BROOKLINE, Mass. — There’s a fine line between reality and one’s own perceived position. That’s especially true in golf, where one bad hole can sink an entire round’s worth of solid play, and a few good shots can turn around an otherwise unremarkable day.
Just let Will Zalatoris explain the feeling.
“When we’re playing poorly, we think we’re playing worse,” he said Saturday. “When we’re playing well, we think we’re Tiger.”
But every now and then, something — something rooted in evidence — happens that transcends those thoughts of self doubt. Zalatoris got that at last month’s PGA Championship, where he led the tournament in the final round and pulled himself into a playoff with eventual winner Justin Thomas.
So even though he’d finished within the top 10 at four previous major championships, it was then, the Dallas resident said, that he realized he belonged in that position. Leading a major. Battling with, and even out-playing, the best-of-the-best on the PGA Tour.
Through three rounds at the U.S. Open, Zalatoris is where he believes he belongs.
Zalatoris shot a 3-under 67 on Saturday — the lowest round of any golfer — to climb from 16th place to a tie for first at The Country Club. He’ll tee off on Sunday at 4-under par alongside Matt Fitzpatrick, who, like Zalatoris, has yet to win on the PGA Tour. Reigning U.S. Open winner Jon Rahm sits one shot back at -3, while three others — including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler — are tied for fourth at -2.
Zalatoris was one of seven golfers who shot under par in the third round, as wind speeds reached upward of 20 miles per hour and temperatures dropped into the low 60s. That, coupled with the usual ferocity of the 140-year-old course, reduced even the world’s best to over-par rounds and double bogeys.
And even though Zalatoris took the conditions’ best punch (”That was brutal,” he said to open his post-round press conference), the 25-year-old bested them better than any. He made four birdies to just one bogey, finished seventh in strokes gained off the tee, hit the fifth-most greens in regulation and led the field in strokes gained putting.
That last figure may be most impressive for someone who’s been, at times, limited on the green. He ranks 160th on Tour in strokes gained putting this season, but at the PGA Championship he ranked 10th, and through three rounds at the U.S. Open he ranks fourth.
Of his four birdies Saturday, three came on putts which measured in at 15 feet or longer.
“I think speed has always been the best part of my putting, and I keep giving myself as many 25-to-35-footers that I can out here, and I think it just makes the round a little bit more stress-free,” Zalatoris said. “By no means is it stress-free. I should say less stressful. Just keep getting the ball just around the hole.”
Zalatoris, the world’s 14th-ranked golfer, will need to hold off Rahm on Sunday to win his first major. Three other former major champions — Scheffler (-2), Keegan Bradley (-2) and Rory McIlroy (-1) — are within striking distance as well. Fitzpatrick is not a major-winner yet, though he did win the U.S. Amateur in 2013 at The Country Club.
The competition is stiff, star-studded and loaded with golfers who know how to win on Sunday. Zalatoris has yet to ever do the latter.
No matter, he’ll say. He’s supposed to be here.
“I belong in this situation,” he said.
