2022 PGA: Will Zalatoris, Mito Pereira, Cameron Young; Meet golf’s rising stars

TULSA, Okla. – Will Zalatoris, Mito Pereira and Cameron Young have been dominant forces on the tour over the past couple years – the Korn Ferry Tour, that is.

Zalatoris has certainly made more noise on the PGA Tour than the other two, but all three are names you’ll need to know moving forward as one of the three could be hoisting the Wanamaker trophy on Sunday evening. Pereira (69) leads Zalatoris (73) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (67) by three shots, with Young (67) in a group four back.

Fitzpatrick, just like the other three, is seeking his first PGA Tour title. You might be more familiar with the 27-year-old Englishman, who has twice played in the Ryder Cup and won seven times on the DP World Tour

Here’s a look, however, at the highly skilled, but lesser accomplished trio:

Full-field scores from the PGA Championship

College

• Pereira – Texas Tech (2014-15)
• Zalatoris – Wake Forest (2014-17); 2017 ACC Player of the Year
• Young – Wake Forest (2015-19)

Korn Ferry Tour

• Pereira, 27 – The young Chilean advanced to the Korn Ferry Tour after success on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica. Pereira won his first Korn Ferry event in February 2020, and would go on to win in back-to-back weeks in June 2021 to be immediately promoted to the PGA Tour via the “automatic three-win promotion” rule. He became just the 12^th player in the 32-year history of the developmental tour to do so.
• Zalatoris, 25 – First, and only, professional victory came at the 2020 TPC Colorado Championship. Shortly thereafter, Zalatoris finished T-6 at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot and left the Korn Ferry Tour in his rearview mirror.
• Young, 25 – Won back-to-back events in May 2021 and finished the season 19^th on the points list, earning a PGA Tour card for 2021-22.

Best PGA Tour Finish

• Pereira – Third place (2021 Fortinet Championship)
• Zalatoris – Runner-up (2021 Masters, 2022 Farmers Insurance Open)
• Young – T-2 (2021 Sanderson Farms Championship, 2022 Genesis Invitational, 2022 Wells Fargo Championship)

Best Major Championship Finish

• Pereira – Missed cut at the 2019 U.S. Open in only major appearance
• Zalatoris – Runner-up (2021 Masters)
• Young – Missed cut at 2019, 2021 U.S. Open and 2022 Masters

Fun Fact

• Pereira – Grew up playing with Joaquin Niemann
• Zalatoris – Roommates with Davis Riley while on Korn Ferry Tour
• Young – Won the 2017 New York Open, becoming the first amateur to ever win the title