Eight weeks ago, Eddie Pepperell had enough.
It was Friday afternoon at the Turkish Airlines Challenge, and Pepperell was on his way to a missed cut — his fourth straight — when he waved the white flag. On the sixth hole, with his round going in the wrong direction, he withdrew.
“I knew before Turkey, but I certainly knew when I was heading off the course in a buggy in Turkey that I wasn’t going to see a golf course for a while,” he admitted later.
Pepperell chalked up the WD to burnout from the unending grind of life as a pro golfer. He put the clubs away and set forth into a six-week sabbatical from the game. The goal: Get away.
Long before the Turkish Airlines debacle, Pepperell knew the grind of pro golf and the rollercoaster swings it elicits. An English-born pro who rose to prominence as one of golf’s most accessible social media stars, Pepperell won three times across the DP World and Challenge Tours in the mid-2010s, steadily climbing the ranks of the pro game. At one point, he was the 32nd-ranked golfer in the world. Today he is 553rd.
The expanse between those days and today isn’t as far as it appears. Pepperell came within a shot of qualifying for full DP World Tour status earlier this year, and has contended at a handful of events over the last several years.
The most recent bout with contention, though, ended in a fate crueler than Pepperell could have fathomed: Another WD — and not under Pepperell’s terms.
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When the 34-year-old returned to action for his second start since the sabbatical at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France, his game returned with him. He shot three consecutive rounds under-par, each better than the last, following up an opening-round 70 with second-and-third-round scores of 67 and 66. Less than two months after leaving the sport in one of his lowest competitive moments, Pepperell reached the 54-hole mark of the tournament riding an unfamiliar high: He was tied for a share of the lead, and trending.
“So far this week, I’ve played the golf I used to play,” Pepperell said Saturday. “I feel refreshed for sure. I feel much calmer and my energy levels have been a lot better which is a good sign. I’m definitely in a better place physically and psychologically, too.”
He left the course on Saturday evening feeling a surge of confidence, but it wasn’t long after that something proved gravely wrong. Pepperell’s back seized up overnight, and by the time the sun rose on Sunday, it was clear that he could not go on.
With no other option, he WDed, ending his storybook comeback with a decidedly bitter taste.
Pepperell has not commented publicly since the WD, but he won’t have much time to rest. The next event on the HotelPlanner (nee Challenger) Tour arrives this weekend in Austria, and Pepperell’s status grants him a spot in the field if he wants it. The Interwetten Open will give Pepperell a chance to get back on the horse after the heart-wrenching WD.
