Matt

Wallace

The Englishman arrived off a run of sub-par results but found his game today. “I have my coach Matt Belsham here. Things have been going well. I’ve been playing okay, just not scoring very well over the last few weeks. Today was a really, really good round. Probably one of the best rounds in the way I’ve hit it in a long time.” Wallace pelted 12 GIR and gained 2.7 strokes with the putter. There is still a second wave to play but if this lead holds then it would be his second time holding a first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR (T37/2020-21 RSM Classic). Wallace also has some past success at Muirfield Village, twirling a T4 during the 2020 edition.

The Englishman talked about how he enjoyed the wide fairways last week at Corales but returned to a tougher test today, splitting just 6-of-14 fairways on his way toward 12 GIR. While his driver wasn’t dialed in, the rest of his game was as he walked off the course gaining at least one stroke in the other three sub-categories of strokes gained. “You can’t really mask it around here, especially off the tee. I made a couple bogeys out there from just hitting my tee shots offline, so if you can hit your tee shots well, you’ll have a lot of chances and I managed to give myself a bunch of those.” Wallace still has a mission to win this week, if he wants to play his way into the field for next week’s Masters.

The Englishman was locked in this week, pelting 53 greens in regulation (T11) en route to 24 birdies (T1) to erase three bogeys and a double. “I like the really tough golf courses, but actually when I got here I was like maybe it’s a good thing for me at the moment. My driving was really good this week because I probably had that space. So it was a good golf course for me to come to. My iron play was stellar and my putting, my chipping has been awesome.” Wallace has four DP World Tour wins but this will be his first PGA TOUR win (80th start). He’ll try to carry over some momentum into next week’s Valero Texas Open where he is 2-for-3 with a solo third (2021).

The Englishman played his way into a playoff with Thriston Lawrence last week at Crans Montana but lost on the first hole of extra time, swallowing a bogey. It wasn’t a win but still a nice rebound after missing the cut at the Wyndham Championship to finish the season as the first man out of the playoffs at 126th in the FedExCup race. As a result, Wallace will play the PGA TOUR out of the conditional bucket next season but in the meantime, he’s got his eye on the prize in Europe. Next up is the Made In Himmerland where he’s opening as a 20/1 pre-tournament betting favorite. Wallace posted a T6 here in 2017 and also landed a top 45 in 2019.

Wallace entered the week at No. 124 in the Playoff points race, having moved inside the bubble with a T-10 finish last week in Detroit, but he missed the cut by a shot at Sedgefield after rounds of 71-69. Despite that early exit, he appeared in position to hang onto the 125th and final spot in the Playoffs - that is, until Kim won the regular-season finale as a Special Temporary Member. The victory immediately made him a fully-fledged member, dropping everyone below him down a spot in the final standings.

That was a critical adjustment for Wallace, who now misses out on next week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship and is not currently fully exempt for the 2022-23 Tour season. He’ll have conditional status, which will grant him some starts while playing from the Nos. 126-150 category, and Wallace will have the option of regaining his card at the upcoming Korn Ferry Tour Finals.

The Englishman, who played his final 43 holes in error-free 11-under, arrived 137th in the FedExCup standings, is projected at 124th (up 13), and will be playing for his postseason life next week at the regular-season-ending Wyndham. This was his second Rocket after a T12 in 2020 (66-69-68-71), and his second top 10 of the season in 20 events, first since T4 at the ZOZO 17 starts ago (in October), where he was in the top 5 after every round. For the week, the Jacksonville State Univ (AL) product handed in laps of 66-71-69-66, totaled 20 birdies against four bogeys, nine birdies versus zero bogeys on the weekend, and ranked 32nd SG: Tee-to-Green (3.275) and 5th SG: Putting (5.329), including a 1.580 SGP on Sunday.

The Englishman entered the week at 140th in the FedExCup race, just outside of the top-125 bubble when you remove the LIV Golf defectors from the standings. He has two weeks (counting this week) to improve his position. “Obviously I want to be playing over here on the PGA Tour, that’s in my control but it’s also not, so all I have to do is just keep putting good scores on the scorecard and then take it from there.” It was a strong start for Wallace today as he walked off the course gaining at least one stroke over the field in each of the four sub-categories of strokes gained. The 32-year-old also opened with a 6-under 66 during his 2020 RMC debut where he’d go on to post a T12 finish by week’s end.

The Englishman put on a ball-striking clinic today as he split 9-of-13 fairways and pelted 16 greens in regulation. That kept things relatively stress-free and resulted in five birdies with one three-putt blemish along the way. He offset the three-jack with a 38'11" birdie bomb at the 3rd and an 11-foot par-saver at the 4th. “Really solid day. Early start. Got the best of the greens as well, which was really nice. Wind’s picked up, so it was important to strike the ball really well and leave yourself below the hole.” Wallace entered the week at 153rd in the FedExCup race and hadn’t posted a top-65 finish in 10 straight stroke-play events. However, a recent trip back to the DP World Tour resulted in back-to-back top 20s so he did bring some confidence, and momentum, into the week.

The Englishman arrived with six straight missed cuts on his stroke-play resume but snapped that slump last week at the team event. He paired up with Sam Horsfield to post a T18 and he’s carrying over some of that momentum this week in Mexico. It didn’t look like a great round out of the gate, though, as Wallace started with a double bogey at the par-4 10th before recovering with birdies at 12 and 13 with an eagle at the 14th. All three were knocked home from inside of eight feet. He would remain locked in until finding trouble again at the par-4 eighth where he found his second double bogey of the day. Wallace walked off the course gaining 4.5 strokes on approach and very easily could have posted the round of the week had he avoided the big numbers.

Horsfield has been out of action since a WD at the Saudi International in February but getting a chance to return this week. Prior to that mid-tourney WD in the Middle East, he had racked up top 15s in four of five starts. His form is a bit of a question mark given the long layoff but he does have a T9 in his only previous attempt at the Zurich Classic (2019 while paired with Ian Poulter). As for Wallace, he arrives on the heels of six straight missed cuts. The switch in formats may serve him well, at least he hopes so. This duo has combined to win six DP World Tour events but both are still searching for their breakout wins on the PGA TOUR circuit.