Will Zalatoris Using Recovery Time Following Back Surgery To Complete Degree From Wake Forest

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Will Zalatoris is making valuable use of his time while recovering from back surgery by finishing up his degree from Wake Forest.

We haven't seen Zalatoris on a golf course since the Masters in April, a tournament he actually withdrew from before hitting a single shot. Instead of sitting around binging Netflix in between rehab sessions like most other 26-year-olds would, he's been hitting the books.

"I'm graduating right now, finishing up my degree from Wake Forest," Zalatoris explained on the 'Chris Vernon Show.' "Now, I'm starting to be able to do stuff, it's great. Because the first eight weeks where I wasn't able to do anything ... I ordered every book I could possibly find and I'm not much of a reader. I'm like signing up for classes. I'm finding stuff to do just because I knew I was going to go insane."

Finishing up his education sounds like it may have come from a place of boredom, but hey, earning a degree is earning a degree.

Will Zalatoris is graduating from Wake Forest having finished up his degree at Wake Forest. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Zalatoris left Wake Forest in 2017 to turn professional, and seeing as how he only had one semester left to complete, tying up that loose end when he doesn't have a whole lot else to do seems like a no-brainer.

As for when Willy Z may return to the links, he's circled one of the fall tournaments, specifically mentioning the month of October.

"I’m looking at the fall tournaments (in October). There’s no rush on how many I play in the fall; it's just making sure I get some competitive reps in before January. After 12 weeks, essentially, the integrity of the joint is at its max. It's just that everything needs to settle into place," Zalatoris explained.

Zalatoris earned 2021 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year honors, a year highlighted by a runner-up finish in his Masters' debut. He picked up his lone PGA Tour win in Memphis in 2022 after beating Sepp Straka in a playoff at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and all other happenings in the world of golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.