Will Zalatoris watches the ball during the second round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Friday in Sun City, South Africa.
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Will Zalatoris finally had an offseason. And he loved it.
The 28-year-old hasn’t had one since 2019, having spent the last four years either rehabbing his back or playing the offseason on the PGA Tour.
Now, in the last few months – without back problems and without the need to play in the FedEx Cup Fall – he has had the opportunity to work on things that are important to him.
“It’s a good thing to have a year where instead of recovering, I’m improving,” said Zalatoris.
And much of this improvement has come in the gym.
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Zalatoris is in South Africa this week, he will make his debut in the DP World Tour Nedbank Golf Challenge. He tied for 13th at the BMW Championship in August – just missing out on the Tour Championship – and his only start since was a trip to Japan for the Zozo Championship in October. That’s just one start in three months.
“I haven’t played much but that was intentional,” Zalatoris told the DP World Tour’s media team on Wednesday. “I wanted to be at home, able to eat my 4,500 calories a day and 200 grams of protein and train and get better.”
Zalatoris said this off-season is the hardest he has ever worked. Long known for her slim frame, she has now added 15 pounds of muscle in the past few months. He hopes it pays dividends, too.
He has been one of the brightest stars on Tour since joining for the 2020-21 season, a year highlighted by his runner-up finish at the Masters. He now has five runner-up finishes to go along with his one Tour title (the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship), but had to sit out most of 2023 after pulling out of the Masters and being scheduled for the same back surgery as Tiger Woods. .
Zalatoris returned from last year’s Hero World Challenge – the same event taking place in the Bahamas this week – and showed some obvious rust, shooting rounds of 81, 68, 79 and 71 as he worked through swings and mechanics (he also had a long shift. putter to help reduce stress on his back).
He found success early in 2024, tying for second at the Genesis Invitational and tying for fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invite, but later withdrew from the Rocket Mortgage Classic and missed his next three cuts. He also qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs (T12 and T13) and qualified for the 2025 Signature Event. It was a great ending to a year and a half.
Last year, he was No. 77 in driving distance with 302.5 yards (he ranked 13th two years earlier), but with his new bulk and speed, he hopes that can improve as well.
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