TULSA, Okla. — In the seven previous Major championships played at Southern Hills, each eventual winner held at least a share of the 36-hole lead.
Will Zalatoris — a 25-year-old Dallas resident — is in a position to extend that statistic’s accuracy.
And if Zalatoris didn’t know that historical nugget before his 5-under 65 on Friday vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard at the PGA Championship, he certainly does now.
Asked if knowing that gives him any confidence, Zalatoris, while maybe even suppressing a smile, played it cool.
“I think history, to me,” he said, “it is what it is.”
He’ll tee off in Saturday’s final group at -9, and with a one-shot lead over second-place Mito Pereira, the former Texas Tech golfer who carded a 6-under 64 on Friday to climb the board. Former PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas (-6) and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (-5) are a few shots back at third and fourth place, respectively.
Zalatoris posted a bogey-free round with five birdies, and if his first-round 66 was a clinic on putting (he sank four that were 20-feet or longer), his second-round 65 was one on balance.
And escaping trouble.
“I got away with murder a few times today,” he said.
Take the 17th hole for example. Zalatoris’ tee shot collided with a tree to the right of the fairway and landed in the rough. But his 126-yard approach shot landed within eight feet of the pin and set up a birdie putt.
He finished Round 2 ranked 10th in strokes gained approaching the green and 16th in strokes gained around the green. He still ranks first in strokes gained putting, but made nearly 90 fewer feet of putts in round two than he did in round one thanks to accurate second-and-third shots from the fairway and rough.
“You’re able to plot your way around this golf course, and if you hit as many greens as you possibly can, it’s kind of hard to mess it up,” Zalatoris said.
Now back to the bigger picture.
Zalatoris’ Major championship track record is awfully stellar for someone who’s yet to win a PGA Tour event. In six completed Major starts, he’s finished within the top 10 (four times) more than he’s missed the cut (two times). He referenced something fellow Dallas resident and reigning Masters champion Scottie Scheffler said earlier this week — about how it takes belief to be a Major champion — in explaining his confidence at golf’s premier events.
“Maybe it’s a fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude,” Zalatoris said.
Maybe it is. And maybe the history that’s on his side at Southern Hills does carry some weight, though Zalatoris insists that there’s a long 36 holes of golf remaining in Oklahoma.
It is indeed, as he said, what it is. An interesting note at the least. A harbinger of an impressive first professional victory at best.
He’ll continue play it cool until then. And of course, believe.
“I think I’ve kind of had an attitude with the majors, especially since the Masters, where I wanted to enjoy the experience as much as I could,” Zalatoris said. “I don’t want to leave anything — looking back 20 years from now — I don’t want to regret my attitude or anything like that.”
