Will Zalatoris to Miss Rest of PGA Tour Season After Back Surgery
Two days after withdrawing last week from the Masters, Will Zalatoris had back surgery. On Monday, he said he'll miss the rest of the season to recover.
He had a microdisectomy, a procedure to relieve pain related to a herniated disc in the spine.
"As much as I hate not being able to play the rest of the season, I am happy that I am already seeing the benefits of this procedure," Zalatoris said on social media. "Playing and living in pain is not fun."
Zalatoris, the 2021 PGA Tour rookie of the year, won last year's FedEx St. Jude during the FedEx Cup Playoffs for his first PGA Tour win, but withdrew the next week from the BMW Championship after injuring his back in the third round. He then missed the Tour Championship and the Presidents Cup due to two herniated discs.
Zalatoris came back this season, finishing T11 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and fourth at the Genesis Invitational. But after finishing 77th at the Players Championship he withdrew after two losses in pool play at the WGC-Match Play, and hasn't played since.
The Wake Forest product has six top-10s in majors since 2020 including three runners-up, including a playoff loss last year to Justin Thomas at the PGA Championship and a T2 at the U.S. Open.