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Last week’s first-time winner on the PGA TOUR won’t make it two in a row, as Will Zalatoris has withdrawn from the BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club in Delaware with a back injury.
Will Zalatoris WD during R3 of BMW Championship with a back injury
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) August 20, 2022
You can see the discomfort he was in, and the withdrawal while wishing good luck to playing partner Emiliano Grillo on the way to the clubhouse here.
Zalatoris was playing through obvious pain on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/782Xo6IVU8
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 20, 2022
It means Zalatoris will likely finish second in the FedEx Cup standings for the 2021-22 season, and will be the No. 2 player at the TOUR Championship at East Lake in Atlanta starting August 25. He’ll mostly likely start with a handicap-score of -8, second to only Scottie Scheffler who is now poised to be the No. 1 overall at -10.
You can follow along with the live FedEx Cup points standings as they’re updated here. Scheffler will need to finish 32nd or better to take over the No. 1 spot, and he begins his round on Saturday T2 with a score of -7, one shot back of Adam Scott.
The winner of the BMW Championship takes home $2.7 million, where as the winner next week will go home $18 million richer.
Zalatoris was actually -1 on the day through four holes when he withdrew, and was -4 for the tournament just four shots behind leader Adam Scott. He was well in contention for back-to-back victories, so being unable to continue likely means this could be a serious injury.