Tour pro to take break from golf after walking out of tournament

Popular tour pro Eddie Pepperell has revealed that he will take a break from professional golf after walking out of a recent tournament mid round.

The Englishman was nine-over-par through 24 holes of last week’s Turkish Airlines Open, when he handed his scorecard to his playing partners at Regnum Carya.

Pepperrell’s last action was a quadruple bogey seven on the par-3 6th hole, admitting that he’s felt unhappy on the golf course for an extended period of time.

“I struggled with my game and my head was not in a great spot,” he said on The Chipping Forecast podcast.

“I reached the end of my tether and just gave my playing partners the card and said ‘Sorry fellas, that’s me, over and out’. That’s been coming.

“I’m kind of surprised in myself that I haven’t walked off (before). That’s the first time I’ve walked off a course in a good few years.”

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Pepperrell continued: “In fact, Turkey was probably the last time in 2019 after throwing balls and hitting balls into a lake. It’s not really my happy place – I’m not sure I’ll ever go back there again.”

At the heart of his struggles are his irons and, with frustration building, now is the time for the 34-year-old to reassess.

“I’m just really struggling to hit my irons well and I’m making the most outrageously stupid and sloppy bogeys at bad times,” he said.

“It built and built, and I had to call it a day, which isn’t something I’m proud of or do very often, but I need a little break, and I think I’ll be taking one.”

Pepperrell didn’t provide a likely return date, but he told fans to expect to not see him for at least a few weeks.

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The two-time DP World Tour winner lost his tour card in 2024, resigning him to largely rely on sponsors’ exemptions to tee it up on the Wentworth-based circuit this year.

Instead, he has plied his trade on the Hotel Planner Tour, formerly known as the Challenge Tour.

“I won’t play much in the next six weeks because I can tell that I need a week or two completely away from the game and then reevaluate,” Pepperrell added. “I know it’s not a million miles away, but it’s felt that way for a long time.

“There’s constant hope, when I’m at home practising or away at tournaments there’s so much hope and then you compete and your skillset isn’t where you want it to be, where you remember it being, where it needs to be, frankly, and it quickly hits home that you’re not there. It’s demoralising.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.