Matt Wallace had to battle hard to earn his first DP World Tour title in six years after needing a playoff to defeat Alfredo Garcia-Heredia at the Omega European Masters.
The Englishman showed his class at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club by being the only player to be blemish-free after the first two rounds to lead by four heading into the weekend.
Brutal winds on moving day meant only three players in the field carded under par rounds, but Wallace negotiated the elements to maintain his four-shot advantage despite a three-over 73.
He endured a nervy final round, coming home in level par, while his Spanish playing partner produced a brilliant approach to birdie the last and force the sixth playoff of the campaign after both players finished at 11 under.
They found the fairway to start the extra hole before landing on the green with their second shots. Garcia-Heredia pushed his lengthy birdie putt left of the cup while Wallace had eight feet, which he drained with confidence to get back in the winner’s circle.
It is the fifth DP World Tour crown of his career, but his first victory since the 2018 Made In Denmark which came six years and six days ago.
“Knackered, that was a hard day,” an emotional Wallace said. “It wasn’t easy, but I felt there was a score out there but couldn’t get anything going.
“Good drives then mess it up, the 9th I messed that up to take an advantage into the back nine. I just kept pushing and pushing.
“It was bringing back memories of two years ago when I lost, I wasn’t quite focused then but that’s focus for me right there. I’m buzzing.
“I had the lead and I could have easily lost it a few times in the last couple of days, especially yesterday with how hard it was playing. But I stuck at it and that’s me, and that’s golf. For me, that’s Matt Wallace golf right there.”
Wallace wanted a quick start but he was up against a tree after a wayward tee shot and despite being inches away from chipping in for a remarkable par, he slipped back to 10 under after the opening hole.
The lead remained at four, though, as Garcia-Heredia also bogeyed the 1st to slip back to six under alongside fellow playing partner Andrew Johnston, who opened with a par.
Pars proved valuable for Wallace as he stayed four ahead as Garcia-Heredia returned to the chasing pack with a birdie at the 6th, after he had bogeyed the 4th, while home favourite Cedric Gugler eagled the 7th and Australian Jason Scrivener birdied the same hole to make it four players at six under.
Wallace returned to level par for the day after his birdie at the 7th, which Johnston followed suit from short range to be on his own in second at seven under but still four shots behind.
This was cut to three when Johnston rolled in a delightful putt from 17 feet for back-to-back gains after Wallace missed the right edge of the cup with his birdie effort.
The English pair found trouble off the 9th tee, which led to Johnston carding his first dropped shot of the day, however, Wallace battled to a par to restore his four-shot advantage at the turn.
Johnston immediately responded by draining another long birdie putt at the 10th to return to eight under to trim the deficit before mist from the Swiss Alps descended on the course.
That held up proceedings for a short period before Garcia-Heredia and Gugler birdied the 12th and 14th respectively to join Johnston three shots behind the leader.
Wallace was stuck behind a tree after his tee shot at the 14th before scrambling to a par, while Garcia-Heredia and Johnston just missed eagle putts to cut the gap to two at nine under.
The challenging pair reached double figures for the first time at the 15th, but Wallace hit back with only his second birdie of the day to maintain his two-shot initiative.
However, a wayward tee shot into the par-three 16th saw Wallace slip back to 11 under and his advantage was down to one.
At the 17th, Garcia-Heredia and Johnston narrowly missed lengthy birdie putts which would have drawn them level with the leader who also parred the penultimate hole.
Garcia-Heredia hit a magical approach to five feet while Wallace and Johnston went safe into the final green. Johnston’s lengthy birdie putt pulled up agonisingly short and Wallace missed the right edge with his tournament-winning effort.
The Spaniard found the cup with his birdie putt to force a playoff before Wallace prevailed at the first time of asking with a calm eight-foot gain on the first extra hole.
Johnston was in sole third at ten under, while Gugler delighted the home fans with a share of fourth after bouncing back from a bogey at the second with an eagle and two birdies to join Scrivener at eight under.
Alex Fitzpatrick and Dutchman Joost Luiten were one shot further back, while Sweden’s Henrik Norlander, South African Casey Jarvis, Japan’s Rikuya Hoshino and Italian Guido Migliozzi finished at six under.
– Edited report from DP World Tour website
Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
