Television executives and PGA Tour executives should encourage more players to participate in the “walk-and-talk” interviews that have become a staple of weekend television broadcasts during golf broadcasts.
Fans, media, and fellow players alike are exposed to great content and tons of conversations, including: Conversation with Mackenzie Hughes Last week, he performed with Jim Nantz on CBS’s Genesis Invitational.
But you can also add England’s Matt Wallace to the ever-growing list of great talk-and-talks.
Wallace agreed to an interview on the NBC broadcast while playing the par-5 14th hole during the third round of the Mexico Open at Vidanta.
Wallace had 265 yards left to the flag after missing the fairway to the right. Even though he was lying in the rough and the water was short and hidden to the right, he decided to bring out his 3-wood and hit the green.
Sadly, the Englishman found the water when his 3-wood spun forcefully to the right.
“I thought that lie was enough,” Wallace told NBC viewers shortly after the misfire.
“I knew it was going to be a little tough. With the wind coming from the right, it was the perfect number for a 3-wood. I didn’t expect it to be that sharp and sharp…Well, today it went exactly as I expected. I can’t go.”
At this point, Wallace remained at 11 under par, or even par for the day. He bogeyed the 14th, but came back with a birdie on the next par-4 15th.
In the end, he settled for an even-par 71 on Saturday.
Understandably, Manchester United supporters were particularly frustrated as they started the day by seeing their team suffer a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat to Fulham, with caddy Samuel Bernard cheering them on. Considering that, it is natural. NBC’s lead announcer Dan Hicks also joked with Wallace about United’s loss.
Needless to say, it was a challenging conversation for Wallace, who started Saturday’s third round with a split lead. He fired 66 and 65 rounds on Thursday and Friday.
But he persevered, showing remarkable resilience and strength, just as he did on the 15th hole on Saturday.
“This is all part of it, right?” Wallace said.
“We need to deal with this. We need to get stronger. We need to play better golf and embrace it. We’ll take this up and down and here we go again. We can’t do more than what we’re trying to do now. It’s just that things don’t go as planned. [today]”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
