Will Zalatoris claims 36-hole lead at TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes

BERTHOUD, Colorado – Will Zalatoris carded his second-consecutive 5-under 67 at TPC Colorado to claim the 36-hole lead at the TPC Colorado Championship at Heron Lakes at 10-under 134. Ben Kohles, Chase Johnson and Callum Tarren sit T2 at 8-under 136. The cut line fell at 1-under with 72 players advancing.

Zalatoris found himself in a seven-way tie atop the leaderboard after Wednesday’s opening round. Beginning Thursday’s round on the back nine, Zalatoris reached 7-under for the week after back-to-back birdies on Nos. 12 and 13. He carded his first bogey of the tournament on the par-3 14th but rebounded with a birdie on the par-3 16th to get back to 7-under.

After making the turn, Zalatoris pulled into a tie for the lead at 8-under with a birdie on the par-5 first. After pars on Nos. 2-4, he tallied three straight birdies on Nos. 5-7 to take the solo-lead at 11-under. Despite a double-bogey on difficult par-3 eighth, the Wake Forest product closed with a birdie to finish at 10-under 134 after 36 holes.

“I really played solid all around. I kind of just had two little mistakes the whole day,” Zalatoris said after the round. “We had the wind right today on a lot of the holes where I could send driver over the bunkers. It was a big advantage and the greens are firming up big time so, it’ll be a fun weekend.”

Last week, the 23-year-old came within inches of earning a spot in a playoff at the Utah Championship presented by Zions Bank. On the 72nd hole at Oakridge Country Club, Zalatoris’ birdie putt hit the hole but lipped out, leaving him on the outside looking in.

The solo-fourth last week was just another part of an incredible stretch from Zalatoris since the Tour’s Return to Golf. In his last three starts, he has finished T6-T3-4th and now finds himself ranked fourth in The 25.

“Every week, I feel like I’ve done something a little bit better,” he said. “I really feel like every aspect of my game has been clicking over the past few weeks, but it’s been trending every single week as well.”

In 2019, Zalatoris began the Korn Ferry Tour season with no status. He relied on Monday qualifying to earn starts and eventually finished 60th on the Regular Season points list to secure his status for this season.

“It’s a new level of comfort,” he said. “I’ve said it a lot, last year it felt like every week I needed a top-25 to play the next week. This year, being a year and a half long, it’s basically go win three times. It’s just try to get to the PGA TOUR as fast as I can. In a weird way, that kind of frees me up.”

Kohles, Johnson and Tarren sit two strokes off the lead after 36 holes. After nine consecutive pars to start the second round, Johnson carded six birdies over his final nine holes to reach 8-under for the week.

Johnson, who began the season with conditional status, is making his second career Korn Ferry Tour start this week. He made his Tour debut two weeks ago at The King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village where he finished T54.

“This is what we all work for,” Johnson said. “We’re out here trying to give ourselves the best chance to win each week. It means a lot, especially with the conditional status I have, to give myself the chance to move up. That’s what we work for and I’m looking forward to the weekend.”

Third-round tee times will run from approximately 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. MT with players teeing off Nos. 1 and 10.