Matthew Wolff Says He's Already Won This Week (And He's Right)

Wolff, 22, has played his way into contention at the 2021 U.S. Open, and he's also bringing mental health into the conversation in professional golf.

SAN DIEGO -- Winning the U.S. Open is not Matthew Wolff’s goal this week.

And if he did win he may not be happy about it.

As strange as that may sound to most golf fans, that attitude is part of Wolff's maturation process as he copes with playing professional golf at the highest level.

For the last five months, Wolff, 22, has not enjoyed himself and has been dealing with what he described as fear, some created from within, and some generated from outside.

“I can't express it enough that my scores up there, even though I'm happy right now, 4-under par, one off the lead or whatever, I really could [not] care less about that right now,” Wolff said after a second-round 68 left him one shot behind co-leaders Richard Bland and Russell Henley. “I know you might think I'm bulls------- you, but I'm not. I'm really just out here trying to have a good time and enjoy myself.”

While Wolff has been dealing with anxiety issues for five months, he hadn’t taken any time off until recently, a full six weeks to try to better understand and address the feelings he was experiencing.

He didn't classify his issue in medical terms, and he said that he had not seen a medical professional, so what, exactly, Wolff is dealing with from a medical perspective is not clear.

Matthew Wolff is one shot off the U.S. Open lead through 36 holes at Torrey Pines / USA Today

What's clear is that he has chosen to deal with his mental health on his own terms. It's part of his work with his swing coach, George Gankas, who Wolff describes as a father figure. They talk golf swing, but lately Wolff has relied more on the fact that Gankas was a Sports Psychology major in college. Spending time each day on his issues has been the primary goal.

“Thursday and even today, even after playing well yesterday, I was still like I wanted to stay in bed,” Wolff said. “I wanted to be like where I was comfortable, not in the spotlight.”

Earlier this week Wolff was approached by two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson. The 42-year-old Watson tried to provide some assistance to Wolff for his struggles.

“The first thing he said is, 'I've retired five times in my career,'” Wolff said. “When he said that, I was just like ... I was hopeless for five months, and I was really struggling, and just to hear that and know that someone of his caliber being at the top and winning two Masters, as much success as he had, everyone goes through it.”

While Watson has not specified what issues he battles, he has talked about severe weight loss — 20 pounds in 2016-17 — as being a component. Watson says he has not stepped on a scale since 2017.

“I've lost 20, 30 pounds because of struggles,” Watson said he told Wolff earlier in the week. “I said, I've done everything you're thinking about, I've done it all. So I said, so if you ever want advice, just call me, and so that's what I said.”

What both Watson and Wolff have said, in their own way, is that mental health issues are real in professional golf.

Wolff is attempting to address it, and he now knows that he has a friend in Watson.

“It's really awesome to see all the guys out here kind of just not trying to take me under their wing, but just to be there for me,” Wolff said. “If I ever needed to reach out or talk to any one of them, they were more than happy to talk to me. It means the world.”