2021 Zozo Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Narashino CC

Will Zalatoris is making his first trip to Asia as a pro. He’s had loads of success in his native U.S.A. and has the talent to carry that over wherever he goes.

Zalatoris has done just about everything in his young career on the PGA Tour besides win. He burst onto the scene in 2020 with four top-10s in six starts after an elite run on the Korn Ferry Tour.

The Wake Forest alum is coming off a missed cut in his last start at the Shriners Children’s Open. These MCs are rare. Zalatoris hadn’t missed one previously since the U.S. Open in June and has only three in 2021.

Before the Shriners, Zalatoris notched four straight top-30s, including T-8th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. He also shot a course record 61 in round two of the Sanderson Farms Championship where he took T-14th.

That was three shots better than his low round a season ago.

The 2020-21 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year has more time to prepare for this week’s tournament and travel compared to some other big names who competed in last week’s CJ Cup.

The Big Z ranked 23rd last season in total strokes gained (1.118) and was most known for his iron play that dazzled us at the Masters en route to second place. Zalatoris was seventh in SG approach (.751) in 2020-21.

The 25-year-old was also fourth in total eagles (16). As we all know from watching him, it all comes down to the putter. If he’s rolling it at just an average clip, that could be all it takes to finally get in the winner’s circle.