Will Zalatoris looks at a tee shot during the second round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge on Friday in Sun City, South Africa.
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Will Zalatoris finally have an off season. And he loved it.
The 28-year-old hasn’t technically had one since 2019, as he spent the previous four years either rehabbing his back or playing in his final PGA Tour season.
Now, in recent months — without lingering back problems and without the need to play in the fall FedEx Cup — he’s had a chance to actually work on things important to him.
“It’s kind of nice to have a year where as opposed to rehabbing, I’m actually making progress,” Zalatoris said.
And much of that progress has come in the gym.
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Zalatoris is in South Africa this week, making his DP World Tour Nedbank Golf Challenge debut. He finished 13th at the BMW Championship in August – just missing out on the Tour Championship – and his only start since then was a trip to Japan for the Zozo Championship in October. This is just a start in three months.
“I haven’t played much, but that was on purpose,” Zalatoris said DP World Tour Communications Team on Wednesday. “I wanted to be at home, be able to eat 4,500 calories a day and 200 grams of protein and train and get better.”
Zalatoris said this offseason was the hardest he’s ever worked. Long known for his lean physique, he has now put on 15 kilos of muscle over the past two months. It also hopes to pay dividends.
He has been one of the bright young stars on Tour since joining in 2020-21, a year highlighted by his runner-up finish at the Masters. He’s now five runners-up to a Tour title of his own (2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship), but he had to sit out most of 2023 after pulling out of the Masters and opting for Tiger Woods had the same back surgery.
Zalatoris returned to last year’s World Hero Challenge — the same event taking place in the Bahamas this week — and showed visible rust, shooting rounds of 81, 68, 79 and 71 while working on swing and gear changes (he also spent a long time shooting to help relieve pressure on the back).
He found some success early in 2024, tying for second at the Genesis Invitational and tying for fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invite, but he later withdrew by Rocket Mortgage Classic and missed his next three cuts. He rebounded for the FedEx Cup Playoffs (T12 and T13) and entered every Signature Event for 2025. It was a promising end to a disappointing year and a half.
Last year, he was 77th in driving distance with 302.5 yards (he was 13th two years ago), but with his new size and speed, he hopes he can improve as well.
