The Punter's De-brief: Resilient Wallace wins in extra-time

• Links form comes to the fore again at Crans

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• Read my Procore Championship preview here

The well backed pre-event 18.017/1 chance, Matt Wallace, was matched at a low of 1.75/7 in the Frist Round Leader market after he'd posted an immaculate six-under-pat 64 on Thursday morning. But the wind dropped in the afternoon and he finished the day tied for third with three others, trailing both Alex Fitzpatrick and Alfredo Garcia-Heredia by two.

Wallace's 64 was a fine knock given there transpired to be a differential in the scoring on day one of 2.1 strokes between the morning and afternoon starters and he kicked on brilliantly on Friday afternoon with an eight-under-par 62.

Having been trading at around 6.611/2 after the opening round, Wallace was backed in to around 1.758/11 before he teed off in round three on Saturday and odds-on backers endured a bumpy ride.

A combination of some tricky pin placements and a persistent strong wind led to a day of carnage at Crans. Only four men posted a third round score of level par or better and Wallace maintained his lead thanks to some brilliant putting.

Wallace made putts from six, eight 17 and 23 feet in round three before holing from just inside five feet for bogey at the 17^th and for birdie at the last and he went into the fourth and final round still leading by four.

A hooked drive on the opening hole led to a bogey at the first and he drifted from 1.42/5 to around 1.75/7 but he made a couple of great up-and downs for par at the next two holes and that settled him down nicely.

Low cloud caused a short delay in proceedings as Wallace stood on the 12^th tee with a three-stroke lead over Andrew Johnston and by four over the remainder and he was still three clear after a safe tee shot on the par three 13^th . But with four men tied for second, I thought he was fractionally short at around 1.21/5.

Happy to lay Wallace modestly at 1/5 with still six to play. Leads by three but market assuming at least one birdie at the par fives. Fractionally short imo

-- Steve Rawlings (@SteveThePunter) September 8, 2024

The decision to lay at that price was vindicated as the gap was narrowed to just a stroke after 16 holes but it looked like a done deal after the Englishman hit a fabulous drive on the 72^nd hole.

Wallace was matched at 1.111/9 but after the Englishman had missed his birdie putt from 24 feet, the 42-year-old Spanish maiden, Garcia-Heredia, who was a 1000.0999/1 chance before the off following a run of three straight missed cuts, birdied the last from five feet to take the tournament into extra-time.

The Garcia-Heredia shot that forced the play-off #OEM2024 https://t.co/Iv85tJd1EN pic.twitter.com/BGOYCng40E

-- DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) September 8, 2024

Given he'd lost a playoff at the 2022 edition, having traded at odds-on in-running, it was tough on Wallace and long odds-on backers must have feared the worst.

Wallace was seeking his first success on the DP World Tour in six years but if he was feeling the heat, he didn't let it show.

Wallace was trading at 1.75/7 before the playoff started and the Spaniard was a 2.47/5 chance. And the outsider of the two did nothing wrong. He hit a fine tee shot and approach shot but after he'd missed his birdie putt from about 20 feet, Wallace stepped up and finally sealed the deal with this birdie three.

After six years without a win Matt Wallace is the European Masters champion pic.twitter.com/Wf7kEEARSr

-- Sky Sports Golf (@SkySportsGolf) September 8, 2024

The relief was palpable. Wallace was emotional and extremely relieved to get over the line. Fighting back the tears, he had this to say after the win:

"I've been playing great, and you don't want to give it away, and you've just got to stick in. And having the lead, I could have easily lost it a few times the last couple of days, especially yesterday with how hard it was playing, but man, I stuck at it at. That's me, and that's Matt Wallace golf right there."

A slightly cringey response maybe but it was impossible not to be impressed with how gritty he'd been when it mattered and he should have impressed the Ryder Cup captain, Luke Donald.

Inclusion in the European Ryder Cup team has been a long-held ambition for Wallace, ever since he was overlooked in 2018, but he's taken a huge step towards achieving his ambition with an impressive and deserved win.

Links Form Comes to the Fore Once More

Wallace has never won a DP World Tour event around a links layout, but he traded at just 1.282/7 in running during round four of the British Masters at Hillside in 2019 and he's the latest Crans winner to have shown a strong liking for links golf.

As highlighted in my Irish Open preview, Open winners Ernie Els and Seve Ballesteros have both tasted victory at Crans. Open winner Rory McIlroy has twice lost in extra-time here and Crans winners, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Thomas Bjorn, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Costantino Rocca have all gone close in at least one Open Championship.

There's plenty of wind forecast for this week's Irish Open so a good week in Switzerland, where the wind caused chaos on Saturday, may well be a big plus.

Primed Beef Could be Ready to Win Again

Although he ultimately came up a shot shy, Andrew 'Beef' Johnson stuck to his guns brilliantly all week to secure his playing privileges for next season. After a few years in the wilderness, he looks ready to win again.

Having begun the event as a 130.0129/1 chance, he was matched at a low of 4.57/2 and he came very close to tying the lead on the penultimate hole when his birdie attempt appeared to turn away just before the hole.

Under immense pressure, the popular Englishman played some brilliant golf and given what a huge asset he is to the Tour, and a likable character, it would be fantastic to see him win another title.

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