Matt Wallace has won the 90th edition of the Omega European Masters, one of the longest-running events on the DP World Tour, held on the Crans-sur-Sierre GC course (par 70), in Crans Montana, Switzerland. The Englishman finished the competition with a score of 269 (64 62 73 70, -11) tied with Spaniard Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (269 – 63 69 71 66) and then overtook him with birdie on the first extra hole.
Matt Wallace, results
With an excellent final round, Guido Migliozzi entered the top ten, eighth with 274 (-6), one shot ahead of Edoardo Molinari, 12th with 275 (-5). Andrea Pavan, 22nd with 277 (-3), and Francesco Laporta, 27th with 278 (-2) are also in good position.
Wallace, leader in the two central rounds, started the final one with a four-shot margin over Garcia-Heredia, but he couldn’t find the right rhythm (70, par, two birdies, two bogeys). The Spaniard started badly (two bogeys), but then patiently recovered with six birdies (66, -4) and with the last one on the 18th hole he forced the Englishman into a playoff.
Then, however, the 42-year-old from Gijon couldn’t counter his opponent’s birdie, missing the opportunity to obtain his first success on the circuit. It was the eighth playoff played in the last eleven editions of the event.
Matt Wallace, 34-year-old from Hillingdon at his 139th appearance on the tour, made his name in 2016 by winning six tournaments on the Alps Tour, a record for the circuit in a season. Having joined the Challenge Tour in 2017, he won the Open de Portugal, also valid for the DP World Tour for which he immediately received the ‘card’ and where he signed three other victories in 2018.
He subsequently also scored on the PGA Tour (Corales Puntacana Championship, 2023). For his exploit he was rewarded with a check for 552,500 dollars on a prize pool of 3,250,000 dollars. Migliozzi (68 66 75 65) climbed from 21st position and obtained the third top ten of the season (in addition to the title in the KLM Open) with a final round of 65 (-5, a double bogey at the start, then seven birdies) and some regrets for the 75 (+5) of the third round which prevented him at least from a better placement.
Also recovering were Andrea Pavan (68 68 76 65), from 48th place, who also shot 65 (-5) putting together, like Migliozzi, seven birdies and a double bogey, and Francesco Laporta (67 70 77 64), from 65th, who did better with a 64 (-6, six birdies without bogeys).
Edoardo Molinari led the last round in 70 of par (two birdies, two bogeys) and lost some ground in the context of a good performance. Out at the cut were Matteo Manassero and Renato Paratore, 94th with 141 (+1), Francesco Molinari, 108th with 142 (+2), Filippo Celli, 122nd with 143 (+3), and Lorenzo Scalise, 138th with 145 (+5).
The same fate befell the Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez (60 years old), who participated in the tournament for the 34th time, bringing his appearances on the tour to 723, just one less than the record holder, the Englishman David Howell (49 years old), with 724.