Jim O'Donnell: Betting The Masters? All Illini sentimentality says go with young 'Willie Z'
GENERALLY, BETTING A PGA TOURNAMENT can be as excruciating as being forced to sit through a four-day Nicolas Cage film festival.
And then there is the matter of young Will Zalatoris - he of the hidden local pedigree - and the 2022 Masters.
The 25-year-old peach branch will tee off Thursday around 12:40 p.m. alongside tournament cofavorite Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay, who is ranked No. 5 in the world (live TV coverage begins at 2 p.m. on ESPN; assorted livestreaming earlier).
ONE YEAR AGO, at point of first flight, the unknown Zalatoris merited no notice or such esteemed fairway companions.
Then he went out and dazzled the lingering antebellum spirits of Augusta.
The son of University of Illinois grad Rick Zalatoris (Class of '76) lasered himself through subpar rounds of 70-68-71-70 and finished 1 stroke behind champion Hideki Matsuyama.
That $1.2M runner-up placement led to Zalatoris being named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. That despite winning no tournaments, a threshold of major green maximus still in suspension.
IS THIS THE WEEKEND that the Tour zero could be most regally swept away?
"Would I like to improve on a second-place finish at the Masters?" the 6-foot-2, 166-pound Wake Forest grad chuckled to media.
"My short answer would be, 'Yes.' "
VEGAS DOESN'T SAY YES, Vegas doesn't say no.
Zalatoris was holding as a top 15 selection Wednesday to win at 28-1, behind No. 1 co-picks Rahm and Justin Thomas (both 11-1) but notably ahead of the reracking Tiger Woods (35-1).
The full cash line for "Willie Z" was: top 5 finish, 6-1; top 10, 5-2; and top 20, 1-1.
The full local line on "The Z" includes his dad and uncles Mark and Paul all growing up in Southwest suburban LaGrange Park and graduating from Illinois.
None played golf at U of I, although his father was an ATO fraternity mate of such Fighting Illini stalwarts as Dave Lundstedt (Prospect High), Rick Peekel (Fremd) and the late Dave "Duker" Timson (Prospect).
NOW, ABOUT BETTING THIS PARTICULAR PGA TOURNAMENT:
Zalatoris is primed, with one constant companion being a new variant of IBM's Watson - the artificial intelligence platform. It's more geared to fantasy players for now but on the rise as a real-time tool on the PGA Tour.
The prices are intriguing - especially the back end top 20 to cover the win wager.
Any thoroughbred colt who debuted with a second-place finish in graded stakes company would be flashing in neon as a choice selection in his next return to course.
So what is a green-felt sentimentalist to do?
Especially when the extended pedigree strikes so close to home.
STREET-BEATIN': Some very high marks for the work of Pat Hughes and Rick Sutcliffe during the Cubs' recent 15-9 preseason thrashing of the White Sox on Marquee Sports Network. They actually talked baseball naturally and fluidly rather than stage a relentless audition for The Kurveball Komedy Korner. (Jason Benetti may want to take note.) ...
Any golf dictionary now carries a photo of Phil Mickelson under the word "cloddish." His comments about the Saudi-sponsored alternative tour and decisions to duck both The Masters and The Champions Dinner merely underscore that point. David Simms - Don Johnson's smarmy character in "Tin Cup" - was 100X more likable. ...
The nonpareil Bob Costas will be part of Turner's 2022 MLB broadcast rotation. He and Ron Darling will call next Tuesday's SD-SF game (TBS, 8:30 p.m.). All-time South suburban good guy Curtis Granderson (UIC, Class of '03) returns on the studio wraparound. ...
As reported by Chris Placek of The Daily Herald, marvelous that the traveling "charity poker" gypsies from Rockford are set up for close to two full weeks at Arlington Trackside. But visitors are greeted by such sights as weeds growing out of the building's gutters. (That would never, ever happen if prime-time Dick Duchossois was still around to rule the roost.) ...
"Oak Street Digger" sent along a great stat line from the Kansas-North Carolina NCAA men's basketball championship game: Freshmen accounted for 0 points, 0 rebounds and 0 assists. And a sophomore from KU named Dajuan Harris Jr. accounted for one multimillion-dollar, bet-flipping turnover. Blame it all on the transfer portal - Harris transferred the ball back to NC +4½. ...
The chatter about Kansas's 16-point comeback besting Loyola's 15-point bounce-back vs. Cincinnati in the 1963 NCAA title game reminded that Red Rush called the final moments of the LU win via WCFL 1000-AM standing on the scorer's table. Asked years later what he remembered most from that night, Rush said: "Well, I owned a piece of a trotter at Washington Park that won and paid $26.80." ...
And crack golf journalist Alan Shipnuck, on the second-biggest story at Augusta this week: "Charlie Woods' swing changes." (That's Tiger's 13-year-old son.)
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears three times weekly, including Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.