Matthew Wolff has taken Brooks Koepka's disapproval to heart.
One day after Koepka, the Smash GC captain, blasted his LIV Golf teammate for a lack of dedication, Wolff called his comments "beyond disappointing."
"When I chose to join his team in 2023, I did so with much optimism about my new home as part of Team Smash and, equally as important, the chance to be around and learn from a player of Brooks' stature," Wolff said in a statement to Sports Illustrated's Alex Miceli.
He added, "My challenges on and off the golf course with my mental health has been well-documented. I deal with those challenges every day. However, while my 2023 season has not been all I had hoped for to this point, I have made positive strides in managing my life and feel like my game is turning for the positive.
"To hear through the media that our team leader has given up on me is heartbreaking. It's not what a team member looks to hear from its leader, and I think we all know these comments should have been handled much differently."
Koepka said Thursday he had "basically given up on" Wolff, adding that his "talent's wasted." Koepka was specifically displeased because he believes Wolff "quit" on one of his rounds.
Wolff withdrew from LIV DC in May before the final round with an undisclosed injury after carding a 73-78 to open the tournament. He finished 44th out of 48 players in his last tournament in Spain. Overall, he failed to finish better than T30 (out of a maximum of 50 players) in his last five tournaments.
The 24-year-old was once one of golf's most promising up-and-comers. Wolff won his first PGA TOUR tournament after just turning 20 at the 3M Open in 2019. He then finished as the runner-up at the 2020 U.S. Open and T4 at the PGA Championship that year as a 21-year-old.
Wolff took a two-month mental-health-related absence from the PGA TOUR during the 2021 season.
