Former U.S. Open runner-up responds to Brooks Koepka's criticism

Earlier this week, Koepka said that he had "basically given up" on Wolff after the 2020 U.S. Open runner-up finished outside the top 30 against 48-man fields in each of his last five LIV Golf League events.

Among the disappointing finishes was a withdrawal ahead of the final round at the LIV Golf tournament in June outside Washington due to an undisclosed injury.

In his harsh review of his teammate, Koepka opined that Wolff "quit" on his round and when "you give up and stuff like that, that's not competing."

"I'm not a big fan of that. You don't work hard. It's very tough. It's very tough to have even like a team dynamic when you've got one guy that won't work, one guy is not going to give any effort, he's going to quit on the course, break clubs, gets down, bad body language, it's very tough," the five-time major winner added.

In his response, via a statement to Sports Illustrated, the former Oklahoma State University All-American seemed to be taken aback.

"To hear through the media that our team leader has given up on me is heartbreaking," Wolff said. "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. But I'm moving forward and won't ever give up on myself. While on-course results may not appear now to be positive indicators, I'm trying to win an even BIGGER game with my life."

According to an Associated Press and ESPN report, the former Cowboy "began to struggle and then took a two-month break in 2021 to address his mental health." Per the report, Wolff told Golf Digest in a 2021 interview that he wanted to "stay in (his) bed and not be in front of everyone and not screw up in front of anyone."

According to Sports Illustrated, Wolff said that his mental health challenges have been "quite difficult" and it's something he deals with every day.

"I trust Brooks wants what is best for our team," Wolff said. "But it's hard to imagine his comments in his recent SI interview in any way line up with those priorities. This will be my last comment on this matter."

The 24-year-old joined LIV Golf in June 2022. Wolff made league history in September with LIV Golf's first hole-in-one.