Will Zalatoris

Zalatoris was forced to the sidelines last fall with a pair of herniated discs. His recovery process allowed him to return early in 2023 but the issue returned. This procedure is not ideal but not uncommon for pro golfers. Some recent examples include Lanto Griffin, Kevin Chappell, and Graham DeLaet. As for his timeline to return, he added, "I look forward to making a full recovery and seeing everyone in the fall." 

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.