LOS ANGELES — It was a routine golf question, a basic news conference opener to get things rolling and learn about his week. And that’s how Will Zalatoris took it. Yeah, pretty excited about where my game’s headed. But then he couldn’t fake it any longer.
“I didn’t say anything all week, but I … sorry …”
He stared off into the distance with his eyes welling, his left hand nervously rubbing the back of his neck as he tried to compose himself. Thirty seconds of empty space passed. He looked over in the corner to his wife, Caitlin, for a quick moment. All week he played golf, signed his scorecard and came over to the tent to answer golf questions. But not right now.
“I lost a family member on Thursday and she was — she was with me all week,” he said.
The family member unexpectedly died Thursday, and he found out after his opening round at the Genesis Invitational. The next day, he hit a hole-in-one on 16. Two days later he finished tied for second at maybe the biggest PGA Tour event of the season 10 months after major back surgery. This was a monumental moment for the 27-year-old rising star, and suddenly he was pausing, unsure of where he was going to go after this, whether he’d return to his family or go to the next PGA Tour stop in Mexico. He truly…
