Will Zalatoris gained 19 kilos. However not for the explanation you may assume

Will Zalatoris’ 2024 season resulted in Colorado in the course 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 truth, he wished to achieve weight.

And numerous it. 

“I used to be uninterested in individuals telling me I’ve a 22-inch waist and all that stuff,” he mentioned 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 stage, at a excessive pace and for 3 or 4 weeks in a row. The previous couple of years had taught him that he didn’t have the stamina to energy thorough the warmth of a PGA Tour season.

“Should you take a look at the weeks that I had all year long, my greatest weeks had been all the time the primary of a stretch, and I all the time beloved taking part in one, two, three weeks and constructing in a rhythm,” he mentioned. “And the occasions that I’ve gained 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 superb, 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 guarantee that I used to be capable of do what I’m doing.”

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

Which brings us to the top 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 advantage of added weight, he mentioned 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 %” 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 achieve was I believed I used to be at my one hundred pc, and it nonetheless didn’t really feel good,” Zalatoris mentioned. “I must take a pair days off and relaxation my again, or get a bunch of remedy. Not doing that anymore. It’s arduous whenever you’re limiting your observe to then exit and play in opposition to one of the best gamers on this planet. So now I feel the fantastic thing about it’s I’m making an attempt to do that for longevity, I’m not doing this for distance. Should you take a look at my numbers, they’re all the identical, however it feels so a lot 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 modifications present themselves on leaderboards shifting ahead, he hasn’t had a cortisone shot — a ache killing injection he relied on lately — since August, one other signal that the short fixes are hopefully a factor of the previous.

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