Today, 8th April 2024, marks exactly one year since Will Zalatoris underwent surgery due to a double disc hernia in his back. Two days earlier, on 6th April 2023, the Californian was supposed to have played the first round of the Masters at 13:24, local time, alongside Collin Morikawa and Matt Fitzpatrick, but it was precisely during the warm-up session, right there, at the Augusta National, where he felt a sharp pain that ran through both his legs and knew that his body, his battered back, had had enough. So, minutes before teeing off at the 1st, he confirmed his withdrawal due to injury and just 48 hours later he was in the operating room.
Depending on how you look at it, 365 days can seem like an eternity. If they were, Zalatoris hardly remembers. Today, exactly one year after the bad experience, he was out playing nine practice holes, again at the Augusta National, and he did so alongside Tiger Woods. Seen in this way, and already in the delicate situation of a serious injury, the long wait may have been worth it, because in addition, a natural friendship and camaraderie has emerged between them, united as they are in the complicated vicissitudes of a very similar injury. In fact, it was the team of doctors who operated on Tiger in his day that operated on Will a year ago.
Zalatoris returned to competition last November, precisely at Tiger’s tournament in Bermuda, the Hero Challenge, where they had time to catch up, after the Cypress native had already contacted him several times to inquire about the entire rehabilitation process.
They had a good time. For example, hitting those low balls on the 16th, playing with the water, a classic on practice days in Augusta. A ball from Tiger has bounced up to six times on the lake, Zalatoris explained, surprised, much less skilled in this type of ‘contests’.
And, by the way, the blond Californian has taken some lessons from the great champion, although we don’t know exactly which ones: “I’m not going to make them public,” he said, amused. With or without the notes he may have taken, it’s no small thing to qualify Zalatoris as one of the big contenders, even if he’s not one of those who fiercely appear in the front row of the favourites. The fact is that this guy has only played the Masters twice and in the first he finished second (2021) and sixth in the second (2022). Moreover, this year he has also been seen very high in some ranking after those seven months, after the operation, in which he could not compete. He finished second in Riviera and fourth in Bay Hill. These are not minor courses or tournaments, precisely.
