Why did Will Zalatoris withdraw from Masters 2023? Golfer withdraws before his round 1 tee time

Will Zalatoris withdraws from the Masters 2023 despite being poised to make a solid run at the tournament. The world number eight golfer was ready to make a run in his first major victory. He finished as a runner-up at the Masters in 2021, the U.S. Open in 2022 and the PGA Championship in 2022.

Before he even teed off, however, he withdrew. Zalatoris didn't even get a chance to try at the Masters due to an injury. He was suffering from an injury, so he withdrew from the competition right in the first round. Fans have been left disappointed with his sudden exit.

Zalatoris entered the Masters tournament with pretty good odds of winning it all:

• Scottie Scheffler +650
• Rory McIlroy +750
• Jon Rahm +800
• Cameron Smith +1400
• Jordan Spieth +1400
• Justin Thomas +1500
• Will Zalatoris +1600
• Collin Morikawa +1600
• Max Homa +1600
• Xander Schauffele +2000
• Patrick Cantlay +2000
• Sam Burns +2500
• Jason Day +2500
• Tony Finau +2800
• Sungjae Im +2800
• Dustin Johnson +2800
• Viktor Hovland +2800
• Cameron Young +3000
• Brooks Koepka +3000
• Joohyung (Tom) Kim +3300
• Hideki Matsuyama +3500
• Matthew Fitzpatrick +3500
• Joaquin Niemann +4000

Zalatoris was scheduled to tee off at 1:24 but withdrew from the Masters tournament before ever taking an official swing.

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Will Zalatoris has had poor injury luck

The former PGA Tour rookie of the year was looking forward to being healthy and being able to compete in the 2023 Masters. This makes Will Zalatoris' withdrawal even more frustrating.

Will Zalatoris had an injury

He expected to participate and said before the tournament via the Golf Channel:

"The genesis of (the injury) was actually bad right ankle mobility. Because of me not pushing off my right side soon enough and being a very kind of dynamic player with some side bend, my right hip got high and tilt back."

He added:

"We've been trying to get me actually to stand closer to the golf ball, so that makes me create space with the ball so I can turn more horizontal as opposed to lateral. It's been good. It's taken its sweet time to get the full swing to come back, but I think really the last couple weeks we finally have seen some progress."

Unfortunately, his health didn't last and he had to withdraw from the tournament. His chance at a green jacket will have to come next year for the 2024 Masters.