Will Zalatoris WDs from the 2023 Masters ahead of first round tee time with back injury

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Will Zalatoris withdrew Thursday before his first-round tee time at the Masters because of a back injury.

The world No. 8 was scheduled to tee off at 1:24 p.m. ET Thursday with U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and Collin Morikawa. 

It’s the latest injury setback for Zalatoris, who missed the last four months of the year after suffering two herniated discs in his back. He also endured a stomach virus two weeks ago at the WGC-Match Play that caused him to lose seven pounds in a week.

Full-field scores from the 87th Masters Tournament

Cleared to return to competition at the beginning of the year, Zalatoris has logged seven tournament starts as he tried to work his way back into form. He has posted just a single top-10 and said earlier this week he was “pretty upset with how I’ve played coming back.”

“But my back doctor texted me [Tuesday] and said, ‘Hey, enjoy this week, because this was the goal of coming back was to be here, and you’ve played seven events. You’re way ahead of schedule.’

“It’s kind of a nice little reminder that if you asked me in October, this was probably 50-50 me playing here, and the fact that I played seven events showed that I did the right things. I’ve had no pain over the last month.”

Details were scarce regarding Zalatoris’ Thursday withdrawal, with the Masters issuing just a single-sentence statement.

Zalatoris finished second in his Masters debut in 2021.