Will Zalatoris makes big declaration ahead of Wyndham Championship

The analogy was certainly relevant.

“One thing that my surgeons did a good job of telling me was that the first year, your recovery is going to kind of feel like the stock market, where it goes up and down, but the line of best fit is going to hopefully trend up,” Zalatoris said Tuesday at the Wyndham Championship.

At this time last year, Zalatoris was still recovering from an April 2023 microdiscectomy on his ailing back. He wouldn’t tee it up again in competition until the Hero World Challenge in December.

This season has been exactly what Zalatoris’ doctors predicted.

He gained momentum entering the spring, tying for second at Riviera and following that with a T-4 at Bay Hill. He then shared ninth at Augusta National, a year after withdrawing during Masters week. But Zalatoris’ year has since stalled; he’s gone nine straight events now without a top-40 finish, missing the cut in both summer Opens and withdrawing during the third round the Rocket Mortgage Classic after experiencing a pop in his “good hip,” the one further from the two herniated discs he had repaired in his lower back.

“Moments of feeling really good at the start of this year, play six or seven events and then start kind of feeling a little bit of achiness in there and maybe need to get a cortisone shot or something like that,” Zalatoris said. “It’s a lot of ups and downs, and I think I was mentally prepared for it. It gave me the patience that I needed to this first year. I don’t like being patient, I don’t like going out and not being in contention like I’ve played the last three, four months, but it’s also motivated me to get my body to where it needs to be and get my golf game back to where it needs to be.”

Despite the recent struggles, Zalatoris is a lock for the FedExCup Playoffs, which begin next week in Memphis. He’s also currently in position, at No. 45 in points, to qualify for all the signature events next season, something he didn’t do last year for this year, though he did manage to get into six of the eight.

“I think if you would have put me in this position kind of where I was at this point last year, I definitely would be happy,” Zalatoris said, “but by no means I would say satisfied with my play so far this year.”

He’s also progressing with his health, declaring that he feels “awesome” and “100%.”

“Beforehand, I didn’t really know what 100% was, and now my speed with my longer clubs is back to what they were back in 2022, which is huge for me,” Zalatoris said. “I mean, there’s a big advantage to that out here on Tour, really being over 180 ball speed.”

Seems like the time to buy low on Zalatoris.