Britain's Matt Wallace is the only player without a bogey after 36 holes, which is why he holds a four-stroke lead at the halfway point of the OMEGA European Masters.
Wallace followed up a stellar 6-under 64 on Thursday with an 8-under 62 on Friday and is looking for the biggest win of his career. He has four DP World Tour wins and won the PGA Tour's Corales Punta Cana Championship in 2023, but a win against a strong Swiss field would boost his confidence and move him significantly up the Ryder Cup standings.
Yes, Wallace is already thinking about competing at Bethpage Black next year.
“It's not just about winning. It's about playing well.” [Captain] Luke [Donald] “I want us to play well,” Wallace said Friday.
“And I want to play well, so I'm going to try to play well every day and then the results will show.”
Wallace tied for eighth at last week's Betfred British Masters at The Belfry, which kicked off qualifying for next year's European Ryder Cup team. He earned 37.5 points for a top 10 finish, his first since tying for fourth at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in Texas in early May. Those are Wallace's only two top 10s this season.
But since qualifying at the British Open, Wallace has been on a roll. He tied for 24th at the 3M Open, then tied for 28th at a rain-soaked Wyndham Championship to close out his year on the PGA Tour. Though he didn't qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs, that means he can set his sights on the DP World Tour this fall and get a chance to rack up as many Ryder Cup points as possible.
A win in Switzerland this week would go a long way in that regard, as it would earn him an extra 250 points and put him on Donald's radar.
“Playing well like we did today helps,” Wallace added.
“But I'm going to try again. [on Saturday].”
Wallace's four-stroke lead at the halfway point tied the second-largest 36-hole lead in the history of the championship. Sam Torrance held a six-stroke lead in 1996, but Colin Montgomerie shot 61 and 63 on Saturday and Sunday to win by four. Torrance, meanwhile, shot two 68s but couldn't stop Montgomerie from passing him. For Wallace's sake, let's hope the same doesn't happen.
But despite shooting 62, the Englishman believes he left a couple of strokes unfinished on Friday, missing a short eagle putt on the par-5 14th hole and missing a couple of approach shots from attacking distance.
“I know it sounds crazy and golf is a crazy sport, but I missed some opportunities, I really did,” Wallace admitted.
“The putter didn't disappoint, but I felt like I could have done more. I tried to be aggressive with my wedges, but it just didn't work out.” [at some points]The 16th hole was the best hole of the day. I played a par 5. [on 14 and 15] “It was pretty good, even though I missed the putt for eagle, but that par 3 was really special. It was a great iron shot, it landed in the perfect spot and then I made a perfect putt, so I got a lot of confidence from that.”
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
