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NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — There was a time in Matthew Wolff’s life when getting out of bed was harder than any shot he had ever faced on a golf course. A time when the last thing he wanted was to travel to another event and be surrounded by people and “screw up in front of everyone.”
A time when Wolff realized that money and fame had nothing to do with happiness.
That moment was just 14 months ago, after Wolff, a celebrated member of the PGA Tour’s rookie class of 2019, had already won one tour event, finishing in the top four of two majors, including runner-up at the US Open 2020, and won more than $3.5 million in prize money.
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“It’s tough when you’re struggling and you have to play three or four weeks in a row and you feel like you’re stuck,” Wolff said. “You feel like you can’t get out of it.”
Wolff sat on the podium for his first press conference as a member of the LIV Golf Series on Tuesday and talked about something he had done very little of in 2021. Something he worked hard to recover from after missing two months from the PGA. Tours in the spring. last year to prioritize his mental health.
“I haven’t given many interviews recently, but I feel like I’m sounding the best I’ve sounded in a long time,” said Wolff, the 23-year-old from Jupiter. “I have a smile on my face. I’m happy. I’m smiling. I mean, I feel a little different, honestly. It feels great to be here.”
Wolff made his LIV Golf debut Thursday at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club outside Portland.
Golfers who joined LIV have done so knowing the repercussions of being aligned with a company financed by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund. That is a personal decision that each one had to make.
And no matter what talking points they’ve been taught to say, the main reason for joining LIV is the money Greg Norman’s group is spending. But for Wolff, this is something he believes is beneficial beyond seeing his accounts grow.
This finding the right balance in your life and realizing your mental health is bigger than anything you can accomplish on a golf course.
Matthew Wolff had a tough 2020 Masters
The first outward sign of Wolff’s struggles came at the 2020 Masters when he was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard after his second round. He played without passion, appearing disinterested, according to reports. Although he had withdrawn from two tournaments in the previous two months, he was dealing with a wrist injury.
After missing the cut in New Orleans two weeks after the Masters, Wolff decided he needed to work on himself more than his game.
“Mental illness or not being happy, that’s an injury, and people don’t see it that way,” he told the Northern Trust last August. “People see it as, ‘oh, you’re not happy’ or ‘you’re a little screwed up in the head, you’re just playing poorly. (They say) Get over it, keep working.’
“But it’s more than that, it’s more than just how you play. It’s about enjoying yourself. If you don’t feel good, if you don’t feel like you want to be out there… Some of the feelings that I have. I had to get out of bed and just like I couldn’t, like I didn’t want to get out of bed.
“If you’re not feeling 100 percent, it doesn’t matter if it’s physical or mental, it’s an injury. And you should be able to rehab and take your time to get to where you need to be.”
Wolff then had back-to-back top-five finishes last fall at the Shriners Children’s Open and World Wide Technology Championship in Mayakoba. Results, however, have been disappointing of late, missing six cuts in his last nine events, starting with the Honda Classic in February.
But for Wolff, golf is now secondary.
Wolff playing on Phil Mickelson’s team this week
Wolff will cover various aspects of the LIV format. A reduced calendar: eight events this year, but this is expected to increase to 10 next year and 14 in 2024; 54-hole tournaments like the ones he played at Oklahoma State, where he was the 2019 NCAA singles champion; and the team component.
Wolff is in the Hy Flyers, captained by Phil Mickelson and including Bernd Wiesberger and Itthipat Buranatanyarat.
“It just gives me the perfect balance of being able to enjoy my time off the golf course and even when I’m not at a tournament, being able to travel and work,” he said. “I feel like honestly because of the little breaks that we have as well, when you’re only playing a week and then you have some time off, I feel like I’m going to be excited to come to every single tournament.” “
Tom D’Angelo is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at [email protected]