‘I would like to make it clear I am not a party animal’
Eddie Pepperell tells James Corrigan his confession at the Open was not the full story
Eddie Pepperell knows his mouth, not to mention his typing fingers, can get him into trouble, but as one of the most original thinkers in golf he finds it difficult to avoid articulating what he feels. This should be kept in mind when the 27-year-old from Oxfordshire claims that, despite finishing sixth at the Open three weeks ago, he does not fancy his chances in this week’s USPGA, and nor is he especially bothered with qualifying to make his debut at the Ryder Cup or the Masters.
“I haven’t had goals for so long in golf that I don’t know what I want from this sport any more,” Pepperell says. “I would like it to be clear, however, that I am not a party animal.”
Pepperell’s friends are “still laughing themselves silly” at the notion created after his final round at Carnoustie. Having shot a best-of-the-day 67 for a five-under total that in the worsening conditions some experts thought might be enough to win, Pepperell told the media: “I have to admit, I drank too much last night.” And so the story flashed around the globe about the hangover kid who dared to storm the elite’s table to sample the champagne.
“It made me sound as if I was out until 3am and was legless,” he says. “I only had a bottle of wine and was in bed just after 11pm. I couldn’t have been that drunk because I remember brushing my teeth. I’m lucky I didn’t win, as the image would really have stuck.”
There were moments on that long Sunday when Pepperell truly did believe he was in with a chance. “For a little while, I did think I could actually get in a play-off. It was a strange feeling and I was in two minds whether I even wanted to be in a play-off after sitting there for a few hours. People might not believe it, but there was a certain sense of relief when I couldn’t win and I could go home.”
Pepperell plainly did not require consolation but after his second place in the Scottish Open it came anyway, in the form of the £840,000 he earnt in that links fortnight. Alongside his maiden European Tour win at Qatar in February it adds up to more than £1million this season so far.
Having lost his card and been outside the world’s top 500 less than 15 months ago, he is up to 57th. The top 50 at the end of the year receive an invitation to the Masters and if that is enticing, then there is also a certain event in Paris to consider. Pepperell is 14th in the Ryder Cup standings, with the top eight qualifying.
“I haven’t thought about it and it won’t even enter the back of my mind. Obviously, I had dreams when I was young of playing for Europe and teeing it up at Augusta, but now they don’t figure as anything more than by-products.
“What I went through a couple of years ago told me how quickly it can all go wrong.”
If it is possible, a wild card is yet further from his thoughts. “I was partnered with Thomas [Bjorn, the Europe captain] a few months ago and on the first I took seven off the tee [having lost three balls]. As we walked down that fairway I said to him, ‘Now about that captain’s pick …’ ” That humour is instantly recognisable to anyone who reads his blog. Occasionally he ventures into areas his peers would consider out of bounds. On social media he has cultivated a delicious brand of irreverence.
“Ian Poulter asked me a few weeks ago if any pros have ever taken offence and the answer is ‘no’. My philosophy is the same as Ricky Gervais at those Golden Globes awards – If anybody should be able to handle some baiting it’s that lot, the most successful players on the planet. I wouldn’t do it to someone who is struggling. That would make me a bully.”
Pepperell is not one of those, and is also so much more than an intriguing quote or two. There is no reason why he should not challenge at the season’s final major. “Yeah, I’d have every right to feel confident, but I don’t think the course will particularly suit me and I usually play my best golf on the back of playing golf, if you know what I mean, and I haven’t played since Carnoustie. I will give it my best and might be incorrect. It wouldn’t be the first time.”
Indeed, when he opened that bottle on the Saturday night to temper the frustrations of a mediocre third round, he did not imagine that the very next day he would be depicted as rivalling Rory Mcilroy in the playing stakes and Keith Richards in the drinking stakes. “My booze confession put 10,000 followers on my Twitter account. Maybe next time I’m up there I’ll use the drugs angle to get more attention.” It could even happen this Sunday.