Will Zalatoris has undergone surgery again. The ordeal continues. The American golfer announced on Instagram that this past Friday, 23rd May, he underwent new back surgery after suffering a relapse in the hernia he had in two discs of his vertebrae. The 28-year-old player will be out of competition at least until autumn while he recovers.
“This spring I started to notice discomfort and instability in my back which worsened,” explained Zalatoris. “After the PGA Championship, an MRI revealed that I had relapsed from the hernia. After considering the options with my medical team, I had surgery last Friday with Dr. Michael Duffy at the Texas Back Institute.”
It is not the first time the Californian has had to face this type of problem. In the spring of 2023, he was already operated on for his back, which forced him to be out of competition for eight months. Since then, he has fought to regain his best form, with three top-25 finishes in eleven tournaments played this season. He currently ranks 99th in the FedExCup standings.
The problems date back further. Zalatoris had been struggling with issues since 2022, when he had to withdraw from the FedExCup playoffs after injuring himself at the BMW Championship, just a week after achieving his first victory on the PGA Tour at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. At that time, he was leading the FedEx standings and was among the top ten in the world. In 2023, he attempted to play the Masters but withdrew before his Thursday tee-off and was operated on two days later.
Before the injuries, Zalatoris was one of the most promising names on the circuit. He was runner-up in the PGA Championship and the US Open in 2022, as well as securing a second place in the Masters in 2021. Between 2020 and 2022, he achieved six top ten finishes in nine majors, but since then he has missed four consecutive cuts in majors.
Last summer, he also had to withdraw from the Rocket Mortgage Classic due to a hip injury, which led him to physically strengthen his body during the winter break. He gained about 9 kilos of muscle mass with the aim of protecting his back and maintaining his power without overexerting.
“I wanted to make sure I was well-prepared for the next seven or eight years,” he said in January. “Having to resort to cortisone injections just to be able to compete was not a path I wanted to follow.”
Despite this new break, Zalatoris remains determined to return to the highest level and does not lose motivation: “I woke up well after the operation and I am pleased with how my back health looks in the long term,” he added in his post. “Now it’s time to focus on recovery… looking forward to returning in autumn!”
