Will Zalatoris has announced he underwent back surgery on Friday after an MRI scan following the PGA Championship showed he had re-herniated two discs.
The 28-year-old revealed the news on his Instagram page, where a statement read: “Hey everyone, sharing a health update. This spring, I started to feel some instability in my back that progressively got worse. Following the PGA Championship, an MRI showed that I had re-herniated two discs.
“After discussing my options with my medical team, I underwent surgery this past Friday with Dr Michael Duffy at the Texas Back Institute.”
While the surgery will mean Zalatoris misses the last two Majors of the year, the US Open and The Open, he revealed that he expects to return in the fall, adding: “I’m happy to say that I woke up feeling good and excited about my long-term back health. Time to focus on my recovery and get back after it.
“Thank you to my team, friends, and family for being there for me throughout this journey. Looking forward to seeing everyone in the fall!”
The back surgery is not the first Zalatoris has needed. He initially suffered two herniated discs during the 2022 BMW Championship, but didn’t have surgery immediately, instead going under the knife after withdrawing from the 2023 Masters, a procedure that kept him out for the rest of the PGA Tour season.
He returned that December for the Hero World Challenge and, ahead of that tournament, recalled the moment he knew we needed to withdraw from The Masters, describing it as a “golfer’s worst nightmare.”
He said: “It's been an interesting seven months. You know, kind of a golfer's worst nightmare is feeling your back giving out on the driving range at Augusta 30 minutes before your tee time.
“But no, it's been a patience game. It's been a grind, you know. I had a lot of really good advice from guys that have had to go through the same thing and all of them said take your time, no one's ever come back from an injury taking too long.”
Zalatoris had resumed a full schedule since then. However, he hasn’t been able to find the form that saw him rise to seventh in the world rankings in 2022 and brought him three runner-up placings in Majors.
Since his return to action, Zalatoris has shown glimpses of his best, with T2 at the 2024 Genesis Invitational standing out in particular. However, he has not finished in the top 10 this year and missed the cut at the PGA Championship.
The surgery will likely also likely all but end any lingering hope he had of making the US Ryder Cup team, which takes place at Bethpage Black in late September.
