Injured Zalatoris out of FedEx finale, Presidents Cup

It seems Will Zalatoris can’t take a trick. He finally gets over the line and secures his first PGA Tour trophy at the FedEx St. Jude Championship and a fortnight later the 26-year-old is sidelined with a serious back injury.

Zalatoris was forced off the course during the third round of the BMW Championship and has now announced that due to a pair of herniated disks, he will be unavailable for both the Tour Championship at East Lake starting on Thursday and the Presidents Cup next month.

Will Zalatoris won his first PGA Tour title at the recent FedEx St Jude Championship (Credit: PGA Tour)

It’s a huge blow for the American. Ranked 3rd on the FedExCup leaderboard and with an automatic seven-under start, the adopted Texan was a real chance at claiming the season-ending spoils.

“After Will’s withdrawal from the BMW Championship on Saturday, his medical team determined that the source of his back pain is two herniated discs. Unfortunately, this means that Will is unable to play this week at the Tour Championship,” said Zalatoris’ agent Allen Hobbs in a statement.

“He is also very disappointed that he will not have the opportunity to play in next month’s Presidents Cup, where he was hoping to play for Captain Love and represent the United States. Will would like to thank his fans, sponsors, the Tour, and his team for all of their support. He is fully focused on getting healthy and back onto the course as soon as he is able.”

The World No.9 will automatically receive US$500,000 in FedExCup bonus money for making the top-30 but that is well short of the tens of millions that were on offer in Atlanta.