Zalatoris’ swing ‘so much more efficient’ ahead of PGA Tour return | Golf Today | Golf Channel

Todd Lewis catches up with Will Zalatoris, who says his swing is different but more efficient as he gears up for the Sony Open, his first PGA Tour start since March 2023 due to back injury. #GolfChannel #GolfToday #WillZalatoris
» Subscribe to Golf Channel: https://www.youtube.com/golfchannel?sub_confirmation=1
» For the latest news around golf: https://www.nbcsports.com/golf

Welcome to Golf Channel’s official YouTube channel. We are the #1 destination for everything golf – 24/7. Find golf instruction tips, sneak peeks to our original series, news and tournament coverage. We are part of the NBC Sports Group.

Discover what else Golf Channel has to offer:
Live Coverage on Peacock: https://peacocktv.smart.link/v82e9dl56
Live Scores: http://bit.ly/GCScores
TV Schedule: https://www.nbcsports.com/watch/schedule
Instructional Tips: https://www.golfpass.com/learn
Golf Course Reviews: http://bit.ly/GCCourseReviews

Zalatoris’ swing ‘so much more efficient’ ahead of PGA Tour return | Golf Today | Golf Channel
https://www.youtube.com/golfchannel?sub_confirmation=1

And I caught up with will just a few moments ago and I asked him what he can do with his body now compared to prior to the surgery it’s more now since it’s been almost eight full months you know I’m swinging different but it’s way more

Efficient you know I hit 50 drivers in a row you know over a couple days ago my caddy Joel came in town and we were just trying to figure out maybe a setting on my driver and I felt fine the next day but the is is that I would even say that

I probably wouldn’t even give myself the time to recover and then I’d go back out and do the same thing the next day so I think it’s more maturity than it is not doing what I or you know doing something I couldn’t do before I mean I was able

To you know pop off 125 M Club head speed but I’d be hitting it everywhere but um you know now it’s it’s just so much more efficient and it’s way more rotary or more horizontal in turn way less vertical which makes it easier on

My back and so um um like I said it’s just different and it’s just kind of a level maturity that you know I don’t you know when you get out on tour you want to work hard you want to work as hard as you possibly can and um and I would keep

Doing it day in day out and wouldn’t give wouldn’t give myself the time to recover but I think now it’s instead of working harder it’s working smarter you’ve always been a passionate player um after the surgery and you were going through rehab and the long wait for

Recovery did that elevate your hunger or passion at all yeah you know it was the first probably 3 four months it was just getting back to just living um you know being able to just do the dishes at home you know simple things like that you do dishes shockingly not

Not not well either if you ask my wife but um and definitely play the hideand-seek game where I put stuff that doesn’t belong wor it where it goes but um but no I mean it was just simple stuff you know like not being able to

Walk one of our dogs just in case you know maybe you know we got a puppy a couple couple years ago and you know if I pulled you know if she pulled you know maybe I might pull something so was just overly cautious and so it was mainly

Getting back to living and then finally it got back to you know all right I’m ready to play golf again and you know watching these guys you know week in week out where normally I wouldn’t watch any golf um was kind of fun but at the

Same time I was also still around the game just given everything that’s been going on with the game over the last seven months um so you know I was still in it even though I wasn’t really around it but my mind was every day was always

Around golf this is your first PJ tour starts in surgery but you did play the Hero World chap what did you digest from all of that yeah you know I think the biggest change between coming back at the beginning of last year and then this comeback was I

Kind of got away from my DNA as a ball Striker I was trying to change things that I don’t think really would have helped me in terms of my back but I actually at the time I thought they did and I just got back to who I was I made

Sure you know I was able to spend a very very brief amount of time with tiger in September up at the Nexus cup and he gave me a few little tidbits about you know he you know had the same surgeon that I did and you know the recovery

That he went through was obviously way more extensive than mine but um you know the biggest advice that he gave me was you know you don’t need to go digesting and go find you know something that’s hidden you know if you have to put a camera that’s on your rear end where

Most of the time cameras are on either face on or down the line um just to make sure that you’re turning properly you’re not putting stress on your back you know that’s as that’s as valuable as any other 3D or anything like that um so really just owning what I’m doing and

Making it as efficient as possible and it it feels simple now whereas before it was very complicated it was trying to do something that I had a hard time quantifying um so now it’s just like I said the Simplicity of what I’m doing is something that’s is

Invaluable now he has made a significant equipment changed since that back surgery and will zator is not going to a long broom style putter we saw that in competition at the Hero World Challenge and I asked will what does this do for him using this style of putter he says

First I use bigger muscles and I’m more of a linear guy I’m like the straight back straight through stroke and this offers me the opportunity to do just that he also said if I had known about this earlier in my career I would have made the switch even maybe back to his

Junior days but he is very excited with his putting game right now and of course putting has been a bit of a deficiency in his professional career but he seems like he’s comfortable and confident with this new style Putter and as for this week I asked will I said what’s a good

Week your first PGA tour start in more than nine months and he said I’m here to win so he is fully committed and excited about the sodia open here in Hawaii guys from his health to his putting to his dishwashing skills great stuff from Todd

Lewis the Sony Open I tell you what I have a theory I think will zorus is one of the most important players on the PGA tour this is someone who won the United States Junior Amer who attended Wake Forest on an Arnold Palmer scholarship

Who was a PGA Tour winner has six top 10 finishes in major championships three of them runner-ups who absolutely loves being a PGA Tour member he is one of two players in my opinion who go to work every day with a huge smile on the PGA

Tour one is will zorus the other is sahala in this era of certainty will zorus being healthy and out there we don’t know what the future this game is going to look like I think is very very important for the PGA Tour certainly very important for will zot torus as

Well and he signs as though he’s in a good place which would be great to see the the change to the putter is quite significant for will zotor because as Todd noted it was a deficiency he he had a real roller coaster ride at the Hero World Challenge last month where he

Finished 20th out of 20 guys he went 8168 7971 and there were 35 putts in that round of 81 when he was using the long Potter out there um you got to really cut him some snack this week I know he says he’s there to win that’s him that’s

So him though he that’s him that’s my point no one walks onto a golf course or are very few people in my opinion who would outwardly say that he’s confident he luxuriates in that high expectation how can he be confident it’s you’ve got this obviously the swing changes that

He’s talked about that are grinding in but there’s the putter change as well there are health concerns there’s rust there’s confidence just from playing I mean he’s played eight times in the last 18 months yeah and that’s an a very small sample size to come to a

Tournament with and say I’m here to win you that may be what you tell yourself but you know when he’s alone in his hotel room at night will xotur must have a goal that is a good Benchmark to have coming out of this week to Simply maybe

He shows more improvement with a putter maybe the swing changes bed in a little more maybe he finishes top 20 I think winning sets a very high bar he’s in a good place it’s great to see him back I don’t think he should be held to the

Standard this week that he was being held to back in the summer of 22 and he W he has the confidence of someone who believes that his iron play is among the best if not the best when healthy on the PGA tour but the putter has to behave

And the back has to behave as well and the last time the tour had any stats on him when he was actually playing consistently he was actually the best iron player on the PGA tour