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David Cannon/Getty Images
By Kent Gray
With three wins in 2018 to burst from journeyman touring professional to a player desperately unlucky not to earn one of Thomas Bjorn’s Ryder Cup picks for Paris, Matt Wallace has every right to own lofty expectations.
The problem is those expectations have got in the way of consistent scoring of late, not that you would have guessed it Friday at Jumeirah Golf Estates as the Englishman added a seven under 65 to his opening 68 to earn the halfway lead at the 10th DP World Tour Championship on -11, 133.
Since adding the Made in Denmark title in early September to his earlier wins at the Hero India Open and BMW International, Wallace has enjoyed just two top 25 finishes in his last seven starts to seemingly go off the boil.
But the 28-year-old discovered a simple secret in Turkey where he played better than his T-47 finish suggested, something he proved last week with a share of fifth at Gary Player’s Nedbank Challenge.
“I’ve got rid of all the expectations that have come with playing well and winning; I’ve expected higher from myself and that’s just killed me,” Wallace revealed after earning a one shot lead over the trio of Danny Willett, Jordan Smith and Adrian Otaegui.
European Tour
“So I’m playing with freedom now and trying to place as high as I possibly can come the back nine holes on Sunday and then that’s when I normally will try and kick in and want to win a tournament, depending on where I am.
“Last week was the best week I’ve had mentally because I’ve had no expectations and I finished fifth. That’s nice.”
So too was Friday at Jumeriah Golf Estates as Wallace went bogey-free. A pushed putt for birdie on 18 at Earth prevented the Uxbridge upstart from doubling his lead heading into moving day on Earth, not that he was too fussed given recent events.
“That’s up there with one of the best [rounds] this year,” Wallace said afterwards.
“With it being in round two, as well, it’s nice. Haven’t done that much this year, improving on the first round. I seem to play really nice the first day and just go backwards. That was nice today and hopefully more on the weekend.”
Wallace has certainly proved he knows how to get it done should he be in contention down the stretch on Sunday. Surely that enhances your comfort levels this week?
“It won’t really help you in the first few days. I think it will help you come the last day when you know exactly what you need to do. You have to hole the putts. I’ve got a theory that the best putter on Sunday normally wins, and so if I can keep doing what I’m doing and get myself in contention come Sunday, I’ll just try and hole the putts on Sunday.”
While Smith and Otaegui added second round 68s to their opening 66s, Willett carded a matching 67 to be one of the stories of the day after his recent travails. The 2016 Masters champion rebounded from an opening bogey and another dropped on the 10th with seven birdies, the last of them on the 18th when his eagle attempt burned the cup.
“Pretty slow-ish start, but done well,” Willett said. “You kind of saw the scoring from this morning, you knew the scoring is pretty low, so you knew there was obviously going to be a few chances out there. Four nice ones in a row to the turn and then a made a silly bogey down 10 and then bounced back nicely again on them last eight holes.
“Yeah, a little bit up-and-down in there but all in all another 67 was a really solid day.”
The trick now is turning a solid day into a memorable weekend. After his injury-educed form dip since Augusta three Aprils ago, the 31-year-old is just happy to be in the mix.
“It’s nice. I’ve said it all year, really, since everything has been good. It’s nice to be back seeing the lads. It’s nice to be back in contention, playing good golf and moving well and actually enjoying the game that you took up many years ago because you loved it. Yeah, really in a nice place.”
