Golf Monthly UK – August 2019

oneandwasjustveryfrustrated

withwheremygamewasat,”
Pepperellexplains.“SimonandI

hada verygoodlessonthere,which

wasveryproductive,andalthough I
missedthecut,it ledintosome

goodstuffinScotland.I revisited

someoldstuffa littlebitatthat

pointandfoundsomeold‘feels’and
wentandplayedreallywellin

Scotland,andtherestofthe year

was pretty solid as well.”

Theeagleshavelanded

Solidperhapsunderplaysit.He
finishedsixthatCarnoustiethe

followingweek,thenaddedtop

tensintheCzechMastersandKLM
Openbeforealmostlayinghis

PortugalMastersghostsfullyto

restwitha runner-upfinish.He

cappedofhisbestyeartodatewith
afineBritishMastersvictoryin

less-than-fineweatheratWalton

Heath,beforeinjurycurtailedhis

seasonandruledhimoutofthe

EuropeanTour’sFinalsSeries.

ThatweekinSurreyherackedup
foureagles,includinga remarkable

hole-in-one,wherehisballstruck

theflag,bouncedbackandthen

topspunintothehole,anda crucial
holeoutwitha 9-irononthe10th

fromlush,wetroughonthefinal

afternoon.“Yes– EddietheEagle!”
hequipswhenI remindhimofthis.

“Theywerealldifferent– it wasa

bizarreweek.”Bizarreindeed,with
hiseight-under-partallyonthose

fourholesformingthebulkofhis

nine-underwinningtotal.“It’snot
oftenyouholeshotsanyway,”he

continues.“It’snotoftenyouhole

shotsintoughconditions,andit’s

rarethatthosetwothingscome
togetherincircumstanceswhere

you’releading the golf tournament

aswell.”
Theweatherplayeda majorrole

thatweek,mixingstrongwinds

with,attimes,heavyraintoreally
separatethemenfromtheboys.

Pepperellemergedtopmanaftera

gritty tussle with Alex Bjork, and it

seemshe’smorethanhappyto

embracetougherconditions.“Yeah,

I’vegota theorythateveryoneelse

getsworsewhichmakesmelook

betterinbadconditions,soI pray

forbadconditionsmostweeks!”he

smiles.“IwouldsaythatI havea

tendencytoplayinsucha waythat

I don’thavetochangemygame

whenit getswindier.Whetherit’s

beautifulandcalminDubai,orwet

andwindyatWaltonHeath,my

gamedoesn’treallychangemuchin

termsofthewayI flightmyironsor

hitshots,sothere’snorealchange

formewhenthingsgettough.

Whenthingsdochange,I thinka

lotoftheguysoutherehaveto

thereforethenmakea change,

whereasI don’thavetodothat

• andthisis nocriticism,because
  theydobetterthanmeoncertain
  coursesinmanyweeks.”
  Talkingofweatheringstorms,
  Pepperellhasinthepasttrodden

quitea thinlineattimesonTwitter

andinhisblog,soI askif hissocial

mediaoutputhasgothimintoany

troublelately.“I’myettoreceivea

fine!”is hisinstantcomeback.“And

thetourdoesfinepeople,asone

Spaniardis abouttofindout!That

wasn’tthewisestTweetevenfrom

myperspective.”Thiswastheweek

afterGonzaloFernandez-Castano’s

infamous spike mark Tweet.

Lookingahead

There’snodoubtthat

Pepperellentertainscountless

peoplebothonTwitterand

withhisgeneralattitude,

whichis certainlya little

differenttowhatwe’ve come

toexpectfromtop

professionalgolfers.You’re

leftinnodoubtastojusthow

muchheloveshisdogs,his

chocolateandhiswine!But

heis alsonowa seriously

goodgolferwhohasthe

abilitytoachieveserious

thingsinthegame,soaswe

draw to a close, I raise the

prospectofa RyderCupdebut,and

whetherornotthatrankseven

vaguelyasa Pepperellgoal.

“Notreally,”hereplieshonestly.

“No,look,ShaneLowrywona very

bigtournamentandheprobably

wasn’tonmanypeople’sradarsat

thattime,notbecauseheisn’ta

reallygoodgolfer,butjustbecause

hehasn’tbeendoingwhatEddie

Pepperellwasdoingfortwo

monthsorwhatMattWallacewas

doingforthreemonths.Qualifying

fortheRyderCupisa productofa

wholehostofthings– timingof

formbeinga bigone.Obviously,

it’sverypossiblethatI could

achievethat,butthere’ssomuch

morethat’sgoingtogointoit that

tofocusonthatwouldbesofutile

forme.I don’tknowwhereit isin

mymind,butit isn’tclosetothe

forefront.It willbewhatit willbe.

I’mmorefocused on the event the

nextweek.”

FairenoughandwellarguedI

think,butasa partingshot,

followinghisdouble-winning

seasonin2018,I askwhatneedsto

havehappenedbytheendof 2019

forhimtoregardtheyearasa

success.Theanswer,again,is

typicalEddie:“Well,if I cankeep

Mick[Doran]onthebag,thatwill

meanthatI’veearnedover€2

million,becausethat’shisclausein

ournon-writtenagreement.If I’ve

keptMick,thenthechancesareI’ve

boughtanotherhouse,andthat’s

success.Youcannever have

enough houses!”

“It’sveryraretofindasportsman,and

certainlyagolfer,whohasn’thada

serious loss of form at some point”

EDDIE PEPPERELL

Hecan’thidehis

disappointmentin

Portugal in 2016