AUGUSTA, Ga. — What a week for Will Zalatoris.
A star appears to have been born with the performance of the 24-year-old playing in his first Masters and only third major championship.
Zalatoris, who finished tied for sixth in the U.S. Open last September at Winged Foot and has been playing on conditional PGA Tour status, finished runner-up to Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama, one shot back at 9-under par.
“I’ve wanted to be on this stage forever, for my entire life,’’ Zalatoris said.
What did this week show Zalatoris?
“I can play with the best players in the world,’’ Zalatoris said. “I played well this week, but I can say I felt I left a lot of shots out there. My first one is coming. I just have to keep plodding.’’
Zalatoris said it felt like an “absolute dream’’ to be in contention.
“I thought I did a really good job this week of just enjoying the moment but not letting it get to me,’’ he said.
Asked what he learned about himself this week, Zalatoris said, “I think the fact that I’m frustrated I finished second in my third major says something, and the fact that I didn’t let any moment really get to me, was really exciting.
“And obviously my two majors as a pro, I finished sixth and runner-up. I know if I keep doing what I doing, I’m going to have a really good chance in the future.’’
Jon Rahm and his wife had their first child born last week, leaving Rahm to get in only nine holes of practice before the Masters began, and he ended up shooting the low round of the day Sunday, a 6-under 66.
In the end, though, Rahm would finish 6-under for the week and tied for fifth, which wasn’t of much consolation to him.
“It’s almost like a shoulda-coulda-woulda, right?’’ Rahm said. “Each day, I’ve played better golf. First three days, I just couldn’t get anything going. Today was the complete opposite. I mean, it’s golf. What am I going to do? I also showed up here Thursday mid-morning, haven’t hit a shot in six days, very little sleep. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to play as good as I did early on.’’
This was Rahm’s fifth Masters. He finished tied for seventh in 2020, tied for ninth in 2019 and fourth in 2018. Obviously, the course suits his game, so much so that it would be surprising if he doesn’t win a green jacket sometime soon.
Bryson DeChambeau had an all-too-quiet weekend after getting himself into contention through 36 holes. He shot 75 on Sunday and finished 5-over-par, tied for 46th for the tournament. … Phil Mickelson finished even-par for the week after shooting 72 Sunday. This year was Mickelson’s 26th made cut at the Masters, which is sixth most in tournament history.
The top 12 finishers and ties earned an automatic invitation to the 2022 Masters. The players who were inside the top 12 included Stewart Cink, Kevin Na, Robert McIntyre, Brian Harman and Corey Connors.
Jose Maria Olazábal, the 55-year-old Spaniard who’s won two green jackets, finished his week with a birdie on 18 that left him 8-over for the week. Olazábal had not made a Masters cut since 2014 and hadn’t made a tournament cut of any kind since 2014. His last tournament before this week was the 2020 Masters last November.
“A special week,’’ Olazábal said. “Really proud of making the cut. Happy the way I played. Great to be here at the weekend.’’
Englishman Paul Casey was an early rabbit Sunday, shooting 3-under-par 69
“I’ve just walked off and I’ve shot 69, but I’m a guy who started four and a bit hours before the leaders went out, so they’re playing much better golf than me,’’ he said.
