You are warming up on the putting green and you see this stroke. What is your first thought? 

Will Zalatoris’ short putting stroke is nightmare fuel. pic.twitter.com/u6mgzwTBgF

— FTNBets (@FTNBets) June 19, 2022

The overwhelming consensus of the internet is that this stroke is "yippy", "impossible to watch" and "visibly jarring". 

The overwhelming consensus of the stats is "pure". And fortunately for the owner of this stroke, Will Zalatoris, the stat's opinion matters more than the internet's opinion. And again, fortunately for Zalatoris, mechanics are not everything in golf. The ability to get the ball in the hole determines the winners and the losers (or the guy who comes in second in all the majors). 

One of the reasons that Zalatoris has been so successful in major championships is his putting seems to get better on faster greens with more slopes that the players typically see in majors. During the 2021 PGA Tour season, Zalatoris's strokes gain putting number was -0.066 making him a statistically average putter. However, during the majors he elevates his putting game. Going into the 2022 US Open, his +2.72 strokes gained putting average in majors since 2020 is the best in golf. Here is a glance at some of his best performances: 

• 2022 US Open: 4th
• 2022 PGA Championship: 10th
• 2021 Masters: 7th

We are also less than a few weeks removed from Zalatoris burying an 8-footer for par on #18 at the PGA to force a playoff where he eventually lost to the red-hot Justin Thomas. 

Zalatoris works with Decade golf founder Scott Fawcett. Fawcett believes that Zalatoris's biggest putting strength is his mental game - "The biggest part about it is to not turn a missed putt into a total disaster by focusing on it for the next 20 minutes. Miss a putt, shrug your shoulders, tap it in, and move on. That's the thing that Will does better than anyone I've ever seen in my life. That guy is as resilient as you can possibly imagine." 

Zalatoris also believes that his superior iron play will help him win a major. Perhaps this belief is also carrying over to his flat stick during the big tournaments. 

The Open is only a few weeks away at St. Andrews. Can you guess who is the early favorite for runner up?