Gary Woodland and Will Zalatoris are back!
Both players are loved by their peers and fans alike, and currently… on site Next week's Sony Open in Hawaii will be the PGA Tour's first full-field event in 2024.
Woodland last played at the Windham Championship in August, where he tied for 27th place. A few weeks later, days after the Tour Championship, Woodland announced that he would need surgery to remove a lesion on his brain.
“I wanted to share with you all about my recent health situation,” Woodland wrote on August 30, 2023. “I was diagnosed several months ago and have been trying to treat my symptoms with medication.”
“After consulting with multiple specialists and speaking with my family, we decided that surgical removal of the lesion was the best course of action. I am doing well with my family and team by my side and I appreciate everyone's love and support. Thank you very much for your support.”
Fortunately for Woodland, the surgery was successful on September 18th and he has been resting and recuperating ever since.
He returns to Waialae Country Club for the Sony Open, his first tournament since surgery. No matter how the 2019 U.S. Open champion ends up, his appearance in Honolulu will undoubtedly be a great accomplishment.
The Sony Open in Hawaii (January 11-14) is the second tournament and first full-field event of the 2024 PGA Tour season.
Field: pic.twitter.com/Ss7v3cy3QD
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) January 5, 2024
As for Zalatoris, he last played at the Hero World Challenge in December.
He struggled in the Bahamas, finishing last by a mile. But it had been a while since he started doing that.
Before playing in Tiger Woods' tournament, Zalatoris last teed up, or at least tried, at the 2023 Masters. Minutes before tee time for the opening round, he felt an impact on his back on Augusta National's practice range.
This forced him to retreat.
Three days later, the former Wake Forest Demon Deacon found himself in a hospital bed awaiting back surgery. He will miss the remainder of the 2023 season due to his lower back.
But with those health issues in the rearview mirror, Woodland and Zalatoris can both look forward and focus on the game they love.
And the PGA Tour and its fans will be happy to have them back, too.
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.
