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: "It Kind Of Just Got To Me"

Matt Wolff returns to the PGA Tour and Major golf this week after a two month break away from the game following his DQ at The Masters and Zurich Classic start.

The 22-year-old revealed that he has been struggling with his mental health and realised at Augusta that it was time for a break after not enjoying himself playing in his first Masters tournament.

Wolff shot a 70 (-1) in the opening round of the US Open, mixing eight birdies with three bogeys and two doubles.

"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."

Wolff won in just his fourth start on the PGA Tour at the 2019 3M Open and has been in the spotlight ever since after a glittering amateur career and turning pro alongside fellow phenoms Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland.

He has only played seven times this year, with a T28 his best finish along with two withdrawals and that disqualification at Augusta.

He looks to be back out competing after taking the time off to take care of himself.

"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."