Of all the players who have signed away their professional futures to LIV Golf for a handsome payday, Matthew Wolff’s decision to join Greg Norman’s mold-breaking concept is among the most interesting.
As a friend who is intrigued by what LIV Golf is selling said, the player lineup looks like the land of misfit toys, a collection of talented players who, for one reason or another, have rarely connected with fans the way some others have and several who are closer to sunset than sunrise as competitors.
Wolff, with his quirky swing and immense talent, was on the verge of becoming a genuine star until his game went flat. Now, rather than stay the course with the PGA Tour, Wolff is off to collect millions playing the LIV Golf circuit, officially confirming one of the worst-kept secrets in golf on Monday.
Maybe a fresh start is what Wolff needs.
Go back 21 months to when Wolff was runner-up in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot where he held the 54-hole lead. Had you not bet that the former Oklahoma State star would be among the top five players in the world today, you would have been alone.
Wolff’s combination of enormous power, a distinctive swing and plenty of personality checked all the requisite boxes for household-name stardom. He finished in the top five of his first two major championships, and he won the 3M Open in just his third professional start, climbing to 12th in the world.
Then golf – and life – happened.
He has fallen to 77th in the world ranking, and he’s missed more cuts than he’s made on the PGA Tour this season. His ball-striking has been like a game of hide and seek, ranking 157th in strokes gained off the tee and 193rd in strokes gained approach. Even bomb-and-gouge can’t overcome that much scatter-shooting.
A unique swing such as Wolff’s kick-start motion can work, as Jim Furyk has proved. In Wolff’s case, he’s just 23 years old, so he has time to recapture what’s gone missing. The pressure to perform is less on the LIV Golf circuit than on the PGA Tour, where Wolff finished second in Las Vegas last fall.
By his own admission, Wolff has wrestled with some demons. While in contention at the 2021 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines, Wolff talked about his mental-health challenges after stepping away from the game for two months.
“I’m just really trying to be happy,” he said.
When Matthew Wolff chooses LIV Golf, maybe he’s doing it because he wants a fresh start. New scenery. New schedule. New expectations.
If LIV Golf makes Wolff happy, then his decision is understandable beyond the dollar signs.
It would be interesting to know – and we never will – how many players have chosen LIV over the PGA Tour purely on their own and how many have been subtly pushed there by managers and/or spouses enchanted by the money. That’s not to say Wolff falls into that category, but it’s certain that some do, just one more angle to this diamond-cut story.
Three years ago, Wolff was part of a triumvirate of college stars crashing the tour, joining Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland, establishing their own new-age presence by winning almost immediately.
Now Wolff is gone, and rumors persist about Hovland’s interest in LIV, though, to be fair, there are rumors about almost every notable player. Morikawa, at least for now, is solidly behind the PGA Tour, an important ally for the tour.
While the attention has focused on the established stars who have joined LIV – Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, et al. – what happens down the line may be just as important.
If LIV can convince the emerging players – such as Eugenio Chacarra and 15-year-old Ratchanon Chantananuwat – to come its way rather than to the PGA Tour, a more fundamental shift in the landscape will occur. That’s why Pierceson Coody’s Korn Ferry Tour win on Sunday was a flag-waving moment for the PGA Tour.
When 31-year-old Carlos Ortiz chooses LIV Golf, he’s doing it for the money. He’s been a good-but-not-great player, and at this point he may have recognized his ceiling, leading him to LIV, where performance isn’t everything.
When Matthew Wolff chooses LIV Golf, maybe he’s doing it because he wants a fresh start. New scenery. New schedule. New expectations.
“I haven’t given many interviews recently, but I feel like I’m sounding the best that I’ve sounded in a long time,” Wolff said Tuesday.
“I have a smile on my face. I’m happy. I’m smiling. I mean, I feel a little different, honestly. It feels great to be here.”