Will

Zalatoris

Zalatoris claimed to be at 100 percent in his pre-tournament presser this week but something changed from then until now, given this news. His playing partners were set to be Matt Fitzpatrick and Collin Morikawa who will now play as a twosome.

Zalatoris was sidelined with an injury last fall and took some time to shake off the rust. To compound the matter, he got a stomach virus at the WGC-Match Play, losing about seven pounds in the week. While his results haven’t been up to his 2022 standard, he is starting to feel confident again, “I think now I can say I’m 100 percent despite having the stomach virus.” While his recent form is nothing to write home about, Zalatoris has a runner-up finish and T6 in two tries at Augusta National.

Zalatoris split just 4-of-14 fairways today but gained 2.4 strokes on approach while playing mostly from the thick stuff. “It’s nice to see some really good iron play, which has kind of been the one thing that it’s obviously what I’m known for, but I’ve been just very average. So to kind of see some shots out of the rough come out exactly how I like them or how I want them to come out, like I said, it’s just a big step in the right direction.” Zalatoris also finished 24th in strokes gained putting this week, continuing to prove that his wonky-at-times putting stroke still gets the job done.

Zalatoris sat inside of the top 20 after his day-one 68 at the North Course but didn’t win the battle with the South Course today. He split just six fairways on his way toward 8 GIR, swallowing a whopping seven bogeys by day’s end. He stood over an 11'10" birdie putt on the final hole to seal his cutline fate, and couldn’t get it to drop. Zalatoris had posted a T11 and T36 in his two starts since returning from a back injury. Other notables to miss the cut this week included: Hayden Buckley (80 in R2), Beau Hossler, Patrick Rodgers, Will Gordon, J.J. Spaun, Kurt Kitayama, Harris English, and Cam Davis).

The Texan rested over the fall due to a pair of herniated discs in his back. It didn’t take long for him to shake off the rust as he recorded four sub-70 rounds at Kapalua. He’s known for his world-class iron play but did take a few days to shake off that rust. He landed 27 GIR over the first two days but missed just one a day over the weekend. “Overall very pleased. Back feels great. Just kind of hit some stupid stuff early in the week to shake off some rust.” He made some tweaks to his swing to help his longevity but as we saw this week, he’s still one of the best in the world.

The Texan broke through to snag his maiden at the FedEx St. Jude Championship but had to withdraw the following week with a back injury and shut it down from there after getting the word that he was dealing with two herniated discs. “I was given a 12-week recovery period and I probably, if I needed to push it, I probably could have made it nine, but I don’t think anyone’s ever complained about taking too long coming back from injury.” He was cleared for action on December 1st and has been tweaking his swing in hopes of increasing his longevity. Talking about his expectations for the week he added, “I think coming off of injury, I think it’s mainly just kind of getting my feet wet again. I feel really good with everything. I had a couple really great sessions at home. I’ve learned a lot about my body, probably more than I think I ever wanted to. But the speed’s the same, everything feels really good.” Zalatoris is making his debut at the event.

The Wake Forest alum was a mid-tourney WD at the BMW Championship and from there he withdrew from the TOUR Championship, settling for last-place money as well as the Presidents Cup. Is was tough timing for a back injury (two herniated discs) but it’s “better safe than sorry” when it comes to considering his career timeline. Zalatoris currently ranks 7th in the OWGR and will be instantly plugged back into fantasy rosters at the limited-field Tournament of Champions.

Zalatoris won the St. Jude Championship to vault into the top spot of the FedExCup race. He dipped after a WD last week at the BMW and that injury is more serious than he hoped. “His medical team determined that the source of his back pain is two herniated discs.” That will end his season and he’ll also remain sidelined for the Presidents Cup. There is no current timetable for him to return to action. The Texan will still receive his $500,000 bonus check for cracking the TOUR Championship field but he’ll drop to 30th as a result of this early WD.

Zalatoris was five shots off the lead after rounds of 70-69 to begin the season’s penultimate event, but he made it only a few holes into his third round before back inflammation stopped him in his tracks. Last week’s winner tweaked his back on the third hole, where he made birdie, and completed only one more hole from there before calling it quits. Zalatoris tried to have an on-course trainer adjust and stretch him in order to continue play, but when those efforts didn’t prove to be a quick fix he opted to withdraw. Zalatoris is projected to fall no further than No. 3 in points, a position that would have him begin East Lake at 7 under instead of 10 under, and it’s now unlikely he’ll retain the top spot in the standings heading into the season finale. But his agent released a statement that, despite the injury, Zalatoris expects to play in next week’s 30-man Tour Championship.