McKINNEY, Texas — The CJ Cup Byron Nelson will be without another of its hometown heroes.
First, Masters champion Scottie Scheffler opted to skip this week as he and wife Meredith await the birth of their first child. That had been expected. But on Tuesday, Will Zalatoris surprised tournament organizers by withdrawing from the tournament, citing the need to rest his back, which underwent surgery just over a year ago.
“I am ahead of scheduled according to my doctors but unfortunately the first six months back are the most important for the long term health of my back,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “I need to be prudent to make sure I don’t miss a big chunk of time again.”
Zalatoris, 27, was scheduled to give a press conference at 2 p.m. CT, which has been canceled too. Nick Watney replaces Zalatoris, who was one of the top draws this week, in the field.
Zalatoris entered the week ranked No. 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He has recorded three top-10 finishes this season — a T-2 at the Genesis Championship in February, a T-4 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and a T-9 at the Masters in April. He competed at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last week, where he missed the cut with Sahith Theegala. Zalatoris told a media official that he has a big stretch of golf in the months ahead with three majors still remaining on the schedule and a Signature event scheduled for next week in Charlotte. He is taking advantage of being home and getting treatment, and told a media official he could’ve played this week. This would’ve been his fourth straight start and if he played the Wells Fargo Championship, a $20 million event, next week and the PGA Championship thereafter as well as the Charles Schwab Challenge in nearby Fort Worth, he’d be looking at seven in a row to be followed by the RBC Canadian Open and then three straight must-play starts — the Memorial, the U.S. Open and the Travelers Championship, which all have purses of at least $20 million.
Two days after he withdrew from the 2023 Masters, he underwent a microdiscectomy surgery and missed more than seven months.
Zalatoris’s WD means there are only three players in the top 30 competing this week at TPC Craig Ranch.
“I am frustrated to miss a tournament I’ve enjoyed going to since I was nine years old,” he wrote. “Look forward to going after the trophy again in 2025.”
