Will Zalatoris Starts Memorial Tournament Hot

Since bursting onto the scene with a second place finish at the 2021 Masters Tournament, Will Zalatoris has played some incredible golf, earning large paychecks and building a fanbase along the way. His -4 in the opening round of the Memorial Tournament has him sitting in solo fifth place after 18 holes of action.

Zalatoris has three top-10 finishes in his last five tournament appearances but is coming off a missed cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge last weekend. As the 14th-ranked golfer in the world, according to the OWGR, Zalatoris and his fans hope the Memorial Tournament will mark the first PGA Tour victory for the 25-year-old from California.

Memorial Tournament Provides Another Hot Start for Zalatoris

Amongst the biggest factors as to why Will Zalatoris has found himself finishing so high in recent tournaments is his ability to set up his weekend with a great opening round. Including today at the Memorial Tournament, Zalatoris has shot a combined -16 on Thursday in his last three made cuts. His -8 (64) led to a fourth-place finish at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, while his -4 (66) led to a runner-up finish via playoff at the PGA Championship.

Though the end result was positive, Zalatoris was up and down during today’s first round. Four bogeys, including holes one and 10, were negated by eight birdies, five of which came on his opening nine holes. Zalatoris did himself no favors down the stretch, but despite bogeys on two of the final four holes, he finished the day just one shot off the lead.

Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Will Zalatoris Career Earnings

Even though Zalatoris has not yet overcome the hump of a first PGA Tour victory, he has played very well in a vast majority of his tournament appearances since joining the Tour full time in 2020. Across 40 events, Will Zalatoris has made the cut 33 times, turning those opportunities into 22 finishes within the top-25 and 14 finishes within the top-10 for an impressive $7,959,502 in career earnings.

He will send himself well over the $8 million mark with another top finish at the Memorial Tournament this weekend.

Memorial Tournament Round 2 Coverage Schedule

PGA Tour Live: 7 a.m. – 6 p.m. — ESPN+

Live stream online: 2-6 p.m. on fuboTV

Radio: 12-6 p.m. on PGA Tour Radio