Will Zalatoris was on the practice ground late Sunday, hitting drivers, hoping for a late stumble from Hideki Matsuyama.
The stumble didn’t come as Matsuyama parred the 17th then hit a perfect drive at 18. It was then that Zalatoris stopped and headed for the clubhouse.
Zalatoris finished the final round Sunday with a two-under par 70 and posted a nine-under par total and was waiting to see if Hideki Matsuyama would survive a bogey at the 15th and 16th. A par at 17 then the good drive at 18 basically ended Zalatoris’ hopes but the 24-year-old is shooting up the world rankings and will make another jump after his solo second, just a shot behind Matsuyama.
“No, I can’t,” Zalatoris said quickly when asked if he can explain his success and his fantastic play in his first Masters appearance. “I wanted to be on this stage forever.”
He came out of Masters week with a ton of confidence as he showed that he has world-class talent. “I can play with the best players in the world,” he said. “I left a lot out there.”
And he did.
He was the only one putting early heat on Matsuyama. He started the day in a group of four players at seven-under par and he was the only one who made some early noise. His birdie-birdie start got him to nine-under par and when Matsuyama bogeyed the first hole, the Japanese star’s lead was cut from four shots to one.
Zalatoris hurt himself with a sloppy bogey at the short third from just short left of the green. He got it with birdie at eight and made the turn in two-under, nine-under for the tournament and in position to make a back nine run. But he three-putted the 10th for bogey, missed a four-footer for par at the 12th then three-putted the 13th for par. Birdies at 15 and 17 got him in the house at nine-under but those three-putts will come back to haunt him, as will the short miss at 12.
That’s three shots he threw away and he was two shots short of a major championship.
The former Wake Forest star was 46th in the world coming into The Masters and with his runner-up finish, jumps all the way up into the top 30, checking in this week at No. 27 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Xander Schauffle Hurt But Not Heart-Broken:
“We’re gonna be okay,” Xander Schauffele said late Sunday after he blew his chances at the 85th Masters with an untimely poor shot at the par three 16th.
Schauffele was in the final pairing with winner Hideki Matsuyama and after he birdied the par five 15th and Matsuyama made bogey, Schauffele was within a shot of the lead, 10-under to Matsuyama’s 11-under.
With the honor on 16, Schauffele stepped up and did the unthinkable — he left his tee shot a little short and left and it bounded into the pond. He went on to finish the hole with a triple-bogey six and he’ll look back knowing it possibly cost him a Green Jacket.
“I was feelin’ good,” Schauffele explained. “He (Matsuyama) gave me a little hope there at 15. I’m chasing (him), I hit eight-iron, I hit it flush, which makes it even worse. Normally I would have played it to the right but I was trying to make something happen.”
