As a result of having two herniated discs in his back, Will Zalatoris will be unable to participate in the Tour Championship as well as the President’s Cup which will take place the following month.
Zalatoris will finish the season in 30th place in the FedExCup and get a bonus of $500,000 even though he entered the last round of the season in third place in the points standings. The 26-year-old golfer had just won his first Tour event, which took place at the beginning of the playoffs in Memphis. This victory catapulted him to the top spot in the points standings and maybe put him in the running for the $18 million first-place reward.
At East Lake, Zalatoris will not be replaced in the field, and the starting strokes for the other 29 players in the tournament will not be altered as a result.
Zalatoris was in contention to win the BMW Championship through the first 36 holes of the tournament, but he suffered a back injury when striking his tee shot early in the third round on Saturday at Wilmington Country Club. He played another hole and received treatment from the on-site physiotherapist, but in the end, he decided that he couldn’t play through the discomfort and withdrew from the competition. Before physicians established the severity of his injuries, he maintained the belief that he would be able to compete in the season-ending event for the Tour.
It was the second time in his career that he had to withdraw from a tournament due to a back problem; the first time he did so was at the 2021 Open.
Zalatoris’ agent, Allen Hobbs, issued a statement in which he said that his client “is fully focused on getting fit and back onto the course as soon as he is able.” Zalatoris is a professional golfer. There was no definite schedule for his return shortly.
Zalatoris was rated seventh in the standings and was a virtual cinch to compete next month in his first team competition at Quail Hollow. Even though he did not qualify automatically for the U.S. Presidents Cup team, Zalatoris placed seventh in the standings.