When Will Zalatoris shared his story of patience as he recovered from his back surgery

Will Zalatoris had a promising start to his career and was on an upward trajectory before being sidelined by back problems that required surgery last year. In his last full-fledged season in 2021–22, he registered one win and three runner-up finishes before taking his first break due to a back injury.

Zalatoris' back issues worsened during the 2023 Masters Tournament, leading to surgery and a seven-month hiatus from the game. Upon his return to the PGA Tour at the Hero World Challenge in December, he opened up about his rehabilitation and recovery process.

The former World No. 7 golfer shared that the first five to six weeks were significantly challenging before he started keeping himself busy.

"I think it was probably in the two and a half, three month range of when I was actually able to go out and like be productive and practice. It was just such a slow build-up," he said.

"One of the more frustrating things was actually I was told I can't play more than three days in a row. I think this was at maybe month five. I had shot like 63-65-64 at home and I was like the last thing I want to do is not play golf tomorrow, especially with the months that I had leading up to that," Zalatoris added.

The one-time PGA Tour winner added that it was good to be at home, although it was weird for him considering how the professionals keep on traveling.

"Like at home I leave all my stuff in my backpack," he stated. "It's like, you know, I can actually put stuff away in drawers and not like live on the road."

During the press conference, Will Zalatoris also spoke about the bucket-list traveling he and his wife did during the recovery period to stay busy. Notably, the couple also visited Wimbledon last year. However, he added that, despite keeping himself busy, his mind was always on golf.

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Is Will Zalatoris playing at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson?

Will Zalatoris has pulled out of the CJ Cup Byron Nelson after being previously listed in the player field for this week's event.

Zalatoris was last seen at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last week, where he and his partner failed to make the cut. He has participated in ten events this season and has missed only three cuts.

Notably, he has finished inside the top ten three times, including a runner-up finish at the Genesis Invitational. Besides, he also made a T9 finish at the Masters Tournament last month.

Here's a look at Will Zalatoris' performance this PGA Tour season so far:

• Sony Open in Hawaii: CUT
• The American Express: T34
• Farmers Insurance Open: T13
• The Genesis Invitational: T2
• Arnold Palmer Invitational: T4
• The Players Championship: CUT
• Texas Children's Houston Open: T74
• Masters Tournament: T9
• RBC Heritage: T44
• Zurich Classic of New Orleans: CUT