Zalatoris withdraws from Tour Championship due to back injury

The 26-year-old suffered two herniated discs during the third round of the BMW Championship last weekend and pulled out after the fourth hole.

Zalatoris had given himself a great chance of winning the FedExCup with his maiden PGA Tour triumph at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, but he will not be fit for the Tour Championship at East Lake this week.

The world number nine, who is third behind Scottie Scheffler and Patrick Cantlay in the FedExCup standings, will also miss the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow next month.

If all 29 players complete 72 holes in Atlanta this weekend, Zalatoris will finish 30th in the FedExCup and pick up bonus money of $500,000, with the winner pocketing $18million

Allen Hobbs, Zalatoris' agent, said in a statement on Tuesday: "After Will’s withdrawal from the BMW Championship on Saturday, his medical team determined that the source of his back pain is two herniated discs.

"Unfortunately, this means that Will is unable to play this week at the TOUR Championship. He is also very disappointed that he will not have the opportunity to play in next month's Presidents Cup, where he was hoping to play for Captain Love [Davis III] and represent the United States.