Corales Puntacana Championship: Matt Wallace wins first PGA Tour event
- Published
The closest Wallace previously came to a win since 2018 was losing in a play-off at last year's European Masters
Corales Puntacana Championship final-round leaderboard |
|---|
-19 M Wallace (Eng); -18 N Hoejgaard (Den); -17 S Stevens (US), T Duncan (US); -16 A Ekroat (US; -15 W Clark (US) |
Selected: -12 H Hall (Eng); -1 R Knox (Sco) |
England's Matt Wallace won the Corales Puntacana Championship by a shot after birdies on four of his last six holes.
A six-under final-round 66 gave Wallace his first PGA Tour victory and first win in nearly five years.
Wallace, seeking a Ryder Cup debut this year, made four straight birdies from the 13th hole to finish 19 under for the tournament in Dominican Republic.
Runner-up Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark missed a 20-foot birdie putt at the 18th that would have forced a play-off.
Wallace is a four-time tournament winner on the European Tour, the most recent of those victories coming in Denmark in September 2018.
That win was expected to secure a Ryder Cup debut in Paris for Wallace, but he was overlooked by captain Thomas Bjorn.
The win in Dominican Republic moves him up to 22nd in the World standings of European qualification as well as bringing his name further to the attention of captain Luke Donald, who has six wild-card picks.
"Very happy," Wallace said. "Down those last few holes I knew I could do it. I played great all week. Just came out on top, so very lucky. This is cool."