The days of golf fans wanting to cover their eyes while watching Will Zalatoris’ looping putting stroke may be over. Or, at least, Willy Z hopes so.
Zalatoris, who ranked 103rd in strokes gained/putting in his last full season of 2021-22 before a back injury sidelined him for much of last year, said on Tuesday at the Sony Open that he’s completely sold on his new broomstick putter.
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“I love it,” Zalatoris said. “You rock your shoulders and that’s it. It takes the hands out of it completely. I’ve always been very linear. It feels way more straight back-straight through as opposed to trying to work on an arc. It’s just the best way.”
“If I had known about this thing 10 years ago, I would have gone to it (then),” he said.
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The putter is the Mezz. 1 MAX model produced by L.A.B. and used by Adam Scott and Lucas Glover. He first put it into play at the Hero World Challenge late last year, and, coming off a five-month layoff after back surgery, Zalatoris opened with an 82, followed with a 68, and ultimately finished last in a field of 20. There were no official ShotLink stats for the event to measure how Zalatoris did on the greens, but he felt good about his progress.
“I knew it was going to be a lot of trial and error,” he said. “But it was really good to get one competitive rep under my belt.”
Zalatoris, 27, is looking to stay healthy and get back to the form of his 2022 season in which he lost two events in playoffs (including the PGA Championship) before getting his first tour win in the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
