Why did Will Zalatoris withdraw from Masters 2023? Golfer withdraws before his round 1 tee time

Will Zalatoris withdraws from the Masters 2023 despite being poised to make a solid run at the tournament. The world number eight golfer was ready to make a run in his first major victory. He finished as a runner-up at the Masters in 2021, the U.S. Open in 2022 and the PGA Championship in 2022.

Before he even teed off, however, he withdrew. Zalatoris didn't even get a chance to try at the Masters due to an injury. He was suffering from an injury, so he withdrew from the competition right in the first round. Fans have been left disappointed with his sudden exit.

Zalatoris entered the Masters tournament with pretty good odds of winning it all:

Scottie Scheffler +650
Rory McIlroy +750
Jon Rahm +800
Cameron Smith +1400
Jordan Spieth +1400
Justin Thomas +1500
Will Zalatoris +1600
Collin Morikawa +1600
Max Homa +1600
Xander Schauffele +2000
Patrick Cantlay +2000
Sam Burns +2500
Jason Day +2500
Tony Finau +2800
Sungjae Im +2800
Dustin Johnson +2800
Viktor Hovland +2800
Cameron Young +3000
Brooks Koepka +3000
Joohyung (Tom) Kim +3300
Hideki Matsuyama +3500
Matthew Fitzpatrick +3500
Joaquin Niemann +4000

Zalatoris was scheduled to tee off at 1:24 but withdrew from the Masters tournament before ever taking an official swing.

Will Zalatoris has had poor injury luck

The former PGA Tour rookie of the year was looking forward to being healthy and being able to compete in the 2023 Masters. This makes Will Zalatoris' withdrawal even more frustrating.

He expected to participate and said before the tournament via the Golf Channel:

"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."

He added:

"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."

Unfortunately, his health didn't last and he had to withdraw from the tournament. His chance at a green jacket will have to come next year for the 2024 Masters.

About the author

Zachary is a journalist covering NFL, Professional Golf, esports, and Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda. He has a degree in writing/editing from Southern Adventist University (USA), and in his spare time, he likes to play games such as Minecraft, Pokémon and Fortnite, or watch sports.

Ever since he was a youth football wide receiver, Zachary has been an avid NFL fan. He loves the Carolina Panthers, with Cam Newton being his all-time favorite player (with respect to the close second, Steve Smith). If you ever meet Zachary, prepare to hear all about how underrated Newton was and how he single-handedly dragged the Panthers to Super Bowl 50.

Zachary is also a big fan of top golfers like Tiger Woods, Wyndham Clark, and Scottie Scheffler. He enjoys watching them and hopes that Woods can return to form soon and win again.

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Edited by Aditya Singh