What will they say now? The PGA Tour has a new leader, Zalatoris dominates the first FedEx Cup. Nerves and emotions were running high

The final round of the opening FedEx Cup St. Jude Championship in Memphis offered a thrilling spectacle. American Will Zalatoris, who has narrowly missed out on triumph in previous months, claimed his first PGA Tour triumph. See the drama that preceded it.

“What are they going to say now?!?” shouted twenty-five-year-old American golfer Will Zalatoris emotionally after making a long putt on the last 72nd hole that sent him into a shootout against Stepp Straka.

The American has been on tour for more than two years, but he was still waiting for his big win. That’s despite his play being consistent in recent months, which also earned him a promising position among the 125 players who made it to their first FedEx Cup tournament all season.

“Yes, I think it’s frustrating and motivating at the same time. I’ve been very close all year and I think I’ve learned a lot in the last month. You just can’t play well that often and not win anything,” Zalatoris said Friday during a television interview.

On Sunday, he broke his big wait. But it wasn’t just that, it took some serious nerve. Together with his Austrian opponent Straka, he finished tied at -15 after the fourth 18 in Memphis, so the tiebreaker, or as they say in the USA, the playoffs, had to be decided.

And it was an incredible story that wrote its denouement on the three-over par fifteen, which was the third in the shootout. Zalatoris fired first, but his ball literally jumped on the edge of the green in front of the water hazard, where it bounced along the stone lip a few more times before coming to rest.

Steep Straka was not so lucky, however, as his ball ended up drowned in the water. Zalatoris, however, after much examination, decided not to play from a risky position on the stone. He dropped the ball in the same spot as Straka, who hit a bunker in front of him.

A subsequent converted putt sealed the sweet victory. After the tournament, he admitted that his emotional exclamation of “What are they going to say now?!?” was inspired by basketball player Stephen Curry, who uttered the same sentence after winning his fourth NBA title and also becoming the Finals MVP.

“You know, I’m a big fan of the Warriors and Steph. I follow the Warriors like crazy, and when he said that, it kind of related to my journey so far,” Zalatoris admitted to Sports Yahoo after the win.

The young American rose to the top of the FedEx Cup rankings after his triumph in Memphis. He collected a $2.8 million bonus for winning the St. Jude Championship. In addition, he remains in contention to be the PGA Tour’s King of the Year, earning a total bonus of $18 million.

Source: PGA Tour, Yahoo Sports