Matthew Wolff continues mental progress, impressive streak in Las Vegas

After a Saturday 65 at the Sanderson Farms, Matthew Wolff said his game “is starting to come around.”

Less than a week later, he turned another corner. 

Through 36 holes at the Shriners Children’s Open, Wolff shot 64-67, and the 22-year-old sits T-2 after his round Friday. However, it wasn’t easy getting near the top of the leaderboard. Wolff overcame a triple bogey on the par-4 third. 

But the former Oklahoma State Cowboy has overcome much more than a triple bogey in the past year, and his work on his mental health helped him keep his composure en route to a 4-under round. 

“The last six months, I’ve been on a roller coaster,” Wolff said. “I had a good finish at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines (T-15), but that was probably the only highlight of the last six months for me, and to be able to make a score like that and not let it affect me, not only, you know, my swing and my game, but also mentally, and I was able to stay in the present and make sure to bounce back and know that there’s plenty of holes left, there’s a lot of golf left, and just got to make sure to keep grinding and keep fighting.

“I feel like I made a lot of progress in the last six months, but more importantly, the last month.” 

Full-field scores from the Shriners Children’s Open

Torrey Pines’ U.S. Open was Wolff’s first event back after taking a two-month, mental-health break following his disqualification at the Masters in April. He’s now back at a tournament where he has good memories.

The California native lost in a playoff to Martin Laird at last year’s Shriners, which was Wolff’s second-straight runner-up finish. The highlights for Wolff since then have been slim, but back at TPC Summerlin, he now has 10 straight rounds in the 60s on the generous Las Vegas layout.

Wolff, who is looking for his second Tour win and first since the 2019 3M Open, didn’t know about his Shriners streak.  

“I hope you didn’t jinx me,” Wolff said after being asked about the streak. “But, I feel like I really like this course. I like the way it sets up. Everything feels really good in my game right now and, you know, hopefully, I don’t break that streak this year. I’m just really happy with where my game’s at and happy to be out here.” 

If Wolff can pull out the victory, he’d become the first player to win on Tour after losing in a playoff at the same tournament the year before since Ryuji Imada at the 2008 AT&T Classic (lost in a playoff in 2007 to Zach Johnson).