Will Zalatoris shares what Scottie Scheffler was really like as a junior golfer after playing with him since he was nine

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Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris have enjoyed fantastic careers thus far, having grown up playing golf together.

Scheffler is currently focused on the 2025 Scottish Open, which is now underway at The Renaissance Club.

He opened with a three-under 67 as he chases further success on the PGA Tour ahead of The Open Championship.

But Zalatoris underwent back surgery in May and is therefore out of action, having last featured at the PGA Championship.

The one-time PGA Tour winner missed the cut at Quail Hollow, where world number one Scheffler emerged victorious.

What Scottie Scheffler was really like as a junior golfer

Also missing the cut was Jordan Spieth, who Zalatoris has been discussing alongside Scheffler on the Vanity Index podcast.

He said: “Scottie and Jordan, I grew up with them since I was nine years old. I have always joked that I have to blame them for my success because they were so good that they just made me better because it was like I am getting my a— handed to me consistently since I was 10 years old by both of them. It’s really fun to be around them for that long and to see them grow. It’s just special.”

READ MORE: Scottie Scheffler says what he thought of the fans at the Scottish Open after being grouped with Robert MacIntyre

And discussing the 2017 Walker Cup he played with Scheffler and a handful of other future stars at the time, Zalatoris said: “It was crazy. [We had] Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, Doc Redmond, Cameron Champ, Norman Xiong, Stewart Hagestad, Doug Ghim. At one point we had all nine guys who had turned pro, and were on tour or had won on tour in the first three years.

“So by 2021 I guess every single player had gotten their Tour card and we won 19-7, which is the biggest margin of victory ever. The ’05 team was like DJ (Dustin Johnson) and Billy Horschel. That was always known as one as being one of the best and ours will go down as being one of the best ever, just because of how dominant we were. I think when you get to be around that level of success you get to learn so much from them too.”

Will Zalatoris says what has changed for Scottie Scheffler since the 2017 Walker Cup

Scheffler has gone on to achieve simply phenomenal success since his junior days, boasting three major championship wins.

He’s also a 16-time winner on the PGA Tour, while Spieth is a fellow three-time major champion and a 13-time PGA Tour champion.

But Zalatoris has more than held his own on the biggest stage over the years, with more success likely to have gone his way if not for his horrific injury troubles.

READ MORE: Scottie Scheffler told he has a ‘big advantage’ in his golf game which nobody expected when Ben Hogan was playing

He finished second at The Masters in 2021, repeating that feat at the 2022 PGA Championship, as well as finishing T2 at the 2022 US Open.

But now is very much Scheffler’s moment, although that wasn’t the case when the USA beat Great Britain & Ireland at the 2017 Walker Cup at Los Angeles Country Club.

Zalatoris was asked what has changed for Scheffler given he wasn’t number one or regarded as the best player at the event, to which he replied: “Nothing. And that’s honestly why he is playing so good. That is the reason why. Nothing has changed for him. He is the same dude.

“Finn Ewing was talking on a podcast the other day. He’s an unbelievably benevolent guy, he basically fundraises our junior tour and owns a bunch of car dealerships in town. The Junior tour for NTPGA is the Ewing Junior Golf and it has literally been the Ewing Junior Golf tour since Scottie, Jordan and I have grown up.

“So we have been around him forever. We always play in this Project Shelter Tournament. And it’s fun because the pros have this little side game where we play for basically like a credit for a car at Finn’s dealerships.

“Scottie had won it back-to-back years. He doesn’t care, he gives the money back and that is just the type of guy that he is. But when he came in to go and pick out a car he was looking at used cars for himself and a new car for his wife or sister. Finn found out about it and he was like, he has got $80,000 worth a credit and has made how much money and he is looking at a used car?

“I’m like that is just who he is. He literally has grown up with the same girlfriend, from the same country club, with the same coach literally since he was nine years old. He’s so grounded and he knows what his comfort zones are and where he should and shouldn’t be in managing his time.

“I think growing up Jordan was like the golden child. I know that is kind of his nickname that he absolutely can’t stand but he was the guy who would bang a ball off a roof of a house and then punch it underneath a few trees and chip in for birdie. He has been doing that since I was 12 years old. He has always had that level.

“Scottie always had the gaming ability to just want to beat you. I believe there was a time growing up where we were playing a $1 or $2 hammer game and were at Royal Oaks and I think Scottie maybe bogeyed four out of the first five and then just like 30 footer, 30 footer, 30 footer. Birdied the last four coming and walked them in. That is just kind of the gamer that he is.

“It’s just like he cannot do anything wrong and when he does something wrong, it’s like when he won the PGA. It was the fourth hole in the final round, I believe, or fifth hole at Charlotte and he hits it in the bunker off the tee, fats it out left, hits a mediocre pitch to 20 feet but then he makes the 20 footer for par.

“It never looked like a par until he buried the 20 footer. So I think when you watch that level of success it’s amazing how he just stays so grounded and it just doesn’t change.”