PGA Tour Injury Update: Will Zalatoris Confesses to ‘Bad Habits’ Days After U.S. Open Nightmare

Will Zalatoris had a busy weekend despite missing the cut at Pinehurst No. 2. The 27-year-old booked a flight to Connecticut from North Carolina barely 24 hours after the U.S. Open debacle. He reached TPC Highlands River on Saturday, and the next day, he was in an ‘all-day grind session’ trying to figure out the ‘bad habits.’ 

Zalatoris made swing changes after the surgery. However, with comfort comes complacency. And the Wake Forest alum, unconsciously, slid back into his old habit of thrusting his clubface heavily into the ball. The Sunday grind helped—he gained 4.6 strokes in total compared to the field at Travelers, but Zalatoris will sit with his swing coach to iron out the last few things.

The comfort, however, is also a positive sign. Travelers is the third consecutive week of Golf for the one-time PGA Tour winner. He has done that only once before this season, from Sony Open Hawaii to the Farmers Insurance Open. Zalatoris certainly feels better in this stretch. Surely, the 6-under 64 with eight birdies for a T2 is not a sign of fatigue.

“I think a lot early on this season I would play a tournament, need to take three, four days off, and now I’m able to just keep on going. So really, like, even though it’s nice and warm, that obviously helps with the back, but I think it’s just trying to find the right cadence of when I’m taking time off, and so far this stretch is the best I’ve felt.” Will Zalatoris has, in fact, committed to the Rocket Mortgage Classic as well. 

He needed a day off after two days of a hard-core grind. Nevertheless, more than a year removed from back surgery, Zalatoris feels more comfortable than ever. And the farther he moves ahead, the less time he needs for recovery. The 2022 FedEx St. Jude winner affirms that even though his form hasn’t shown it—3 top-10s—his game is better.

But the major performance still stings. Zalatoris has always been the pro whose career has been measured more in terms of major rather than regular events. He had 3 top-10s in each of the two seasons before surgery cut short his meteoric rise. This year, after a T9 at Augusta National, Zalatoris barely managed a T43 at the PGA Championship and missed the cut at the U.S. Open. 

Will Zalatoris added, “I love majors, it’s always been a career goal of mine to win one. I hated the way how I played and sometimes you just got to dig it out of the dirt.” While he has done that, Zalatoris has to be conscious about how his body reacts to that. In the post-round presser, the 27-year-old also revealed his recovery process. 

A cold plunge for Will Zalatoris after every round

Will Zalatoris’s back injury raised its head again last month. He withdrew from Byron Nelson sharing his back needs ‘rest and recovery’. From Cromwell, the Wake Forest alum, confirms he has been more mindful of his back since then. 

 “The back, on the end of the day, got to do a cold plunge, do some dry needling get some ART work with my physio. Then from there it’s just make sure that I’m recovering for the next day, because it’s not like I’m playing a short schedule here.”  With the right post-round regimen, Will Zalatoris feels his body is ready for what’s coming next. 

He has also been looking at old videos from Genesis, and Arnold Palmer Invitational. First the back and then the swing—Zalatoris has taken care of both. Bursting with confidence, the Dallas resident heads to another weekend, which he hopes will be significantly different from the last two. Sometimes just hitting 300–400 balls on the range does the job.