"He's like Gumby probably": Ex-PGA Tour Champion advises Will Zalatoris to change golf swing to help with back injury

Will Zalatoris has dealt with a myriad of back issues as a professional golfer. He's one of the brightest talents in the sport but has been derailed by back injuries that persist despite having various surgeries and procedures. Rocco Mediate believes there's one thing Zalatoris hasn't done yet that he needs to do to deal with his injury problems.

Mediate clarified his expertise on the subject on Sirius XM:

"The beauty of his golf swing, first of all, there's things you have to sacrifice and that's your body. I've looked at it some, but I'm certainly not saying I'm some sort of super golf swing teacher guy."

The golfer then said that the persistent injuries don't make sense for Zalatoris:

"Obviously, they need to make some more changes because he's in perfect physical shape. He carries no extra weight. He's probably limber, he's like Gumby probably. He's probably very fit. This shouldn't happen. It shouldn't."

He continued, speculating at why these strange injuries have occurred:

"The only way it happens is if something is going on in the golf swing that's causing that tweak, whatever you wanna call it. It's always going to be there, you have to manage it. You have to change a lot of stuff to continue to play at the level he wants to play at. And he can play at, look at how he's played a couple of times this year already."

Zalatoris has been a PGA Tour Rookie of the Year. While he doesn't have a win this year, he's made 70% of the cuts and has three top-10 finishes. That includes a T2 at the Genesis Invitational.

It's been hard for anyone not named Scottie Scheffler to get wins this season, but Zalatoris has performed well despite the struggles he's faced with his health. Mediate believes that he might need to tweak his swing to alleviate the back more and allow him to play more often.

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Will Zalatoris out of Byron Nelson

The former Rookie of the Year will not be in the field for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson this year. He is withdrawing after placing T44 at the RBC Heritage, citing the need for rest and recovery.

Will Zalatoris has withdrawn from the next event

Via the PGA Tour, he admitted that he's disappointed in having to miss something he's watched or played since he was very young:

"The Nelson and the Salesmanship Club have been so important to me my entire playing career and I hope to win Mr. Nelson's trophy someday. My back needs some rest and recovery. I am ahead of schedule according to my doctors but unfortunately the first six months back are the most important for the long term health of my back. I need to be prudent to make sure that I don't miss a big chunk of time again."

To ensure he can play without taking months off in recovery from injury, Zalatoris has to occasionally skip tournaments he would otherwise play. Until his back issues are a thing of the past, this is probably the reality.