Will Zalatoris hits a shot on Saturday on the fifteenth gap at Bay Hill.
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Will Zalatoris says he’s holding depend.
He’s now performed the Arnold Palmer Invitational 4 instances. And over these 4 instances, he says, he is aware of precisely how typically his golf ball has plugged in a bunker at Bay Hill, the API’s host course.
Nineteen instances.
Really? He’s remembering that?
“Here, yes,” Zalatoris mentioned.
“So do a lot of guys here, yeah.”
The 27-year-old star was speaking after Saturday’s third spherical on the Arnold Palmer, the place he stumbled late. Leading early within the day, he bogeyed the 14th, double-bogeyed the fifteenth and double-bogeyed the 18th on his strategy to a one-under 71, and he’ll begin Sunday’s closing spherical two strokes behind leaders Scottie Scheffler and Shane Lowry.
But on every of these holes, Zalatoris had hit right into a bunker — and twice, he mentioned, his ball plugged, and therein lied his frustration. Notably, he additionally joined the corporate of two others who’ve voiced displeasure to reporters.
Zalatoris’ concern, he mentioned, got here throughout sequences on the fifteenth and 18th holes. On the 461-yard, par-4 fifteenth, he hit into the fitting fairway bunker off the tee — solely to search out his ball “half-plugged,” and he superior it simply 47 yards on his second shot. Then, on the 439-yard, par-4 18th, he dropped his second shot into the left greenside bunker — the place he once more discovered his ball plugged, and he hit off the inexperienced along with his third shot.
“So, needless to say,” Zalatoris mentioned, “the bunkers aren’t really my favorite here.”
Two years in the past, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton mentioned a lot the identical factor.
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In Hovland’s case, he’d been tied for the lead on the penultimate gap of the event — however his ball plugged right into a greenside bunker and he bogeyed. Afterward he mentioned this: (*2*)
Hatton concurred.
“Well, I plugged in 4 bunkers this week. You can say they’re a hazard and also you shouldn’t be hitting in them, however usually there’s not many programs we play all year long the place it plugs as persistently because it has this week. I don’t know why that’s. Even a number of the pictures I’ve hit in there have been coming in low and sizzling, and so they’ve nonetheless plugged whereas usually you’d count on them to, on these ones, they’d hit and doubtless launch out a bit of bit.
“The ones that you spin up into the wind, yeah, they’ve got more chance of plugging, but there’s been a few that have been a bit surprising. I guess you could say that’s bad luck, but at the same time, you shouldn’t be hitting them in those bunkers.”
Good level.
This all being mentioned, there’s a minimum of one answer:
Don’t hit into the sand.
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“You hit good golf shots, you’re going to get rewarded,” Zalatoris mentioned. “You hit some mediocre golf pictures, you’re going to get penalized actual fast. Like the shot I had on 15, simply, I pushed it six yards proper of the place I used to be wanting and I’ve obtained a pseudo-plugged lie for a second shot hitting an 8-iron. That’s simply Bay Hill. You sort of take what it provides you. You get away making a bunch of 15-footers immediately, you sort of get away with it and tip your cap. I feel I used to be 5-under by means of 11 or 12 or no matter it was. You take that stretch and also you sort of unfold it out over the past 36 holes, I in all probability wouldn’t be as disenchanted. Playing nice golf.
“I really hit three bad shots that cost me five shots.”
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