Looks like Will Zalatoris is still suffering from the pain of getting beaten down by Happy Gilmore at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club. The 29-year-old had been troubled by injuries for most of 2025. He missed nearly seven months of action because of that. However, Zalatoris returned to the course at the beginning of 2026. But now, he may need a break from the greens once again.

As reported by Underdog Golf, “Will Zalatoris a WD from the Cognizant Classic.”

Zalatoris was grouped with Brooks Koepka and Daniel Berger and was expected to tee off at 12:23 P.M. (EST). The news came barely 30 minutes before he was slated to tee off, suggesting it was a late decision from the one-time PGA Tour winner and his team.

As Will Zalatoris withdrew before teeing off, Ben Silverman was asked to replace him in the group. At the time of the initial announcement, no specific reason was given, with many expecting it to be a back-related injury. However, PGA Tour’s Paul Hodowanic revealed that the 29-year-old’s back issues from 2025 haven’t relapsed. Instead, the reason behind his withdrawal is entirely different.

Hodowanic tweeted, “This is not directly related to any back issues, FYI. Per our reporter on-site @jimmyreinman, Zalatoris withdrew with a left ankle injury.”

Jimmy Reinman’s report on the PGA Tour, however, didn’t provide any further details on how Zalatoris injured his left ankle. Shortly after, the Tour confirmed that Zalatoris himself informed officials of the ankle issue, ruling out any connection to last year’s disc replacement procedure. The withdrawal came ahead of the opening round of the 2026 Cognizant Classic in the Palm Beaches at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. His comeback timeline depends on the seriousness of the injury. A mild ankle sprain won’t keep him out for more than 2-3 weeks. However, a serious high-ankle injury can keep him sidelined for two months as well.

It’s definitely a huge blow considering his current form and shaky status on the PGA Tour. Will Zalatoris, 29, was already having a tough time on the course. He started his 2026 campaign with a T18 finish at the American Express before missing the cut at the 2026 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines a week later. A top finish here would’ve been a nice boost to his confidence.

Notably, this was also Zalatoris’s tournament debut at the PGA National. He is playing on a major medical extension, which has only 14 starts remaining. He also needs 255 FedEx Cup points to fulfill it, per the report on the PGA Tour.

On top of it, his priority ranking, which is used to determine the field in tournaments, didn’t get him into either the WM Phoenix Open or the two signature events following it. That included the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Genesis Invitational, further underscoring how much ground he still has to make up after slipping to No. 252 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Having said that, let’s look at the timeline of the back issues that troubled him last season.

Will Zalatoris’ back issues that ruined his 2025

After missing the cut at the 2025 PGA Championship, Will Zalatoris didn’t play a single event last season. The reason was that he was experiencing severe pain in his back. After an MRI scan, the doctors diagnosed that he had two reherniated discs.

In May 2025, Zalatoris underwent surgery performed by Dr. Michael Duffy at the Texas Back Institute. Thanks to his expertise, the procedure went smoothly.

Zalatoris revealed on Instagram, “This spring, I started feeling some discomfort and instability in my back that progressively got worse.”

He seemed to be regaining his lost composure on the greens. Indeed, after the American Express, Will Zalatoris revealed he was playing without pain for the first time in a couple of years.

“This is the first time, I would say, in four years that I haven’t been able to not have any sciatica down my legs,” said the one-time PGA Tour winner.

Earlier this season, he expanded on that relief, explaining that the difference now is physical capability rather than pain management. “The sciatica, the leg weakness — I haven’t had any of that,” he said. “The difference now is that I can do the things that I’ve needed to do. Physically, I wasn’t capable of doing those things. There were times where I’d play a couple of weeks and then have to take a full week off.”

It took him seven months to completely recover from the last surgery. That operation, an artificial disc replacement, came two years after an initial microdiscectomy in April 2023 to address herniated discs at L4-L5 and L5-S1, a procedure that followed his withdrawal from the 2023 Masters and kept him out for eight months. He later returned at the Hero World Challenge in December 2023 and gradually worked back into a fuller schedule in 2024 before the 2025 setback. However, this time, since it’s not a similar back injury, hopefully Zalatoris will be able to play competitive golf soon enough.