ATLANTA — For 29 other guys, the road to the FedEx Cup finale just opened a new, wide-open, high-speed lane.
For Will Zalatoris, though, a very costly medical dead end. One of the favorites this week to take the title at East Lake and the $18 million prize that comes with it, Zalatoris withdrew from the Tour Championship on Tuesday because of a back issue that flared during last week’s playoff semifinal.
According to his manager Allen Hobbs, Zalatoris was diagnosed with a pair of herniated discs in his back. He also will be sidelined for next month’s Presidents Cup.
The long-term physical implications for the 26-year-old ranked ninth in the world are uncertain. Backs, especially golfers’ backs, are tricky things. The immediate financial blow is painfully obvious. At No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings, Zalatoris was to begin the Tour Championship only three strokes back of points leader Scottie Scheffler, with four rounds to run him and others down and win the $18 million bounty. But now he is assigned a finish of 30th and $17.5 million less (last place here pays $500,000).
Zalatoris, who had a pair of runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship, was coming off his first PGA Tour victory when the back injury struck. The week after winning the initial playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, he was on the third round of the BMW Championship, just four strokes off the lead, when his back went out after a shot. He played the next hole, but then withdrew from the event in hopes he could get right for East Lake.
He is, Hobbs said in a statement, “fully focused on getting healthy and back onto the course as soon as he is able.” But no hint of timetable or course of treatment beyond that.
Meanwhile, the Tour Championship will proceed with a 29-player field, as there are no alternates for this event.
