BROOKLINE, Mass. — Will Zalatoris had been there before.
The runner-up at a major championship. Standing on the podium glassy-eyed, unpacking the highs and lows of four rounds of grueling golf while a trophy gets handed out to someone else on the 18th green. Reaffirming his belief that, sooner or later, he’d be the one celebrating after the final putt drops.
It’s a situation — contending at a major — that Zalatoris believes he belongs in. But the situation — an all-too familiar one — that he found himself in Sunday came with a flavor of angst that he hadn’t tasted yet.
“I think this one probably is going to take a little bit more processing,” the 25-year-old Dallas resident said.
Now a three-time runner-up at major championships, Zalatoris finished one stroke behind Matthew Fitzpatrick at the U.S. Open on Sunday at The Country Club. He tied for second alongside fellow Dallas resident Scottie Scheffler. the world’s top-ranked golfer and reigning Masters champion, at 5-under 275.
In just his ninth major, Sunday marked his third runner-up (the 2021 Masters and the 2022 PGA Championship are the others) and his sixth top-10 finish. His three second-place finishes all came by a single shot.
“It stings obviously,” Zalatoris said. “[I] keep knocking on that door. We’re obviously doing the right things. I’d pay a lot of money for about an inch and a half, and I’d probably be a three-time major champion at this point. We’ll just keep doing what we’re doing.”
Zalatoris, who co-led the tournament through 54 holes alongside Fitzpatrick, had a chance to force a playoff on the 18th green. His 14-foot putt for birdie missed the hole by mere inches. Zalatoris dropped into a squatting position, flipped his club over his back and dropped his face into his forearms as his shot at a second-straight major playoff trickled left of the hole.
“With about 6 feet to go, I thought I had it,” Zalatoris said.
Despite a down week driving the ball (he ranked 55th in strokes gained off the tee), Zalatoris kept himself in contention with clutch putting and approach shots. His 1-under 69 Sunday included a tee shot on No. 6 that stopped 30 inches from the pin, an approach shot on No. 7 that dropped 2 feet from the hole, an 18-foot birdie putt on No. 9 and an 18-foot birdie putt on 11. Through four rounds, he finished fourth in strokes gained putting and sixth in strokes gained approaching the green.
But Fitzpatrick swung the tournament’s momentum in his favor on 13. The two were tied atop the leaderboard, both at 4-under, but the 27-year-old Englishman drained a 49-foot birdie putt that moved him to 5-under par. Zalatoris responded with an equally clutch 12-foot par putt, but Fitzpatrick shot 1-under through his final five holes to hold him off. His tee shot on 18 landed in a bunker to the left of the fairway, 156 yards from the pin. He masterfully worked himself out of danger with an 8-iron shot to 12 feet from the hole. He closed his round with a tap-in par.
“Matt’s shot on 18 is going to be shown probably for the rest of U.S. Open history,” Zalatoris said. “Because that — I walked by it, and I thought that going for it was going to be ballsy — but the fact that he pulled it off and even had a birdie look was just incredible.”
Zalatoris remained as chipper as one could, given the circumstances, as he spoke to reporters while cheers from the 18th green filtered past the clubhouse. He took a shot at “Instagram morons” who may be ready to critique his ball striking. He joked about taking a year off of his dad’s life on Father’s Day. He remarked that Paul Azinger, a former professional golfer and NBC analyst, said that he had the closest long putt of the day on 18. (“I was, like, thanks for the consolation prize,” Zalatoris said.) When asked if anything in his life can compare to these major championships, from an intensity point, he cracked that he doesn’t have children or a pregnant wife yet. So, no, nothing compares.
He smiled. He laughed. He talked about his excitement for The British Open at St. Andrews in July, and how his finish at The Country Club only fuels an already-burning fire.
Still, the freshness of another brush with victory subdued his fervor.
“This one hurts in particular pretty hard, but it’s motivating,” Zalatoris said. “I’ve got to keep doing what I’m doing. I know I’m going to get one sooner or later.”
Sooner or later. It sure feels like that with the way the world’s 14th-ranked golfer continues to play in the sport’s most prestigious events.
But, on Sunday, at one of golf’s most historic courses, it was tough to quell the sting of another runner-up.
