"Busted my tail"- Will Zalatoris reveals how hard the off-season training has been

Will Zalatoris is at Gary Player Country Club in South Africa playing in the DP World Tour's 2024 Nedbank Golf Challenge. This tournament marks his return to competitive golf since playing the ZOZO Championship in October.

During a press conference at the European Tour event, Zalatoris provided details on how his off-season has gone. According to what he explained, he has dedicated his preparation to gaining swing speed, which has also led him to gain muscle mass.

This was part of what Will Zalatoris said (via Golfweek):

"It has been a great offseason. I have worked probably the hardest I ever have. I picked up 15 pounds of muscle this offseason. I absolutely busted my tail trying to get my speed back, really get better with the broomstick and it has been good."

He added:

"I haven’t played much but that was on purpose. I wanted to be home, be able to eat my 4,500 calories a day and 200 grams of protein and train and get better."

Will Zalatoris finished the 2024 PGA Tour season at the BMW Championship in August. Since then, he has only played the ZOZO Championship in October and the Nedbank Golf Challenge, which started on Thursday (Dec. 5).

In South Africa, Zalatoris finished the first round at 2-over. He carded two birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey, and is eight shots behind fellow PGA Tour member Max Homa, who leads the event at 6 under.

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Will Zalatoris' 2024 season at a glance

Will Zalatoris played 22 PGA Tour events in 2024, making 15 cuts. He finished in the top 10 three times, including a tie for second at the Genesis Invitational, which was his best finish of the year:

• Sony Open in Hawaii CUT
• The American Express T34
• Farmers Insurance Open T13
• The Genesis Invitational T2
• Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard T4
• THE PLAYERS Championship CUT
• Texas Children's Houston Open T74
• Masters Tournament T9
• RBC Heritage T44
• Zurich Classic of New Orleans CUT
• Wells Fargo Championship T60
• PGA Championship T43
• the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday T41
• U.S. Open CUT
• Travelers Championship T42
• Rocket Mortgage Classic W/D
• Genesis Scottish Open CUT
• The Open Championship CUT
• Wyndham Championship CUT
• FedEx St. Jude Championship T12
• BMW Championship T13
• ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP T41

His results allowed him to finish 38th in the FedEx Cup standings. That earned him a PGA Tour card for next season and a spot in the field for all of the year's signature events. As for the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), Zalatoris is ranked 63rd.

Zalatoris has no other tournaments scheduled for the month of December. His next competitive event will be The Sentry, which kicks off the PGA Tour season on January 2.