him. Even then, Spieth said, Zalatoris had a good kind of swagger to his game. "He's always been a pretty cocky player and I mean that in the best way possible," said Spieth. "You have to have that on the golf course." Spieth believes it won't take too long for Zalatoris to have an impact on the TOUR. He's already played well on one of the bigger stages in the sport at the U.S. Open. It wouldn't be surprised if Zalatoris won a PGA TOUR event quickly. "I don't think it would surprise me at all," said Spieth. "You wonder how long I will take (Korn Ferry Tour golfers) to have success and then, boom, they win that week.”

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GUYANCOURT, France – On Sunday, Phil Mickelson will play in his 47th career Ryder Cup match. That will break the tie with Europe’s Nick Faldo and elevate Mickelson to the top of the record books in that category. Also on Sunday, Tiger Woods will play in his 37th career Ryder Cup match. That will tie him with Billy Casper for second-most on America’s all-time list – with Mickelson, of course, at the top spot. But it’s hardly been the week for either Mickelson or Woods to celebrate. It’s been a frustrating two days for the two veterans, each for different reasons. Woods is winless in his first three matches, two with Patrick Reed and one with Bryson DeChambeau. Mickelson has played in just one match, a Friday Foursomes in which he and DeChambeau were dispatched in 14 holes. On Saturday, Mickelson sat out both sessions. The only other time that has happened was four years ago, when then-U.S. Captain Tom Watson sat him out the entire Saturday. The next day, in the aftermath of the U.S. loss, Mickelson was critical of how the team was managed, and a task force was created to help the U.S. win back the Ryder Cup. Mickelson was on the practice range mid-day at Le Golf National when he received a text message from Furyk – who was following the Jordan Spieth-Justin Thomas morning match, the only one that the U.S. won in the Four-balls session That’s when Mickelson knew he was not among the eight Americans playing in Saturday’s Foursomes. “I had to leave him a message to tell him, which I don’t like to do,â€� Furyk said. “I’d rather do it in person. But really need to be out there on the golf course, and I wanted to really kind of cheer on my team.â€� The good news for Mickelson, of course, is that he’ll be participating in Sunday’s Singles, which will be his 12th Singles match. That will break the tie with Arnold Palmer for most Singles matches by any American. The bad news, unfortunately, is that he must take on Francesco Molinari, who has been the best player on either side this week. Molinari and partner Tommy Fleetwood are the first European duo to go 4-0-0 in a single Ryder Cup. Said European Captain Thomas Bjorn: “Francesco, it’s like he’s leaning on golf shots and they land about 3 feet from the hole. I don’t know what planet he lives on, but it’s not the one that the rest of the players live on, that’s for sure. He’s been phenomenal these two days.â€� Mickelson, of course, has mostly just been absent. Even Furyk admitted he didn’t expect to play Mickelson as little as he did in the first two days. “I envisioned more, but that’s the way it worked out and that’s the way we thought we had to go. You get a guy like him in the team room, he had so much more than his play, if that makes sense. … “I’d be disappointed if he said he thought he was going to play two. I know Phil. He wants to be out there just like everyone else. That’s part of being a team and part of this event. We have 12 amazing players, and they can’t all play every match, and you accept what you get.â€� As for Woods, he’s already felt the sting of the Molinari-Fleetwood pairing. All three of his losses this week were to the duo, including a 4 and 3 loss with Reed in Four-balls, and a 5 and 4 loss with DeChambeau in Foursomes. “Just pretty pissed off, the fact that I lost three matches, and didn’t feel like I played poorly,â€� Woods said. “That’s the frustrating thing about match play. We can play well and nothing can happen. We ran against two guys that were both playing well and when one was out of the hole, especially in best-ball, the other one made birdie and vice versa. They did that a lot to us.â€� Said Furyk: “Those guys played incredible golf, the scores that they shot in both formats were very impressive. I think I heard that, in one of Tiger’s interviews, he felt like he played some pretty good golf, and it wasn’t good enough. And I think it’s because of those two gentlemen, to be honest with you.â€� Furyk said he didn’t think there was anything physically wrong with Woods. But the grind of a longer-than-expected season following his comeback from back surgery, along with the emotional stress of winning the TOUR Championship a week ago, may have left him exhausted coming to Paris. Furyk sat him for Friday’s Foursomes session. “I think early in the week, he looked a little tired. His pace looked a little bit slow walking; I think that’s expected, you know, coming off a big win. You have to think emotionally what he put into his comeback to this season, the amount of golf he played leading up, trying to make the Ryder Cup Team, trying to, basically, almost win the FedExCup. I mean, he put a lot of work and effort into it and played a lot more golf than he’s used to. “And physically, I think Tiger’s pretty fit, but that takes a mental toll, and I think he was a little tired earlier this week. I think the idea … to rest him on Friday afternoon was a good one. I think he was tired. It allowed him to maybe get some energy back, watch his teammates play a little bit, provide a spark as a veteran leader. And you know, we came out today and decided to play him 36. I think his style of game lends itself very well for Foursomes. I think he can control the ball very well. That’s what you need. “It didn’t work out, but you know, I think he might be emotionally a little bit tired. You find a way in a Ryder Cup to gain some energy and some adrenaline, and you know, you work hard. I know he’s going to be fit and ready to go tomorrow.â€� Woods will face Jon Rahm in the fourth match out in Sunday’s Singles. Down 10-6, the U.S. needs an early momentum boost to have any chance at a miracle. It hasn’t been a successful week for the two American legends, but they’ll have one last chance Sunday to leave Paris on a high note.

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