The much anticipated Hero World Challenge is finally here and the top 20 players are currently locking horns in Albany, Bahamas. This particular tournament has received much limelight as it marks the comeback of Tiger Woods after a long sabbatical. But, the 15X major champion is not the only one who is making a ceremonial comeback at the Albany Golf Club.
The event is just as special for Will Zalatoris. Like Woods, this PGA Tour golfer is also making a stunning comeback on the field after going through a number of personal and health challenges.
From hardware to health what is Will Zalatoris faring this week?
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At the Hero Challenge presser, he revealed that his health has improved much. “I know myself better physically, know myself better mentally. So I think there’s going to be a lot of positives that are going to come from this time off.” His better health is not the only thing that the golfer is bringing to field this weekend.
Will Zalatoris returns with a new putter in his bag this week — a broomstick. Putting has been his only glaring weakness. He’s ranked 122nd, 103rd and 138th in SG: Putting since joining the TOUR. The broomstick saved Lucas Glover. Can it work for Zalatoris?
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The second chance of Zalatoris this week is his putter. Earlier he used the Scotty Cameron T-11 Proto. But for this week he swiched it with the broomstick putter. Besides the putter the final big change for the 27-year-old is the fact that he is playing in the Hero World Challenge for the first time after such a couple of years.
Zalatoris is making a comeback after a break of 7 months. The last he played on the PGA Tour at at the WGC Dell Technologies in March. But on the health front, he has been through a lot since 2022. Last year he suffered an injury of two herniated disks during the BMW Championship. After undergoing surgery Zalatoris announced that he will be making his comeback at the 2022 Hero World Challenge.
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However, fate had some other plans. When the time for Hero Challenge arrived Zalatoris felt that he wasn’t ready. So he postponed his comeback for the Sentry Tournament of Champions. But his bad health followed him in 2023 and like Woods, he too had to withdraw from this year’s Masters and had to undergo a microdiscectomy.
Finally, after a year-long delay, the golfer is just as much looking forward to his game at Hero World Challenge as the entire golf fraternity.
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Zalatoris’ first time at the Hero World Challenge
The first time that he got the opportunity to play in the Woods-hosted event was last year. But his health issues pulled him back. For him an early surgery was feasible but he opted for rehab. When his surgery did happen he needed a long rest. However now that he is much better he is ready for his tournament debut. “I think this week is a lot of almost kind of R&D with let’s see how I feel going into the last round physically,” Zalatoris has said.
“This week I’m going to be able to take a lot away from it, you know, regardless of how I play.” In the Bahamas, he will be facing a long list of top players. How he fares among them after his comeback remains to be seen.
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