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Golf Twitter has a new obsession in Oklahoma State amateur Matthew Wolff

February 01, 2019
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Shane Bevel

Cameron Champ? You had a good run. Little John Daly? So last year. Even viral sensation and Internet darling Ho-sung Choi has been pushed aside (At least, until he plays at Pebble Beach next week). No, Golf Twitter has a new favorite player/obsession. And his name is Matthew Wolff.

Wolff has been on golf fans' radars for more than a year following a brilliant freshman campaign at Oklahoma State in which he helped lead the Cowboys to a national title. But the 19-year-old amateur generated even more interest by winning his first three collegiate events of his sophomore season in dominant fashion, and Wolffsanity reached its peak (for now) during Thursday's first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Making his PGA Tour debut—still as an amateur, mind you—Wolff fired a four-under-par 67 at TPC Scottsdale to find himself in a tie for 11th place after Day 1. But it's the way in which he did it that had everyone buzzing. Wolff's unorthodox swing (Golf Channel's Ryan Lavner wrote a terrific profile on the rising star) is the first thing that stands out when you watch him.

The second most obvious thing that sets him apart? He hits the absolute snot out of the ball. Get a load of these stats:

Yep, the dude can even keep up with the mighty Cam Champ when it comes to pop off the tee. Crazy.

Could we be seeing the next PGA Tour star? There's certainly recent precedence for college coming-out parties at this event. Four years ago, Jon Rahm, then a junior at Arizona State, finished T-5. He returned this year as the Vegas favorite to win and the sixth-ranked golfer in the world.

Regardless of how Wolff's week (or career) turns out, something tells us the galleries following him around TPC Scottsdale—and other venues—are only going to grow.