Players that could Break Out in 2021: Will Zalatoris

It’s a bit of a quiet time on the PGA Tour right now, so let’s take a look at some players that could break out in 2021, starting with Will Zalatoris.

As I open up the series of breakout candidates for 2021, I want to start off by saying I’ll be looking at different levels of “breaking out”. It might be a little know player who is looking to have a long career in the PGA Tour. It could be someone like Will Zalatoris that has already been making some noise, but the sample size is quite small. Or, someone who has been contending for a while, but just hasn’t quite been able to figure it out.

Zalatoris arrived on the scene in tremendous fashion last year in his first event since 2018, earning a spot at the U.S. Open after winning the TPC Colorado Championship. He would play better than anyone could’ve expected… other than our own Mike Randleman that is, who picked him as one of his five in our staff picks and has been a loud supporter of Zalatoris’s.

Zalatoris would shoot 70-74-70-71 en route to finishing at +5 and in a T-6th place. Normally, those scores would be nothing to write home about. When it happens at the U.S. Open, and at Winged Foot no less, it’s enough to make any golfer happy, much less one trying to earn a spot on Tour.

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His hot play would continue the next week at the Corales Puntacana. After three more rounds in the 70’s, where he shot 70-71-70, he would finish the final round with a bang, shooting 65, which would vault him up the board into a T-8th place, good for back-to-back top tens.

After a rough week at the Sanderson Farms, Will Zalatoris wanted to show his first two events of 2020 were no fluke at the Shriners. He must’ve been tired of shooting in the 70s, as he would card four straight rounds in the 60s, earning him yet another top ten finish, this time finishing in a T-5th place.

Many golfers would be happy to have three top-ten finishes during a full season, especially when one of them is a top-five and having another at a major. Zalatoris did it within a month.

Just 24 years old, he slots right in with a bunch of the other impressive youth that has overshadowed what is an incredibly talented group of freshly graduated golfers. His strength comes early on the hole, where he ranks 13th off the tee and 10th on approach shots. It should surprise no one that he is up there on distance, ranking 16th off the tee as well.

If he continues to show great length off the tee, he is always going to have a chance. Anytime you are top 15 in two of the four major SG categories, a hot weekend equals a top ten finish, as shown by his results so far in his career. If he can turn into an above-average player around the greens, where he is currently 138th and 143rd, he is going to be a threat for years to come.

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There are plenty of youngsters on Tour right now, and it’s easy to end up in their shadow. Keep an eye on Zalatoris, as he seems to be poised to not just jump out of the proverbial shadow, but to walk right along the lines of Morikawa, Wolff, Hovland, Im, and the rest.

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