One of the most talented Americans and stout major championship competitors of recent years is gearing up for a big return in 2026. Will Zalatoris provided an update on his back injury while on site for this week’s Simmons Bank Championship in Little Rock, Arkansas, on the PGA Tour Champions.
“I’m looking forward to 2026,” Zalatoris said. “I had back surgery about four months ago. I am already back playing — I’m grinding everyday, playing golf everyday, trying to get in at least 18 [holes]. It’s been a long grind, don’t get me wrong, but this is the most positive I have felt in three years.
“I feel like the nightmare of three years of back pain is gone. Finally, I am able to be a 29-year-old kid and go to work. I am getting a lot of advice this week on the PGA Tour Champions since there are a lot of guys with a lot of mileage on their bodies so I am definitely taking some notes this week.”
Zalatoris has not played in a competitive event since the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club. Following a missed cut, the PGA Tour winner shared that he was feeling some discomfort and instability in his back and ultimately revealed that surgery on two re-herniated discs was required.
The procedure was the latest hurdle Zalatoris had to overcome since his breakthrough win at the 2022 St. Jude Championship. After winning the first leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs in 2022, Zalatoris was forced to withdraw the following week at the BMW Championship due to a back injury. He was then unable to tee it up at the Tour Championship — where he entered as No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings — and revealed he had two herniated discs in his back.
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Zalatoris returned to competitive golf at the onset of 2023, but it was short-lived. He withdrew minutes before his first-round tee time at the Masters and underwent a microdiscectomy that weekend. The next season provided some hope as Zalatoris played a full schedule while finishing runner-up at the Genesis Invitational and inside the top 10 at the Masters.
He qualified for the BMW Championship and played a couple of events in the fall before transitioning to his 2025 campaign which was ultimately cut short after the year’s second major championship.
The 29-year-old began his major championship career in a flurry as he finished inside the top 10 in six of nine major championship starts from 2020 to 2022. Those finishes included a few close calls, including a runner-up to Hideki Matsuyama at the 2021 Masters, a playoff loss to Justin Thomas at the 2022 PGA Championship and a one-stroke loss to Matt Fitzpatrick at that same year’s U.S. Open.
Since then, however, Zalatoris’ game and results have taken a hit in lockstep with his health. He has missed the cut in his last four major championships and connected on just one top-10 finish in 2025 before being sidelined.
He will look to get back on the horse at the end of the year, as he is expected to play in the Nedbank Golf Challenge on the DP World Tour from Dec. 4-7 where he finished T18 a season ago.
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