We’ve already been here, over 3 and a half years ago, when I mentioned that Will Zalatoris was going to miss the rest of the 2023 season following back surgery.

Unfortunately, he is continuing down the Tiger Woods Disaster Track, as he will now miss the entire 2027 following a spinal fusions procedure.

This is nothing new, and this won’t help Will any more than it has Woods.

As far as the news, here’s what Golf Digest has to say about it:

… 30-year-old Zalatoris said he is scheduled to undergo a spinal-fusion surgery in late November.

“I’ve been through four years of hell so it’s good to have something that will hopefully correct it,” Zalatoris said. “It’s not something you want to do, but when you have three Tour physical therapists tell you it needs to be done at some time, you go ahead and do it.”

This will mark Zalatoris’ third major back procedure, following a 2023 microdiscectomy and 2025 artificial disc replacement. He played in four events this year before missing the remainder of the season with torn right hip labrum. According to a Golf.com report, Zalatoris also revealed Wednesday that he reinjured his back during a T-67 at the Valero Texas Open in early April, the most recent tournament he’s played.

But it isn’t going to solve Will’s issues.

Why?

Because, if you’re doing something that damages your back to the point you need spinal fusion – say, swinging in the Modern Golf Swing style and twisting your back in ways it isn’t designed to twist – and you don’t change what you’re doing to cause that damage…

You’re just going to be damaging your spine in a different place.

Do a Google search for “How many back surgeries has Tiger Woods had since his spinal fusion?”

The answer you will get is “three.”

• January 2021 (5th Surgery): A microdiscectomy to remove a pressurized disc fragment pinching a nerve at the L4-L5 level (just above his 2017 L5-S1 fusion).
• September 2024 (6th Surgery): A lumbar microdecompression surgery to address nerve impingement in his lower back, performed by Dr. Sheeraz Qureshi.
• October 10, 2025 (7th Surgery): A lumbar disc replacement surgery at the L4-L5 level to treat a collapsed disc and nerve compression caused by adjacent-segment stress from his original fusion.

So, what does that tell you?

It tells me that Tiger has had as many back surgeries since his spinal fusion as he had before it.

He’s had 7 back surgeries and the spinal fusion was his fourth, so he had three before and has had three since.

As I said at the time of his spinal fusion that, unless one stops swinging in the way that initially damaged one’s back, the spinal fusion will just transfer the damaging torque stress to another, undamaged part of the spine.

And we shall rinse and repeat.

Was I wrong about Tiger?

Of course not, because it was common sense.

If a guy loved to hammer his toe with a mallet and eventually had to have it removed and he chose another toe to hammer… what result could you reasonably expect?

Apparently, the Modern Golf Swing industry loves to hammer its toes.

It’s a shame, because Zalatoris is obviously a talented golfer who, because he was taught a faulty and damaging swing model, will never realize his full potential, because he’ll be out of the game in a short time, unless he changes things up.