Eddie’s getting the hang of it all
EDDIE Pepperell will open a new chapter in his career this week when he plays in his first World Golf Championship in Mexico. A fortnight later, he will make his debut in a regular PGA Tour event in America, as he builds towards a first appearance at the Masters in April.
The 28-year-old Englishman has a penchant for looking at the world from a different angle, and has been preparing for this shiny new adventure by hanging upside down for 10 minutes each day.
Rather than more evidence of his flair for the unconventional, however, there is a clear purpose to this latest example of lateral thinking. Frustrated after having last season curtailed by back problems, following his victory at the British Masters in October, Pepperell bought an inversion table that tilts sufferers at varying angles.
‘I read all the reviews and people were raving so much it seemed almost too good to be true, so I thought I’d try it,’ he said. ‘It’s made a big difference. I’ve got so used to doing it for 10 minutes daily when I’m at home that when I saw one in a shop window in Dubai recently, I did wonder if anyone would mind if I stepped inside and hung at a weird angle for a bit.’
It is the sort of thoughtful, humorous riposte that will be familiar to anyone who follows Pepperell’s monthly blog, or entertaining Twitter account. You get so accustomed to young pros consumed by raging ambition it is refreshing to talk to Pepperell, who tempers his excitement at what lies ahead with an admittance to frailty.
‘My big thing this year is to be more consistent and I’ve got a great schedule coming up, but I do wonder how I will react if I struggle in America,’ he said. ‘We’ve seen it before when players sample a new environment, and I’ve a tendency to react impulsively.
‘So, I’m fascinated to see how I get on. I know I don’t have to reinvent any wheels at the moment the way I’ve been playing, but it would be nice to find a couple of spokes.’
Pepperell is heading west following an extraordinary season last year, when bouts of depression were mixed with considerable highs. During the month of July alone, he went from pulling out of the French Open because he felt too low to get on a flight to Paris, to finishing runnerup at the Scottish Open a fortnight later.
The following Saturday, no one could blame him for going out and drinking an entire bottle of wine to celebrate. Well, apart from the fact that it just happened to be the night before the final round of the Open. The next day at Carnoustie, he shot the best score of the day, a 67 in the teeth of a considerable wind to finish sixth.
Pepperell’s blog on his memorable fortnight mentioned neither performance. Instead, he talked about wandering around Didcot in Oxford- shire, craving a bag of Thornton’s chocolates and reflecting on the fact that a sum of £500,000 had just landed in his bank account. ‘I guess I’m different from most sportsmen in that I am not out there trying to be perfect, or someone I’m not,’ he says. ‘I suppose you rarely hear a golfer say some of the things I say, but we’re the same in many ways. We’re all very good at swinging a golf club, it’s as simple as that. The fact that I’m willing to be honest is perhaps unusual.’ The highlight of his upcoming trip, of course, is a first visit to Augusta. ‘I’m like so many others in that I grew up watching all Tiger’s great deeds there, so yeah, I’m looking forward to it, obviously,’ he said. ‘I’ve got a lot of family coming out, but to be honest, that’s the event where I’ve got the least expectation. I’m going to actively downgrade my chances. ‘Of course, as a competitor, you want to do well, but we all know what that place can do to debutants whose hopes are too high.’ Does he have any reservations about Augusta’s exclusivity? ‘Well, I’ve just been playing golf in Saudi Arabia, so I don’t think that’s a subject I can comment upon,’ he said, grinning ruefully. ‘I’d be a raging hypocrite if I did that.’ Pepperell tackling America head on. At the very least, it promises to be blog and Twitter heaven.