Eddie Pepperell will open a new chapter in his career this week when he plays in his first World Golf Championship in Mexico. A fortnight later, he will make his debut in a regular PGA Tour event in America, as he builds towards a first appearance at the Masters in April.
The 28-year-old Englishman has a penchant for looking at the world from a different angle, and has been preparing for this shiny new adventure by hanging upside down for 10 minutes each day.
Rather than more evidence of his flair for the unconventional, however, there is a clear purpose to this latest example of lateral thinking. Frustrated after having last season curtailed by back problems, following his stirring victory at the British Masters in October, Pepperell bought an inversion table that tilts sufferers at varying angles.
Eddie Pepperell will make his World Golf Championship debut in Mexico next week
‘I read all the reviews and people were raving so much it seemed almost too good to be true, so I thought I’d try it,’ he said.
‘It’s made a big difference. I’ve got so used to doing it for 10 minutes daily when I’m at home that when I saw one in a shop window in Dubai recently, I did wonder if anyone would mind if I stepped inside and hung at a weird angle for a bit.’
It is the sort of thoughtful, humorous riposte that will be familiar to anyone who follows Pepperell’s monthly blog, or entertaining Twitter account. You get so accustomed to young pros consumed by raging ambition it is refreshing to talk to Pepperell, who tempers his excitement at what lies ahead with an admittance to frailty.
‘My big thing this year is to be more consistent and I’ve got a great schedule coming up, but I do wonder how I will react if I struggle in America,’ he said. ‘We’ve seen it before when players sample a new environment, and I’ve a tendency to react impulsively.
