Peter Malnati withdraws from 2024 Mexico Open before Round 1, Zecheng Dou steps in

Peter Malnati withdrew from the 2024 Mexico Open before he could officially tee off. It's not often that players get almost all the way through the warmup and previews and get this close to tee time before having to step down, but that was the case with the American golfer.

Malnati had a back issue that plagued him and effectively left him unable to play to his ability. His withdrawal gave Zecheng Dou a free pass to take his spot.

PGA Tour communications posted on X (formerly Twitter):

"Peter Malnati (back) is a WD prior to his first round at the Mexico Open at Vidanta and is replaced in the field by Zecheng Dou."

Dou is slated to tee off very soon and about ready to officially take his first swing as a replacement.

---

Peter Malnati follows in Tiger Woods' footsteps in withdrawing due to injury

Peter Malnati was an extreme longshot to win the Mexico Open, opening with +35000 odds to take home the trophy, which would have required him to dethrone the impressive Tony Finau.

Zecheng Dou is replacing Peter Malnati in the field

Zacheng Dou, who replaced Malnati, has nine career wins professionally. The Chinese golfer has not yet won on the PGA Tour, though he does have one top five and one top 10 finish so far.

He will be searching for his first PGA Tour win, while Malnati has one to his name and was looking to earn a second. Unfortunately, his back issue won't allow for that, so look for Malnati to rebound at a later event and resurface again.

Injuries come up in golf tournaments all the time. Just last weekend, Tiger Woods had to withdraw from the Genesis Invitational with a bout of the flu. He's doing fine now, but it did cost him like the back injury has now cost Malnati. It's unclear the severity of the injury, though it was enough for him to sit down for the weekend.