Matthew Wolff: ‘I struggled to get out of bed’

Matthew Wolff has opened up on the depth of his mental struggles ahead of this week’s Northern Trust.

The 22-year-old took a two-month break from the PGA Tour, following a DQ at The Masters for signing for the wrong score, to focus on his life away from golf.

The former Oklahoma State player revealed just how difficult a time he was having during that period.

“Some of the feelings that I had were like getting up in the morning knowing I had to get out of bed and just like not being able to, being like I don’t want to get out of bed,” said Wolff.

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“I just want to stay in my bed and not be in front of everyone and not screw up in front of everyone. If you don’t feel a hundred percent right, no matter if it’s physical or mental, it is an injury, and you should be able to rehab and take your time in order to get to a place where you need to be. I feel like I had that time, and I’m looking forward to this offseason to working on it a little bit more.”

Since his Masters faux pas, Wolff has played just five events on the tour, his best result a T17 at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational.

However, speaking ahead of the first event of the FedEx Cup, the PGA Tour winner seems to be enjoying life once more.

“It’s still a grind, but I’m doing a lot better. I am,” Wolff added.

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“I feel like I’m starting to feel like the results or the performance doesn’t so much affect the person that I am, and I can still be friendly to fans and talk to people and smile and have fun out there and enjoy all the hard work that I’ve put in to be where I am today.

“Sometimes I definitely take that for granted, and it’s hard when you’re out there working really hard and feel like you’re ready for a tournament and then going out and not performing. It takes a toll on you, especially when you’re not playing well in that moment, and it might happen over and over again.

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“But I just feel like I’ve really got to stick to what I’ve been working on. I trust the people that are on my team, and it’s definitely getting better. You know, I can’t say by huge amounts really quickly, but I know incrementally the scores might not be better, but I’m feeling better. I’m happier. And I’ll look to keep on being happy.”