Matt Wolff Opens Up On Mental Health: "It Kind Of Just Got To Me"

The American is back competing on Tour after taking two months off to take care of himself after the pressure of life as a professional athlete got to him

Matt Wolff Opens Up On Mental Health
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The American is back competing on Tour after taking two months off to take care of himself after the pressure of life as a professional athlete got to him

Matt Wolff Opens Up On Mental Health: "It Kind Of Just Got To Me"

"I think it's more it led me to taking time off," Wolff said on athletes' mental health.

"I think like seeing that all these other athletes coming out and being like 'mental health is such an important thing' and whether it's something that's going on personally or you're not playing well or you're not enjoying it or family or anything, it's just like, in this life, it's just so important to be happy and I live an amazing life.

"So many millions and millions and millions of people would trade me in a heartbeat.

"And I needed to just kind of get back and be like, 'Dude, you live an unbelievable life, like you don't always have to play good.'

"I know I want to, I want to always play good, I want to always please the fans, but I just kind of realized that the more I've been taking a little bit of time off, the more I just realized I was like, I just need to enjoy myself and be happy.

"And mental health is a really big problem and we play a lot of golf and/or we play a lot of golf, play -- a lot of games -- any professional athlete has to deal with a lot more stress and pressure than most people and it's, it just kind of got to me.

"But I've been working on it, I've been learning and I think that's all I can do."

"I think I just put too much pressure on myself," he said of the reasons for his break.

"And it was a hard decision because I'm so new on the Tour and it's my first or second year and I didn't want to walk away, I didn't think it was, you know -- I don't even think I could, to be honest, and then when I finally started to get to a bad enough spot, honestly I was like, you know what, I need some time.

"And I just, I think the biggest thing right now that I'm trying to do is enjoy myself again and just take care of myself really.

"I mean, I love these fans and I want to play well for them, but right now I'm just really trying to be happy and I, like I said, I live a great life and I want to enjoy it."

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Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He covered the 2022 and 2025 Masters from Augusta National and was there by the 18th green to watch Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam. He has also covered five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews.