Tiger Woods’ influence on Will Zalatoris’ comeback at The Masters, unveiled

A year ago to today, Will Zalatoris underwent a microdiscectomy to repair a herniated disc in his back.

But what made things even worse for Zalatoris was that his surgery occurred on the same day as the third round of the 2023 Masters Tournament.

But this year, Zalatoris has a healthy back and played the back nine at Augusta National with Tiger Woods early Monday morning.

“[Tiger] It really helped with my rehabilitation after coming back from surgery,” Zalatoris explained on Monday.

“So it’s always special to be here, but obviously, given the last year I’ve had, today was a very special day.”

About 20 minutes before tee time for the first round, Zalatoris felt something snap on the practice field. He knew something was wrong, so he had to back out.

Less than 48 hours later, Zalatoris was operated on by the same surgeon who performed a microscopic discectomy on Woods in 2015.

In the months that followed, Woods provided valuable support to Zalatoris, often reaching out to see how the 26-year-old was progressing in his recovery.

“It was more like, ‘Hey, how are you feeling?'” Do you feel this? Do you feel that way? The game of patience is really difficult,” Zalatoris explained.

“He had been through more than I had been through. We have the same surgeon, we’re kind of on the same team, and we have that conversation of, ‘Hey, how do you feel after all this time?’ only. How do you feel after all this time? ”

Woods and Zalatoriz later met at a charity event in October, about six months after the Masters and Zalatoriz’s surgeries were completed.

Photo by: Warren Little/Getty Images

“I spent some time with him on the practice range there, and I don’t think I could hit any more shots than irons,” Zalatoris added.

“He and I talked a little bit about my golf swing. It was still lingering at the time, but actually, after about seven months, I literally felt 100 percent. So I understood the process. And even though the doctors said 12 weeks, it was hard for me to understand that we’re trying to win and compete at the highest level. Technically it’s much longer.”

Zalatoris then returned to competitive play at the Hero World Challenge, and Woods also returned to golf as a professional.

The 15-time major champion also withdrew from the 2023 Masters after the third round, citing ankle and foot injuries.

But now Woods is back and looking healthy.

He played great today. He passed me a few times so there was some squealing going on. So, you know, he looks great. He’s moving as well as he can,” Zalatoris said of Woods.

“It’s pretty amazing to see how well he’s swinging considering everything he’s been through.”

Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.