Will Zalatoris gained 19 kilos. However not for the rationale you would possibly suppose

Will Zalatoris’ 2024 season led to Colorado in the midst of August. He stepped off the dimensions that week at 163 kilos and, at 6-foot-2, was as wiry as ever, absolutely conscious that he was set to get even skinnier. That’s what he’d grown accustomed to, dropping 5 to 10 kilos in the course of the low season months within the fall. 

Solely, he didn’t wish to lose any weight. In actual fact, he wished to acquire weight.

And a number of it. 

“I used to be bored with individuals telling me I’ve a 22-inch waist and all that stuff,” he stated Thursday from the season-opening Sentry occasion in Maui.

However this was about extra than simply his waist. Zalatoris wanted to create a greater working weight for himself to have the ability to play at a excessive degree, at a excessive pace and for 3 or 4 weeks in a row. The previous few years had taught him that he didn’t have the stamina to energy thorough the warmth of a PGA Tour season.

“If you happen to take a look at the weeks that I had all year long, my greatest weeks had been at all times the primary of a stretch, and I at all times cherished taking part in one, two, three weeks and constructing in a rhythm,” he stated. “And the occasions that I’ve received as an expert, it’s been in just like the third or fourth week. And simply, by the third or fourth week I used to be down a pair miles an hour in swing pace, I didn’t actually really feel excellent, I wasn’t driving it nice, and it’s simply arduous to play out right here like that. I knew I wanted to get stronger. It wasn’t a lot in regards to the pace;I do know that the pace will come. I wanted the steadiness to be sure that I used to be capable of do what I’m doing.”

By that he means swing arduous and never harm himself, which has been an ongoing saga for Zalatoris in recent times. The 28-year-old, who stormed onto the scene with six high 10s in his first 9 main begins, battled herniated discs towards the tip of 2022, ultimately pulling out of the 2023 Masters and shortly resorting to a microdiscectomy surgical procedure. He took months away from the sport to heal earlier than returning in early 2024. That spring almost featured a victory on the Genesis Invitational, however shortly devolved into extra ache as Zalatoris battled a hip damage all through the summer time. 

Which brings us to the tip of his season in Colorado, when he determined sufficient was sufficient. Zalatoris acquired on a exercise program with efficiency skilled Damon Goddard and has spent the final 4 months bulking up, first mentioning it to reporters throughout an look in South Africa in December. When he stepped on the dimensions in Dallas earlier than heading to this week’s Sentry occasion, it learn 182 kilos: a 19-pound improve in simply 4 months. 

The good thing about added weight, he stated after capturing an eight-under spherical to kick off his season, is that he feels he has maintained the carry distances he seeks with out swinging “110 p.c” on the ball, placing much less stress on his physique. 

“I feel one of the simplest ways I might describe how I’m feeling in comparison with the place I used to be earlier than this weight acquire was I assumed I used to be at my one hundred pc, and it nonetheless didn’t really feel good,” Zalatoris stated. “I must take a pair days off and relaxation my again, or get a bunch of remedy. Not doing that anymore. It’s arduous while you’re limiting your observe to then exit and play in opposition to the perfect gamers on the earth. So now I feel the great thing about it’s I’m attempting to do that for longevity, I’m not doing this for distance. If you happen to take a look at my numbers, they’re all the identical, but it surely feels so significantly better.”

It’s been a protracted journey towards feeling higher for Zalatoris. He admitted Thursday he feels so good, it’s like he didn’t even have surgical procedure. And whereas it stays to be seen how these adjustments present themselves on leaderboards transferring ahead, he hasn’t had a cortisone shot — a ache killing injection he relied on in recent times — since August, one other signal that the fast fixes are hopefully a factor of the previous.

“The ceiling is one thing that I wished to maintain elevating,” Zalatoris stated, “as a result of I knew that if I used to be going to be sitting at 160 kilos and attempting to hit it 300 yards out right here, it’s not a recipe for longevity.”