Masters contender Will Zalatoris summed up after receiving ‘mind-blowing’ LIV Golf offer
Will Zalatoris has made an impressive comeback from a career-threatening back injury and he has been told he deserves more credit for turning down two massive LIV Golf offers
Brandel Chamblee believes Will Zalatoris deserves more credit for turning down a “mind-blowing” £110million offer to quit the PGA Tour and join LIV Golf.
The 27-year-old is one of the rising stars on the PGA Tour, winning his first event at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in 2022 and racking up three second-place finishes at the majors before a back injury ruled him out of the majority of the 2023 season.
Zalatoris received two nine-figure offers to join the breakaway Saudi Arabia-funded league last summer, but the world number 30 rejected them out of hand. He told the Chris Vernon Show soon after turning down LIV’s approach: “For some of the guys who made their decisions, I’m glad they made their decisions for them.
“At the end of the day, if my job was to make as much money as I can, I probably would’ve been an investment banker. My life goal has surrounded around winning one of the four major trophies, and that’s kind of it at the end of the day. I’m unapologetic about it.”
Golf Channel pundit Chamblee has been among the most outspoken critics of LIV Golf since it launched in 2022, and although he would like more PGA Tour players to speak out against the breakaway tour, he believes Zalatoris has not been given enough praise for his decision to stay despite the allure of guaranteed money amid the uncertainty that loomed over his career due to his injury.
“Even though I wish the players had been more vocal out here, some of the leading players, dozens of them, were offered mind-blowing sums of money and turned it down,” Chamblee told Golfweek.
“One of them was Will Zalatoris. I don’t think he gets enough credit for what he did. He was on the range injured, just beginning his career, wasn’t sure that he was going to be able to continue, wasn’t sure he was going to be able to work his way back from the back injury, gets a call, they offered him $100 million.
“He’s on the range with one of his coaches, Josh Gregory. He says, ‘I’ve got to take this call.’ He turned them down. They then offered him $140 million. He turned them down.
“I don’t think he gets enough credit for the character and the sort of, from an ethical standpoint, having his north star just bright as it could be.”
Zalatoris has made a solid return to action from injury this season. Although he missed the cut in the Sony Open on his return, he recorded second and fourth-place finishes at the Genesis Invitational and Arnold Palmer Invitational respectively.
Zalatoris has enjoyed two good performances at The Masters, finishing second and tied for sixth in his starts at Augusta National, and he is among the contenders to challenge reigning champion Jon Rahm and world number one Scottie Scheffler when the event begins on April 11.
