Thoughts on Will Zalatoris missing 2027 season due to upcoming back surgery

Will Zalatoris swing in 2024 just before impact

It was announced this week that Will Zalatoris will miss the entire 2027 season due to the need for spinal fusion surgery.

Zalatoris has been dealing with back issues for several years after he enjoyed considerable success in 2021 and 2022.

As most everyone who follows professional golf knows, there has been an explosion in distance off the tee, particularly among younger players coming onto the tour in recent years.

Along with that, we’ve seen considerable attention paid to speed training.

One of the issues with chasing speed at a younger age is that the body is not fully developed.

When he first came out on tour, Will was much leaner than he is now.  Now he is 6’2, 175 pounds, and that is still quite lean.

In the offseason a couple of years ago after his back issues started, he engaged in some strength training and added 15 pounds to get up to where he is now.

The issue with Will is that his golf swing puts tremendous pressure on his back.

You can see the position he is in just before impact with his side bend.  His hips are also extremely open as well.

That side bend combined is created by trying to hit up on the ball to hit it further.

The result is that the vertebrae in the lumbar spine get compressed, and this creates major wear and tear.  Have a look at the image below.

I recently watched a podcast with legendary teacher Jimmy Ballard, and they discussed Zalatoris a bit.

Ballard also mentioned Jackson Koivun and suggested he will be in for the same fate as Will.

Koivun is also quite lean like Zalatoris, and therefore appears to have been chasing swing speed with a similar swing.

Ballard suggests that the modern tour player will struggle with longevity due to these types of swings and the focus on swing speed.

I am pretty much in agreement.

I am hoping Will can find his way back to his old form, but that will be a tall order after such a major surgery.

I don’t know how a player like Koivun can make the necessary changes to avoid a similar fate.  He would pretty much need to write off a full season or two to rebuild his swing.

However, if his intent is to have a long career, it may be necessary, judging from the positions he is in below.

Jackson Koivun golf swing

Jackson is not as tall as Will, standing at 5’10, and is about 160 pounds.  So, he is a bit more solid, but in my view, these positions are not sustainable long term.

I pulled this image of Jackson from a video on Youtube where the instructor discusses this swing evolution.

He also points to Sahith Theegala as another who is in a similar position at impact and follow through, and then looks at some other players with more moderate positions, but still have the side bend.

I would note that several of the other players he mentioned have dealt with back issues at one time or another during their careers, including Lee Trevino, Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa.

Part of Trevino’s issues stemmed from being struck by lightning in 1975, but some of the other issues have been traced to his swing mechanics, particularly in his cervical spine.

The bottom line is that the golf swing is an unnatural movement and causes significant wear and tear.

However, the current chase for speed at the most competitive levels may accelerate the decline in the careers of many of today’s modern players.

Author: Scott