Matt Wallace moved a step closer ending his six-year winless run on the DP World Tour by retaining a four-shot lead heading into the final round of the Omega European Masters.
Wallace followed bogey-free rounds over the first two days by posting a three-over 73 in windy conditions on Saturday at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club, dropping him back to 11 under but keeping a commanding advantage over closest challenger Alfredo Garcia-Heredia.
Andrew “Beef” Johnson heads into the final day tied third with Henrik Norlander, while a round-of-the-day 69 by Edoardo Molinari lifted the Ryder Cup vice-captain into a share of fifth place that contains Alex Fitzpatrick.
Wallace won on the PGA Tour last season but claimed the most recent of his four DP World Tour titles at the 2018 Made In Denmark, while victory this week would move him to the top of the early qualification standings in the race to qualify for next year’s Ryder Cup.
How Wallace stayed ahead in Switzerland
Wallace missed from 10 feet to save par at the second and dropped another shot at the fourth, with a bogey at the par-three eight dropping him to three over for the day and cutting his overnight advantage to one.
The Englishman responded by draining a 25-foot birdie at the par-five ninth but had to hole from eight feet to leave with just a bogey at the next, although he remained three ahead when he converted from 15 feet to save par at the 13th.
Wallace two-putted from long range to take advantage of the par-five 14th but bogeyed the par-five next to slip back to 11 under, then bounced back from failing to get up and down to save par at the 17th by holing from 18th to finish his eventful round with a birdie.
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“Where do I start?” Wallace told Sky Sports when asked to assess the difficulty of the conditions. “Brutal, hard. Really hard. I hit the ball I felt just as good, hit my areas – they were the wrong areas by the looks of it. Some holes like 17 were potentially impossible.
“I said the other day it was cold and windy, but that (today) was crazy, that was mental. The greens were fantastic but just really fast as well.”
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Matt Wallace chipped in twice in as many holes during his second round in Switzerland, where he carded a bogey-free 62
England’s Jordan Smith fell nine shots off the lead following a 77 which included a two-shot penalty for taking an incorrect drop on the par-five 12th. That turned a bogey six into a triple-bogey eight and Smith also dropped four shots over the closing three holes.
Matt Fitzpatrick, who came into the week looking to win the event for a third time, bogeyed his opening three holes and struggled to a five-over 75 to drop to tied-65th.
Who will win the Omega European Masters? Watch the final round live on Sunday from 11.30am on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and more with NOW.