ABERDEEN STANDARD INVESTMENTS SCOTTISH OPEN

July 7, 2021

Will Zalatoris

The Renaissance Club

Press Conference

Q. Is this your first trip to Scotland?

WILL ZALATORIS: No, I came about a decade ago to Turnberry, Gleneagles, family trip. My family made the mistake of going to London four days before, and all I wanted to do was play golf so I didn't appreciate going to London. I've gone to London since, obviously Home of Golf, love the weather, love playing links golf, so looking forward to this week.

It was just family fun. Spent ten days at Turnberry. The only time I've played competitively in the U.K. was for Palmer Cup in 2016.

Q. Do you like links golf?

WILL ZALATORIS: I do. It's kind of similar to actually how we play in the wintertime back home. You know, Texas is very dry, and so we get a lot of wind, fog. Gets a little firm. Got to keep it on the ground, keep it underneath the wind. So I've kind of grown up on it and certain close way, it's not exactly links golf.

But the few amount of links courses we have in the States, I know how to play them. It's completely different. Week-in, week-out on the PGA TOUR we try to hit it as high as we can and out here we're trying to keep it as low as we can.

Q. What have you made of the Renaissance Club?

WILL ZALATORIS: It's incredible. There are some absolute brutal par 4s, No. 11 most notably, 490 yards, it played into the wind yesterday. I think I was hitting 4-iron, which I think I'm one of the Top-25 longest guys on the PGA TOUR, so that means guys will be hitting longer clubs in.

It's incredible. You have to be really precise and really smart. It will be a good test.

Q. Is this week sort of one eye on next week? What are the expectations this week?

WILL ZALATORIS: Definitely. I had a little bit of a rough month with my game, so I'm kind of trying to kick everything back into gear. But absolutely prepping for next week, just to get back on links because it's so different from what we play week-in, week-out back home, and on top of that, too, playing against the best players in the world; if that doesn't get you excited, I don't know what does.

Q. How have you found the bubble here? Tighter that be the one in America probably?

WILL ZALATORIS: Yeah, it is definitely a lot tighter. It is what it is. Everyone's got to deal with it. You know, I was watching soccer last night, seeing 60,000 fans at Wembley was a little weird. It is what it is. Everyone's got to do it. I don't mind it. I'm staying in the house with my caddie and agent, so we thankfully spend a lot of time with each other to begin with, so it's a lot of brotherly love in the house.

Q. Obviously the Walker Cup, Los Angeles, Bob MacIntyre played in that.

WILL ZALATORIS: Yeah, I've known Bob since 2015 for the brief time he was at McNeese, I was at Wake Forest and he was at McNeese State. He drives it I think the best I've ever seen out of anybody. I played with him at Bel-Air the first two days of the U.S. Am that year, and Bel-Air is 6,700 yards, very short, very tight and he's just out there ripping drivers down the middle of fairways between trees and water. And I'm over there hitting 3-irons and thinking I'm doing all right, and he's flipping wedges in and shoot 65 and I'm shooting 68.

Bob is a great guy. He keeps me in stitches every time I'm around him, he's so funny. He's one of my good buds out here, at least on The European Tour.