Will Zalatoris becomes the latest golfer to drop out of the Byron Nelson
Even though Austin didn't have the Dell Match Play this year, golf fans still have ample opportunity to get out around the state and see some of their local heroes.
Unfortunately, those who chose this week’s Byron Nelson at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney to see Texas stars in action will largely come away unhappy.
First, Masters champion Scottie Scheffler opted to skip this week as he and wife Meredith await the birth of their first child. That had been expected. But on Tuesday, Will Zalatoris surprised tournament organizers by withdrawing from the tournament, citing the need to rest his back, which underwent surgery just over a year ago.
“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,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “I need to be prudent to make sure I don’t miss a big chunk of time again.”
Nick Watney replaces Zalatoris, who was one of the top draws this week, in the field.
Zalatoris, 27, entered the week ranked No. 30 in the Official World Golf Ranking. He has recorded three top-10 finishes this season — a T-2 at the Genesis Championship in February, a T-4 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and a T-9 at the Masters in April. He competed at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last week, where he missed the cut with Sahith Theegala.
Zalatoris told a media official that he has a big stretch of golf in the months ahead with three majors still remaining on the schedule and a Signature event scheduled for next week in Charlotte.
He is taking advantage of being home and getting treatment, and he told a media official he could’ve played this week. This would’ve been his fourth straight start and if he played the Wells Fargo Championship, a $20 million event, next week and the PGA Championship thereafter as well as the Charles Schwab Challenge in nearby Fort Worth, he’d be looking at seven in a row to be followed by the RBC Canadian Open and then three straight must-play starts — the Memorial, the U.S. Open and the Travelers Championship, which all have purses of at least $20 million.
Bernhard Langer to return in Texas
The legend of Bernhard Langer grows.
The 66-year-old PGA Tour Champions stalwart tore his Achilles on Feb. 1. He had already announced plans to make the 2024 Masters his last trip down Magnolia Lane, but he later said he’d make the 2025 one his last, after his recovery. Langer made the cut at Augusta National Golf Club as recently as 2020.
Well, his recovery is coming right along, as Langer has announced he is planning to make his Champions Tour return next week, right at the three-month mark of his injury. He’s planning to play the PGA Tour Champions’ Insperity Invitational at The Woodlands Country Club.
Langer said the Achilles tear happened when he was playing pickleball. He went in for surgery the next day and has been wearing a walking boot for several weeks since then. But if you thought that type of injury was going to be the end of his career, think again.
“I think I can still be productive for a few more years,” he said. “I still think I have a lot of good golf in me.”
Two of his record-setting 46 victories on the senior circuit came in the Insperity, in 2014 and 2018.
Major restoration for Lufkin club
Golf course architects Trey Kemp and John Colligan have started a project to restore the playing conditions at Crown Colony Country Club in Lufkin in eastern Texas. Originally designed by Bruce Devlin and Robert von Hagge, Crown Colony opened in 1979. The semi-private club offers stay-and-play packages.
“The course has been kept in great shape over the years, but the greens have gotten smaller, the bunkers have lost their original shapes and the time has come for many of the components to be updated,” Kemp said in a media release announcing the news.
Work will include expanding the greens, which have shrunk, as most greens do over time. Kemp and Colligan have enlisted Sanders Golf Course Construction to help rebuild the greens and the bunkers. Other work will focus on the course’s bridges, tree trimming, tees and drainage.
“The renovation will address aesthetics, playability and maintenance elements of the course in an effort to take it back to its original grandeur,” Colligan said in the media release. “Trey and I are very honored to have this opportunity to restore such a great piece of Texas golf history.”
Tim Schmitt is the managing editor for Golfweek, golf coordinator for the USA Today Network and lives in Round Rock. Adam Schupak contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris won't play in this week's tourney
