Jay Monahan’s PGA Tour Devastated by Injuries & Health Challenges Days Before 2024 PGA Championship

The life of an athlete is fraught with hurdles. This is especially true when they face certain injuries forcing them to take a break from the sport, just like how Will Zalatoris did at the ongoing event at the Jay Monahan’s circuit, the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, just two weeks before the 2024 PGA Championship. But now, it seems he is not alone in making the unfortunate decision of withdrawing from the tournament as other golfers have also followed suit, causing worry.

A couple of announcements were shared by the PGA Tour on its X handle (formerly Twitter) divulging the same. The tweet mentioned how the likes of Norman Xiong and C.T. Pan pulled out of the event due to an injury to their back and lower back respectively.

Xiong was forced to withdraw from the contest after playing till the par-5 fifth hole at TPC Craig Ranch on the second day. Moreover, he did so following a first-round score of 3-under par 68 with five birdies. Meanwhile, his Taiwanese counterpart Pan managed to finish the first nine on Friday following a figure of 1-over par 72 on Thursday after which he pulled out from the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.

That’s not all. These are but the most recent names who withdrew from the event on Jay Monahan’s circuit, and that too during the Friday round. However, there are other golfers who did so even before the start of the second round. The 29-year-old Taylor Montgomery removed himself from the tournament, his second WD this year, after a sub-par performance on the first day whereas others including the likes of Russell Knox, Sean O’Hair, Jarred Jeter, and Sungjae Im didn’t participate in the event in the first place due to various reasons.

Interestingly, Im had successfully defended his title of champion at the KPGA Tour’s Woori Financial Group Championship in South Korea. As a result, he was scheduled to tee off at the tournament with big names in the circuit on Thursday, Jason Day and Jordan Spieth, the latter of whom failed to even make the cut.

The state of the leaderboard at the Jay Monahan-led PGA Tour event

While Spieth finished T82 with a 4-under after the two days, much below the projected cut line, defending champ Day managed to just squeeze through with a score of 6-under at T54. In the meantime, the top of the scorecard was dominated by the likes of Jake Knapp at T1, and Troy Merritt and Matt Wallace at T2.

If everything goes well for the 29-year-old American Pro, then he is well set on clinching his second win on the Jay Monahan-led PGA Tour, the first of which came at the Mexico Open. One thing is for certain, the fans are sure to have an exciting weekend at TPC Craig Ranch.