Matthew Wolff Withdrawal....

[physasst]

https://www.golfdigest.com/story/matthew-wolff-withdraws-from-pga-championship

 

Not a good sign. Especially given the lack of any reason behind it. We know from his mother that he was not dealing well with the stresses of life on the tour. I sincerely hope he gets his life figured out. 

 

M

[Fairways_and_Greens]

It has been a tough year for everyone, some more than others. Matt is an immense talent and huge personality. I hope for his sake and for the fans he is able to figure this out.

[Tasals]

hopefully he just needs to destress and figure some stuff out. I kind of get why he might have WD'd his game is in a really bad place right now, maybe he just doesnt want to deal with it during a major trying to figure it out and take up a spot for someone he thinks has a better chance to win?

[MattyO1984]

I hope that he manages to figure out. I am sure that there will lots of judgmental people out there but more power to the kid.

[Blonde Line Lizard]

Maybe he finally came to the realization that he is not really that good.

[tatertot]

11 minutes ago, Blonde Line Lizard said:

Maybe he finally came to the realization that he is not really that good.

Congrats ... it usually takes new posters a lot longer to put up this ignorant of stuff.

[teude]

13 minutes ago, Blonde Line Lizard said:

Maybe he finally came to the realization that he is not really that good.

What a stupid comment.

 

Hopefully he figures out whatever there is to figure out and comes back stronger. Game need characters like him.

[Krt22]

HIs swing has a lot of moving parts, I imagine it's tough to manage over time with tour level pressure and expectations

[cav5]

I do think it comes down to the swing tho. Seems like a fine dude. The GG method fires body parts almost direct opposite of 'optimum' for control and power. It requires increasing speed from the pivot to control the arms. If you need to speed up legs in order to control arms you will fight control all the time. Timing it on tour courses must be hard.

[Krt22]

1 minute ago, cav5 said:

I do think it comes down to the swing tho. Seems like a fine dude. The GG method fires body parts almost direct opposite of 'optimum' for control and power. It requires increasing speed from the pivot to control the arms. If you need to speed up legs in order to control arms you will fight control all the time. Timing it on tour courses must be hard.

I tend to agree. Sung Kang's game is similar, when he has it working well he can win or be in contention, when he is off it can easily be a MC. Wolff def has a higher ceiling IMHO, but clearly is struggling with consistency.

[Rangeballz]

Life on tour is not for everyone. Pampered as they may be, in reality it is a pretty difficult lifestyle to get used to and be comfortable with.

 

Hope he sorts things out.

[physasst]

Just now, Krt22 said:

I tend to agree. Sung Kang's game is similar, when he has it working well he can win or be in contention, when he is off it can easily be a MC. Wolff def has a higher ceiling IMHO, but clearly is struggling with consistency.

 

It's more than that. His mom gave an interview and said he was really struggling emotionally with loneliness and all of the stresses of the tour life. He also, per his mom, did not do well with not playing well. Apparently he bought a home near his Alma Mater at Oklahoma so he could hang out with all the college guys. Sounds like some emotional and maturity issues ON TOP of swing issues. 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/isolation-era-difficult-players-game-185151114.html

[MK7Golf21]

4 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

I tend to agree. Sung Kang's game is similar, when he has it working well he can win or be in contention, when he is off it can easily be a MC. Wolff def has a higher ceiling IMHO, but clearly is struggling with consistency.

 

I agree but wolff has always swung that way and done fairly well. Who knows what's going on but going to the pga tour is a whole different ballgame and there have been plenty cases of guys losing it who did well in college etc.

[ClarkGrswld4]

He has consistently had one of the worst short games on Tour since he came out. The alleged mental issues don't help either but when your short game is bad, there is hardly any margin for error on your long game when playing at that level.

 

Shots Gained:Around the Green ranks:

2021-204th out of 217 players

2020-184th out of 193 players

Edited May 12, 2021 by ClarkGrswld4

[TheEldrickWand]

Crazy to think back to that fundraiser match at Seminole last year during the pandemic eh? I remember him being a pretty light hearted fellow there joking around, and more importantly absolutely blasting the ball past a couple of the longer players on tour (Rory/DJ).

 

Anyone trashing his game hasn't played golf long enough to know people just go through tough stretches, and tour players are indeed humans. Fingers crossed he's back once the world settles a bit.

[Krt22]

14 minutes ago, physasst said:

 

It's more than that. His mom gave an interview and said he was really struggling emotionally with loneliness and all of the stresses of the tour life. He also, per his mom, did not do well with not playing well. Apparently he bought a home near his Alma Mater at Oklahoma so he could hang out with all the college guys. Sounds like some emotional and maturity issues ON TOP of swing issues. 

 

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/isolation-era-difficult-players-game-185151114.html

I would say that goes hand in hand with the swing. If you have a high maintenance swing, your mental game needs to be rock solid. Webb Simpson has a wacky swing, but he has ice in his veins and thus has been highly successful on tour. 

[phizzy30]

All that travel and loneliness can be tough on anyone.  He's still a youngin' and at that age, being social is more of a priority than when a person gets older.  He's in a really good position at impact, but like others have stated has a lot of moving parts.  He did have that hand injury and it might still be affecting him.  Steven Bowditch has struggled mightily with his depression.  I don't think he's playing on the PGA Tour anymore.  It takes a lot of sacrifice, hard work among other things to get to that level and stay there. 

[TiScape]

40 minutes ago, tatertot said:

Congrats ... it usually takes new posters a lot longer to put up this ignorant of stuff.

When someone posts what is obviously just “troll nonsense”, I think it’s best to just completely ignore them (as I post about it 😂) The attention is what they seek. Don’t give it too them and let their posts get buried. 

[caniac6]

There is a lot more to making it at the highest level than talent, and hitting a ball. Hopefully, he can figure it out. If not, I hope he finds something to do that does make him happy. Tour life is not for everyone.

[sittingbull]

I like him and jim Furyk swings..

Hope he comes back soon 

[Circaflex]

1 hour ago, Blonde Line Lizard said:

Maybe he finally came to the realization that he is not really that good.

"Not really that good," yet has won on Tour. Righhhhhht

[miamistomp]

 He is 22 years old and has already earned several million dollars on tour

 Hard to feel too bad for him

[tatertot]

7 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

 He is 22 years old and has already earned several million dollars on tour

 Hard to feel too bad for him

Don't know a lot about mental health?

[smturner1203]

11 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

 He is 22 years old and has already earned several million dollars on tour

 Hard to feel too bad for him

Hard for a lot of people to have basic human empathy nowadays.

 

Having money doesn't make you immune to poor mental health. 

[NPSpar4]

4 minutes ago, tatertot said:

Don't know a lot about mental health?

im wit ya Tot,   amazing how many stupid comments people make when it comes to mental health.  like the money he made on tour has anything to do with it.  smh    It's one of those things that if you never had it, it's hard to grasp how difficult it is.   hope he comes out of it alright

[JayAreOhh924]

I feel bad for the dude. We saw the same thing with Rickie what seems like just a few years ago. He was the young guy that was super hyped up. Went through a ton of criticism for breaking the dress code and had a, at the time, "funny swing" (super flat compared to traditions). Then you had the golf boys videos, Beiber comparisons, etc. 

 

Rickie's matured a ton since. His game may have fallen off, but I cant help see some similarities between the two outside their alma mater. 

 

Maturity will come with time, and I hope results take him there. 

[JayAreOhh924]

2 minutes ago, NPSpar4 said:

im wit ya Tot,   amazing how many stupid comments people make when it comes to mental health.  like the money he made on tour has anything to do with it.  smh    It's one of those things that if you never had it, it's hard to grasp how difficult it is.   hope he comes out of it alright

I sensed some of the mental health part with him, but haven't seen any sort of article or confirmation on it. Do you have any info on it? 

[NPSpar4]

2 minutes ago, JayAreOhh924 said:

I sensed some of the mental health part with him, but haven't seen any sort of article or confirmation on it. Do you have any info on it? 

no, was just going by some posts from others above.......

[caniac6]

The statement gives no reason for skipping the PGA. This could be a physical issue. I don't know where the speculation about mental issues is coming from.

[ctmason_98]

27 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

 He is 22 years old and has already earned several million dollars on tour

 Hard to feel too bad for him

I see this so much now and it legitimately makes me sad. Human beings are human beings. 
 

No one is asking anyone to “feel bad” for him. 
 

Another refrain is, “I don’t feel sorry for <this person> my attention is on <person in a worse situation>.”  Now we have to prioritize empathy. Fantastic.