Will Zalatoris is making back surgery his priority over the 2027 PGA Tour season and will miss the entire year in hopes his third operation will be his last.
Zalatoris, 30, disclosed his plan on Wednesday at a press conference for the Austin Championship, part of the FedEx Cup fall schedule next month.
Zalatoris is set to undergo spinal-fusion surgery in November, his latest effort to address chronic back issues.
“I’ve been through four years of hell,” he said, “so it’s good to have something that will hopefully correct it. It’s not something you want to do, but when you have three tour physical therapists tell you it needs to be done at some time, you go ahead and do it.”
Zalatoris entered the Austin Championship, scheduled for Nov. 12-15 at the Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa’s Fazio Canyons Course. If he is able to play, the tournament would be his first start in a sanctioned tournament since April (Texas Open).
Zalatoris underwent a microdiscectomy in 2023 and a disc replacement procedure in 2025. He has played only four tournaments this year because of a right hip labrum issue.
He has one PGA Tour win — the 2022 FedEx St. Jude Championship — along with runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in 2022 following a second-place finish in the 2021 Masters.
“I just want to get it fixed,” Zalatoris said of his back. “I’ve been in contact with the tour, which has been great. It looks like I can come back in 2028 and play in the Challenger Series if everything works like it should.”