For the past month or so, it's been evident that something wasn't right with Will Zalatoris.
First, the one-time PGA Tour winner was a late withdrawal from The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, which came as a bit of a surprise, given that the tournament is contested near his home in the Dallas area at TPC Craig Ranch.
He was in the field the following two weeks but didn't fare very well in either event, which has basically been the story of his entire 2025 PGA Tour season, tying for 54th at the Truist Championship before missing the cut at the PGA Championship.
Zalatoris was then scheduled to tee it up this past week in Fort Worth at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club, only to withdraw yet again. But we know now what's been happening, as the 28-year-old has announced that he underwent back surgery this past Friday to repair two herniated discs.
Will Zalatoris announces he underwent back surgery this past week to repair two herniated discs.
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) May 26, 2025
Get well soon Will! 💪 pic.twitter.com/bVBkENwGPH
This marks the second time (that we know of) in just over two years that Zalatoris has undergone a back procedure, the first coming in April 2023, which caused him to miss the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign.
The season prior, the Wake Forest alum had the best year of his young career, posting nine top-10 finishes in 24 official PGA Tour starts, including his first win at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Zalatoris also had an excellent campaign as far as the major champions are concerned, tying for sixth at The Masters, finishing solo second at the PGA Championship, losing a playoff to Justin Thomas, and tying for second at the U.S. Open.
Zalatoris ended 2022 as the seventh-ranked player in the world, his highest ranking to date. But since then, he's dropped 77 slots, currently sitting at No. 84. And he's bound to fall even further as this season progresses.
In 2024, he posted just three top-10s in 22 starts, all of which came early in the season. The 2025 campaign wasn't looking much better, as he cracked the top 25 in just three of 11 starts, his highest finish being a tie for 12th at The American Express back in January.
And since a tie for 30th at The Players Championship in March, he's only finished inside the top 50 once, that being a T47 at the Valspar Championship. So, again, it was clear that something was off.
We've seen back injuries derail several promising careers over the years. And undergoing two back surgeries before the age of 30 obviously isn't great. One can only hope Will Zalatoris can overcome this latest setback.