Matt Wallace Wins European Masters in Switzerland

Matt Wallace won his first DP World Tour title for six years when he claimed the European Masters in Switzerland after a playoff against Spain's Alfredo Garcia-Heredia.

The 34-year-old went into the final day with a four-shot lead and looked like he might have thrown away a golden chance to end his drought in Europe.

But a birdie on the first extra hole, the 18th, gave Wallace his fifth DP World Tour title - and first since 2018.

"That was a hard day," said Wallace, who lost this tournament at Crans-sur-Sierre two years ago in a play-off to Thriston Lawrence.

"It brought back memories of when I lost two years ago - I wasn't focused then, but that was focus there. I'm buzzing. I stuck at it."

Wallace was level for his final round but a birdie at the last allowed Garcia-Heredia to join him on 11 under after a four-under round of 66.

Wallace's compatriot Andrew 'Beef' Johnston was also close to tears after a 66 enabled him to finish third on 10 under after struggling in recent years with injuries and form. "There's a lot of relief - it's been a tough couple of years," he said.

What You Need to Know About Matt Wallace

Matthew Wallace was born in Pinner on April 12, 1990. He attended Jacksonville State University as a freshman in the 2010/11 season before turning professional. His year in Jacksonville saw him win twice, including the 2011 OVC Championship. He was the OVC Freshman of the Year and held the record for lowest round in school history with a 10-under 62 in the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate.

In 2016 Wallace won six tournaments on the Alps Tour and topped the Order of Merit, which qualified him for the Challenge Tour. He started 2017 by finishing tied for third place in the Kenya Open and in May he won the Open de Portugal, which gave him promotion to the DP World Tour.

Wallace won his second European Tour event in March 2018, at the Hero Indian Open, beating Andrew Johnston in a playoff. The win lifted him into the world top 100 for the first time. In June, Wallace won the BMW International Open and in September he added the Made in Denmark and was unlucky not to be selected for Europe’s Ryder Cup team. He was tied fifth at the Nedbank Golf Challenge and finished joint runner-up at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship, taking him into the top 50 in the world rankings.

In 2019, Wallace finished tied for third place at the US PGA and 12th at the US Open. On the PGA Tour he was sixth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and on the DP World Tour he was second at both the Dubai Desert Classic and British Masters and third at the KLM Open and BMW International Open.

In his first full season on the PGA Tour in 2019/20 Wallace had best results of a tied fourth at the Memorial and 12th at the Rocket Mortgage.

In April 2021, he recorded his joint-best finish on the PGA Tour with a solo-third finish at the Texas Open and finished the season in 111th place in the FedEx Cup standings.

Wallace started the 2021/22 PGA Tour season with a share of 14th at the Shriners and fourth place at the Zoo, ending the season in 120th place in the FedEx Cup standings.

On the DP World Tour he was runner-up at the European Masters to Thriston Lawrence in August 2022.

In January 2023, Wallace was selected to play in the inaugural Hero Cup,representing the Great Britain and Ireland team, facing Continental Europe, contributing 2.5 points from a possible four, including a singles victory over Thomas Detry, in his team's defeat.

On the PGA Tour, in March, he finished tied for seventh in the Valspar and the following week he claimed his first PGA Tour win, at the Corales Puntacana Championship. In August he was runner-up at the Czech Masters and also had top-10 finishes at the Alfred Dunhill Links and Qatar Masters. He qualified for the DP World Tour Championship, shooting a third round of 60 that included nine consecutive birdies on the back nine. He ended the week in joint second place.

The win in Switzerland takes him to 22nd place in the Race to Dubai and secures his place in the DP World Tour Championship.

He averages 309.11 yards from the tee, finds 57.87% of fairways and hits 72.80% of greens in regulation. He gets up and down from the sand 68.42% of the time, averages 29.25 putts per round and has a stroke average of 69.55.