Golf star Will Zalatoris has had an instant reward for piling on the muscle in the off-season after a superb start to the opening PGA Tour event of 2025. The 28-year-old has been off the boil after mixing it with the world’s best in both 2021 and 2022, securing second-place finishes in the US Masters, US PGA Championship, and US Open.
He also claimed the FedEx St.Jude Championship and secured a new world ranking of No.7, drawing comparisons to Rory McIlroy and hailed as a new rival for the Northern Irishman.
But the American has since come under scrutiny for his physical appearance, and despite being six foot two inches in height, he reportedly weighed just 163 pounds at the BMW Championship in August last year.
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Like McIlroy previously did, the star has worked on packing on muscle, a move that has seemingly paid off at The Sentry tournament in Kapalua this week. Zalatoris shot an eight-under-par 65 in his opening round, leaving him tied for second and just one behind leader Tom Hoge.
And he’s revealed that his weight has now risen to 182 pounds, a rise just short of 20lbs. It’s due to a specific weight training programme after Zalatories admitted he grew “tired” of jibes about his appearance.
“It’s been a lot of work, a lot of work in the gym,” he said. “You know, longevity, obviously I could stand up on any tee and pop off a 180 ball speed, but I want to do that for as long as I can. Hopefully, this is something that’s going to help in the long term.
“I needed the stability to make sure that I was able to do what I’m doing. Down the road, if I feel like I’m able to maybe add a couple miles an hour here or there, great, but speed’s really not my concern right now, it’s all about longevity.”
The comments followed Zalatoris outlining his new diet at last month’s Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa. He said he now consumed around 4,500 calories-per-day, including 200 grams of protein, and has noticed the difference on the course at The Sentry.
“I have worked probably the hardest I ever have,” he added. “I was kind of laughing because going up the ninth, our worst walk we have all year, and normally I’m huffing and puffing. But I was like, ‘Okay, I know it’s Thursday, and we’ve been off a while, but that’s the best I’ve felt’.”
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Physicality isn’t the only issue to have plagued Zalatoris in the past three years, having also struggled with his putting. Since last year, he has used a broomstick putter to help him hole out from short range, previously a perceived weakness.
His new approach will also trigger memories of the training regime adopted by Bryson DeChambeau. Zalatoris however, is unlikely to go to those extremes with the two-time major champion famously adding around 50 pounds in an effort to become the longest driver on the PGA Tour.
He controversially claimed ahead of the US Masters that he considered the Augusta course as only a par-67, five strokes below its official scorecard number. DeChambeau claimed the five par-five holes were reduced in his mind, as he could “reach them all in two, no problem”.
