Fortunately, there was no inclement weather at the ACCORDIA Golf Narashino Golf Club. However, it does not mean that the 2024 ZOZO Championship is moving forward without any hiccups. A mysterious illness and injuries take over the field. At first, it was Emiliano Grillo who withdrew from the ZOZO Championship even before its commencement.

It was the Italian pro’s third back-to-back withdrawal in the FedEx Fall season for an unknown injury he suffered. Now after the opening day concluded and the second round is just starting for the top 78 players field, Maverick McNealy also withdrew before teeing up for his second round. McNealy had shot 1 over 70 in the first round and withdrew because of an illness. Pro pulling out of the PGA Tour events due to undisclosed injuries or illness is not the first at the ZOZO Championship.

Even at the Genesis Invitational at the Riviera Country Club, at first Tiger Woods withdrew without disclosing the exact reason. But then the word got out that the 15-time major winner was inflicted with influenza. Hopefully, McNealy doesn’t have a similar disease and will make a quick recovery for the next PGA Tour event at the World Wide Technology Championship on El Cardonal at Diamante.

A similar row of withdrawals was seen at the Sanderson Farms Championship; more than five pros, including Cameron Champ, Joel Dahmen, and others, exited the events before the start or after the opening round. Things were no different at the debut Black Desert Championship, wherein a string of WDs were observed.

As McNealy bid farewell to the Narashino greens, although his illness was not disclosed, it intentionally hurt one particular pro.

Maverick McNealy’s ZOZO Championship WD upsets a pro

As it always happens, if a PGA Tour pro withdraws from an event before it starts, the alternates get a chance to tee up. When Emiliano Grillo was out of the ZOZO Championship field, he was replaced by Carlson Young. However, no other pro can be added when withdrawal occurs in the middle of the tournament. Thus, the field just gets short of one player at 77.

And as the first alternate, in case of pre-event withdrawal, Dylan Wu seemed pissed because if Maverick McNealy’s withdrawal came earlier than the first round, Wu would have been in the field of the Narashino Golf Club. It could have been his fifth consecutive event in the FedEx fall season, where he has missed the cut in three out of four starts. A good finish would have catapulted Wu in the FedExCup ranking from 134th to under 130 and closer to making the top 125 cut for the 2025 PGA Tour cards.

Thus, he replied to McNealy’s withdrawal tweet, frustratingly saying, “Just love to see it when you were first alternate 😑😑😑.” There are still three more FedEx Fall events to go before the season ends, and hopefully, both McNealy and Dylan Wu will make it through without any hurdles.