PGA Tour Event: Matt Wallace of England won his first PGA Tour title and first trophy in almost four years with a back-nine birdie blitz.
Wallace won the Corales Puntacana Tournament in the Dominican Republic by one shot after making gains on the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th holes of his final round to card a six-under 66 and finish on 19 under par.
The 32-year-old, a four-time DP World Tour champion, most recently at the Made in Denmark in September 2018, finished one stroke ahead of Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard on 18 under.
Breaking through at Corales 🏆@MattSJWallace claims his first victory on TOUR @CoralesChamp. pic.twitter.com/q5EQgOLz6K
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 26, 2023
Wallace was one shot behind Hojgaard going into the final round, and that distance held as both players shot 34 with three birdies and a bogey on their respective front nines.
Wallace then fired off four birdies on the way home, while Hojgaard only managed two as he finished with a four-under 68.
Hojgaard birdied the 17th hole to close the gap to one stroke, but couldn’t make another gain at the 18th to force a playoff.
Sam Stevens, who was tied for first with Hojgaard after 54 holes, finished third with Tyler Duncan on 17 under after shooting a three-under 69.
Wallace had missed the cut in six of his previous seven PGA Tour events prior to placing seventh at the Valspar Championship last week, with the exception of a tie for 29th at The Honda Classic.
“My self-talk was extremely good,” the Londoner stated. I’ve been working on it nonstop since The Players [two weeks ago].
“Of the 145 shots I hit back then to miss the cut by one, two of them were nicely spoken to myself.” That’s not good enough; it won’t get the job done.
“I knew I could do it down the last few holes; I played terrific all week and simply came out on top.”
“Thank you to all of my coaches, including Liam James, Robert Rock, and now Matt Belsham, with whom I am returning. There are many individuals to thank, including my family and my missus at home. It’s fine.”
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