WOLFF RETURNS WITH BETTER MINDSET AND HAVING ‘FUN’
If anyone seemingly had it all, it was Matthew Wolff.
As a freshman in 2018 at Oklahoma State he made the putt to clinch the NCAA team championship. The next year he won the NCAA individual title, then turned pro, and in his third tournament he made an eagle on the 72nd hole to beat a couple guys named Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau. In 2020 he had top-five finishes in two majors, and he finished the year ranked in the top 15 in the world.
That all happened before he turned 22 in April.
So how was it that when Wolff shot a 1-under 70 to begin the U.S. Open on Thursday at Torrey Pines, it was his first tournament in nearly two months?
He had a rough beginning to 2021, failing to finish in the top 35 in any strokeplay event, withdrawing from two tournaments (including the Farmers Insurance
Open at Torrey Pines) and getting disqualified at the Masters after signing an incorrect scorecard (he would have missed the cut anyway). His ranking dropped from 14 to 25. And then he walked away. “I love the fans, I love being out here and I want to play golf for everyone and I just, I think I just put too much pressure on myself,” Wolff said. “And it was a hard decision because I’m so new on the (PGA) Tour and it’s my first or second year and I didn’t want to walk away … and then when I finally started to get to a bad enough spot, honestly I was like, you know what, I need some time.”
He stayed away from golf for a few weeks, realized there were other professional athletes in the same place, spoke with those close to him (“The people I’ve always reached out to”) and then decided to start playing again.
“I’ve been playing for the last month, month and a
half,” he said, “but even then (it) has been really just trying to get myself to enjoy myself again and be happy. Like it’s awesome that I played well — I mean, I’m thrilled — but no matter what happened today the score that I shot … I just have been having
fun and I haven’t had fun out here in quite a while.”
The U.S. Open isn’t generally associated with fun, but Wolff joked he had a good reason to come back at what is usually the hardest test in golf: If he shot 78, he wouldn’t stand out like he would at a regular Tour event.
“But, no, I just felt like this was a good time to be back, this course sets up really good for me and … I feel like I hit the ball pretty far and I can get it out of thick rough,” he said. “And I feel like there’s a lot of people that get to this event and they already feel like they’re starting from a disadvantage and I don’t feel that way. So it was … not an easy decision to come back at this time, but I thought it was the best thing. I talked with my team and I’m glad that I did.”
He was more nervous than usual on his first hole, the 10th, and missed the fairway to the right. But he hit the green with his second shot and rolled in a 23-foot birdie putt. After a par at 11, he made two straight birdies and after four holes he was leading the tournament.
“I turned to my caddie after I birdied the par-5 13th, and I was like, ‘Dude, I’m 3 under right now.’ And he’s like, ‘I know.’ And I just didn’t even realize it. And then I started to fall back a little bit, but that’s kind of when I realized like all right, well, I fell back a little bit and things weren’t always going good, but I’m still enjoying myself and having fun and being happy and in my opinion right now that’s kind of what I’m working on and the most important thing.”
Wolff, who is from Agoura Hills, lost three shots at 15 (bogey) and 16 (double) but rallied with five birdies (and a bogey) in the next six holes to get back to 3 under. Another double at 7 left him at 1 under for the round, three shots behind Russell Henley, the early leader.
“A lot of good, a lot of bad,” Wolff said of the round. “… (But) stuff’s going to happen and things aren’t always going to go your way, and I think I handled it pretty well today and a lot better than I have in the past.”