PGA Tour Injury Update: Will Zalatoris Makes a Concerning Health Update That May Affect His Competitive Future

Will Zalatoris has learned his lesson. Two years of hustling on the greens, which he thought he could easily sail through riding on his blazing youth, eventually crashed him out of the track. Zalatoris, now a year older and a little more conscious of his health, is cognizant of tiny details and he has his ears firmly stuck to his body.

The 27-year-old is going to make his PGA Tour comeback nine months after pulling out of Augusta because of a back injury. Before teeing up at the Sony Open later this week, the 27-year-old sketches out his plan. The Dallas native was asked in the press conference if he could play tournaments week in and week out like he was playing in the 2021-22 season. He can if he wants to, but there are a few caveats. 

Will Zalatoris has to let his body dictate the schedule

Zalatoris is more mindful of how his body functions at this moment. His health will dictate how frequently he will step on the greens. “So definitely going to be listening to my body a lot,” Zalatoris explained in the press conference, adding that he might skip the Monday and turn up at any event on Tuesday & Wednesday Pro-Am for practice.  

The one-time PGA Tour winner is going to improvise a lot this year. “I may randomly add in an event… It’s just going to be a lot of listening to my body at this point.” Zalatoris can comfortably play in two events in a row, which will mean 14 days of hard grind. But that’s the limit he has been told to set. “So far the only thing that I’ve been told is (to) try to avoid playing three in a row,” the Wake Forest alum clarifies.

So, his fans have to wait till the Tour stops in Texas, his home state to witness Zalatoris in action for a month. The young gun lightens up: “When we get through that stretch around May where you have the Nelson (The CJ Cup Byron Nelson) and Colonial (Charles Schwabb Challenge), that’s a 20, 30-minute drive for me. I can show up (on) Wednesday and be fine (in) both those places.”

In fact, the 27-year-old believes, he “could play four weeks in a row there.” But obviously, it depends on how his body responds to the grind on the greens. Will Zalatoris reiterates during the media interaction, “I have to listen to my body;(it) is the most important thing.”

Zalatoris walked out of the 2023 Masters just ahead of his Thursday tee time. A niggling back injury, that first cropped up when he won the 2022 FedEx. St. Jude Championship, came back to haunt the youngster again. Just days after bowing out of Augusta, Zalatoris went through a microdiscectomy that kept him out of the greens for seven months. 

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In his

last outing at the Hero World Challenge, an unofficial event on the Tour calendar, the 27-year-old finished 31 shots behind Scottie Scheffler. But practicing with Jordan Spieth, and Coddy twins during the holiday season, gives him hope that the Sony Open will yield a more positive outcome.Watch This Story | Masters Tournament’s Champions Dinner – Golf, Food and Pride