Will Zalatoris Stays Positive: “I’m Pretty Close….”

Will Zalatoris had played in just eight majors — he’s finished second twice and has been no worse than top 10 in three others.

Sunday at the 104th PGA Championship was another heart-breaking moment for Zalatoris, but he stayed nothing but positive after losing the playoff to Justin Thomas.

“I can do it,” Zalatoris said, smiling. “I’m pretty close.  I battled like crazy today.”  And he did.  He overcame a huge mistake at the par three sixth where his tee shot sailed long, hit a downslope then finished in the trees and bushes that border the golf course.  After a long, involved ruling, he decided to play his third from the concrete cart path.  From there his third stopped eight feet from the hole and his puttered cooperated for once.  Big bogey save.

“Super motivated,” was how Zalatoris described his state of mind after the loss.  “We’ll get one soon!”

Mito Pereira Acknowledged The Pressure:

Mito Pereira stood on the 72nd tee with a one-shot lead.  He had just missed a 12-footer for birdie at the 17th that would have given him a two-shot lead with one to play.  Instead, it was a single shot.  He made his worst swing of the day on that final tee shot and paid the price.

“It’s tough to finish like that,” Pereira admitted after failing to make the playoff thanks to that closing double-bogey six.  “It was a really good week.  On Monday I just wanted to make the cut.  Today, I wanted to win.”

“The pressure,” Pereira admitted.  He said he felt it at the end.  As for the final, fateful tee shot, Mito said this:  “I wasn’t even thinking about the water.  I just wanted to put it in play, and I guess I aimed too far right. I just hit in the water — yeah, low and straight. I’m really confident with that one. I don’t know what happened.”

Rory’s Charge Fizzles On Back Nine:

Best start of the final round belonged to Rory McIlroy.  Rory, the world’s best player when there’s no pressure, birdied four straight starting at the second hole.  That got him to four-under par for the tournament with with 13 holes to play.  All he needed was to play his final 15 holes in one-under and he could have made it three in the playoff at five-under par.

Instead, Rory promptly bogeyed the sixth and didn’t make another birdie the rest of the way.  He bogeyed the 17th, second easiest hole on the course and would finish with 68 — two under and he finished solo eighth.

J.T. Gives Big Credit To Bones:

Justin Thomas gave his caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay, a lot of credit for getting him across the finish line at Southern Hills.  “I was getting down on myself after Saturday (J.T. shot 74) — I thought I shot myself out of it.  But he gave me a talking to and told me not to get down on myself, not be negative.”

J.T. related this as well:  “I’ve had a lot of chances to win tournaments, and it’s a hard golf course; it’s a major championship. You don’t have to be perfect,” Thomas said when asked about the “talk” he had with Bones.  “I’m fully confident in saying that I wouldn’t be standing here if he didn’t give me — it wasn’t necessarily a speech, but a talk, if you will.”

Bones was ecstatic afterward.  “My gosh, he didn’t miss in the playoff,” MacKay said of his man.  “He was as cool as a cucumber.  He’s worked so darn hard.”