Will Zalatoris broke down in tears and revealed he lost a family member this week when speaking to the media after his T2nd at the Genesis Invitational.
The American returned from eight months away in December following a back surgery last year and said he is "very proud of how I played" after the sad news. He said he played with her in his mind all week and is now heading up to the North West to be with his family.
"Yeah, pretty excited obviously where my game's headed. I didn't say anything all week, but I - sorry," Zalatoris said before breaking down in tears.
"I lost a family member on Thursday and she was - so she was with me all week. You know, was pretty special on Friday to make the hole-in-one after - sorry. Pretty special to make the hole-in-one on Friday after I found out on Thursday. She was with me all week.
"It was very unexpected. This whole week was for her. My family can't be here no matter what would have happened, but very proud of how I played.
"Just shows you life's short and appreciate the moments, how lucky I am to be out here."
Bigger than golf. @WillZalatoris was playing with a heavy heart after losing a family member earlier in the week. “She was with me all week." pic.twitter.com/9LC3rpyQpSFebruary 18, 2024
The American posted his best finish since his return from eight months out, having started the year MC-T34-T13. He briefly held the lead on Sunday at Riviera before Hideki Matsuyama charged through the pack with his nine-under-par 62.
Zalatoris, who was runner-up at the 2021 Masters and 2022 PGA Championship and US Open, shot a closing 69 (-2) to post 14-under-par for T2nd.
"Every week I've been getting better, so I knew I just got to keep doing what I'm doing," he said.
"I've got a lot of silver in my house so getting another second place doesn't really sit that well, but obviously coming back from what I had to go through physically, you know, we're in the right direction. The goal today, this is really good preparation for the Majors coming up.
"It's nice to be able to work on these changes when I'm in contention. You know, fully commit to what I'm doing. Like I said, I hit great putts all day, I just under-read a bunch of putts. Was above the hole a bunch, had a couple that were really slow going back up the hill, so I just kept missing everything a little bit low.
"But like I said, I'm headed in the right direction and week by week I've obviously been getting better, I'm getting more and more comfortable.
"I'm definitely ahead of the curve in terms of the speed, where my game's at. It's just little things. And this is the beauty of this game is, you know, it's kind of nice when you get beat by somebody who shoots 62 on Sunday.
"62 on Sunday is usually going to win a golf tournament or going to make you a lot of money. Hats off to Hideki, that is just stellar playing."
