2022 U.S. Open: Top 10 Power Rankings at The Country Club

If you’re hosting a major championship, there’s a good chance Will Zalatoris is going to show up and post a top-10.

Big Z has done it twice in as many tries in 2022 and has done it five times in eight career tries. He didn’t contend at Augusta National but tied the low round of the day Sunday (67) to punch his ticket back for 2023.

Zalatoris was a bigger factor at the PGA Championship where he came the closest he’s been to winning his first major title. Rounds of 66-65 at Southern Hills gave him the 36-hole lead. He got into a three-hole aggregate playoff with Justin Thomas and shot a respectable 1-under, but JT was a shot better.

Zalatoris understandably missed the cut the next week at Colonial. He bounced back nicely a week later, shooting four under-par rounds at a tough course like Muirfield Village to finish T-5th at the Memorial Tournament.

At the U.S. Open, Zalatoris is 1-for-3 making the cut.

He took T-6th in 2020 in just his second major start at Winged Foot.

The Wake Forest alum missed the cut in the 2013 U.S. Amateur. I envision things going better for him this time around.

The 25-year-old is an elite ball striker. He’s first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained approach (.974) and sixth in greens in regulation (70.09%). Zalatoris is fifth in proximity from 150-175 yards (23’10”) and fourth from 200-plus (44’10”).

Putting is the concern. Fortunately, smaller greens mean he won’t be lag-putting often. He surprisingly hasn’t missed a putt inside three feet but has struggled inside 10 feet.

We’ve seen plenty of guys get hot with the putter for one week. That could be all it takes for a guy who has the other tools to dominate.

We’re still waiting on Zalatoris to win his first event since graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour. It’d be fitting for it to come in a major.