Will Zalatoris WITHDRAWS from Masters 2023 minutes before tee time as Top 10 star pulls out through injury
WILL ZALATORIS has withdrawn from the 2023 Masters due to injury.
The American golfer exited the competition just minutes before he was due to tee off.
It is a great disappointment for the golfer who finished joint sixth in the Masters last year.
In 2021, he finished second so he was expected to challenge for the coveted green jacket this year.
The 26-year-old was due to tee off at 6.24pm UK time alongside Collin Morikawa and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Coach Josh Gregory revealed that Zalatoris woke up feeling tight this morning that it never improved.
He added that when he asked the golfer if he was okay, he replied “No, I’m actually not”, and that they decided to be cautious and not risk further injury.
Zalatoris is the No. 8 golfer in the world according to the official golf rankings.
Only on Tuesday, Zalatoris insisted he felt “great” after overcoming a stomach bug at the WGC-Dell Match Play in March.
However, he seems to have been unable to overcome an ankle injury that had him rated at 50/50 to be able to play at the Masters.
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Speaking of the injury, he previously said: “The genesis of (the injury) was actually bad right ankle mobility.
“Because of me not pushing off my right side soon enough and being a very kind of dynamic player with some side bend, my right hip got high and tilt back.
“We’ve been trying to get me actually to stand closer to the golf ball, so that makes me create space with the ball so I can turn more horizontal as opposed to lateral.
“It’s been good. It’s taken its sweet time to get the full swing to come back, but I think really the last couple weeks we finally have seen some progress.”
He joins fellow American Kevin Na, who withdrew from the tournament midway through his first round.
The LIV Golf star admitted that illness was the reason for him to leave the competition.
In doing so, he left Mike Weir to play on his own.
Norwegian golfer Viktor Hovland is currently leading the tournament as he is seven under from his opening 13 holes.