Will Zalatoris Issues Statement On Ex-Mentor's Angry Twitter Outburst

Will Zalatoris has issued a statement distancing himself from a Twitter controversy started by his former mentor and caddie while he was busy winning his first PGA Tour event.

While Zalatoris was coming out on top in one of the most enthralling playoffs in recent memory, getting the better of Sepp Straka to win the FedEx St Jude Championship and move to the top of the FedEx standings, Scott Fawcett, his former mentor and caddie when he won the 2014 US junior, was taking exception to the commentary, and what he perceived as unfair criticism of his former charge’s putting stroke.

According to GolfChannel.com, Fawcett aimed a succession of profanity-laden tweets at NBA Sports commentators Dan Hicks and Brad Faxon. Fawcett later deleted the tweets, but PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas had spotted them and waded in, tweeting screenshots of the tweets while adding: “Hey Scott. Twitter saw your incredibly egregious and aggressive tweets. Congrats on your “win” but show some class and respect if you are as professional as you claim to be. Giving other coaches and those involved in golf a really bad look. Nobody likes a sore winner”.

Zalatoris himself issued a statement that was read out on Golf Today. It read: “Scott Fawcett is not a paid member of my team. I in no way condone or support anything that was said in those tweets. I personally reached out to Dan Hicks and Brad Faxon and echoed that I don’t condone what he said. Any interviews he’s given have been unauthorized.

“He has tried to reach out to me and I have not spoken to him. I’m thankful to him for everything he helped me with in the ups and downs in junior golf but those statements are not a reflection of my values or me.”

And Fawcett himself went back to Twitter to confirm he had reached out to Hicks and Zalatoris to offer apologies, blaming a “childish feud” with former pro Faxon. Attaching a screenshot of Zalatoris’s statement, Fawcett commented that “given the situation this is as good as I could hope for”.

In a later tweet, Fawcett added: “I've done the reflection part & have learned. I hope Brad and JT have as well. A petty beef impacted others far more than their intended target which is unfair.” And in another, he claims is was all a joke gone wrong, tweeting: “I'm actually doing fine because I know in my heart I was joking. No matter how bad the joke was, I know I was joking and that matters to me. Don't care if nobody believes it or accepts it. I do.”