Last Updated: 18/11/23 1:03pm
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Matt Wallace birdies every hole on his back nine to fire a course-record 60 and move two ahead at the DP World Tour Championship
Matt Wallace birdies every hole on his back nine to fire a course-record 60 and move two ahead at the DP World Tour Championship
Matt Wallace produced a historic back-nine birdie charge to take a one-shot lead into the final round of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
Wallace came into the weekend seven strokes back but birdied every hole of his back nine during a remarkable Saturday at Jumeirah Golf Estates, where a 12-under 60 lifted him to 16 under and ahead of a congested leaderboard.
The nine consecutive birdies, 12 in total and the back-nine 27 all equalled historic bests on the DP World Tour, although will not go into the record books because of preferred lies being used during the third round.
Wallace registered 12 birdies during his remarkable third round in Dubai
Ryder Cup stars Viktor Hovland and Tommy Fleetwood share second after carding matching 66s on a low-scoring day, while Jeff Winter holds fourth spot ahead of Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson and overnight leader Nicolai Hojgaard.
Wallace goes wild in Dubai
Wallace took advantage of the par-five second and holed from 10 feet to pick up a shot at the sixth, then responded to missing a seven-foot birdie chance at the next to convert from 12 feet at the eighth and reach the turn in 33.
Wallace flirted with a sub-60 round on Saturday
The four-time DP World Tour winner started his incredible burst of scoring when he rolled in from 30 feet at the 10th and 20 feet at the par-four next, with Wallace adding further birdies from six feet at the 12th and close range at the 13th to close within two of the lead.
Wallace two-putted from 40 feet at the 14th and fired his approaches to tap-in range on the next two holes, with a six-foot birdie at the 17th moving him top of the leaderboard and raising the possibility of a ’59 round’.
The Englishman found the greenside bunker with his approach into the par-five last and was inches away from holing out for eagle, although a tap-in birdie matched the DP World Tour bests for most birdies made in one round and most consecutive birdies.
“What a day, an amazing day,” Wallace said. “I just tried my hardest to get myself back in the tournament. I played great there and at the end there I didn’t even think that it was for a 59, honestly. I think it helped me a little bit, but I just played really nicely down the stretch.”
More to follow…
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