Englishman Matt Wallace sealed a first appearance at the European Tour’s season-ending DP World Tour Championship after securing his second win of the season at a thrilling BMW International Open.
The Hero Indian Open champion came into the final round two shots off the lead and had the task of chasing Italian Open winner Thorbjørn Olesen who had carded a record-breaking 61 to take a three shot lead into the clubhouse before the final group had teed off. Wallace set about the task superbly and carded a bogey-free round of 65 to pip Olesen, Martin Kaymer and Mikko Korhonen by one stroke. The 28 year old picks up 387,500 Race to Dubai points with his triumph and moves from 25th to 11th in the Race to Dubai Rankings with a total of 1,031,724 points.
“Congratulations to Matt on his second victory in 2018,” said Nick Tarratt, Director European Tour International, Dubai. “He is on a great run of form and I’m sure he will be looking to take that form into the upcoming Rolex Series events. We wish him all the best and look forward to welcoming him to Jumeirah Golf Estates for the first time in November.”
Having made the turn in 34, Wallace went on to produce some of his finest golf of the week as he made a charge to the top of the leaderboard with five birdies in the next seven holes at Golf Club Gut Laerchenhof. Back-to-back pars followed giving him the taste of European Tour silverware for the third time since earning his playing privileges in 2017 through the Challenge Tour.
“The BMW International Open is such a great event and to play against the likes of Martin Kaymer and the guys at the top is great,” said Wallace.
“I work hard for this. I believe I can do it. I want to go further; I want to keep building on this. Obviously, this gives me a lot of confidence to go on and play well and I want to kick on and hopefully do this in the bigger events from now on.”
Meanwhile, Kaymer, Korhonen and Olesen’s joint second place finish saw the trio collect 173,375 Race to Dubai points each. German Kaymer climbs from 73rd to 39th in the season standings with 416,654 points whilst Finland’s Korhonen jumps up to 29th from 37th on 625,684. Dane Olesen, whose final round 61 was the joint lowest round of the season, as well as the lowest round ever shot at the BMW International Open, moves into fifth from ninth with a season tally of 1,469,988 points.
2017 Challenge Tour graduate Aaron Rai came into the final day with a share of the lead but had to settle in a tie for fifth place with a final round 69. The Englishman receives 89,977 Race to Dubai points which moves him to the cusp of the Race to Dubai’s top 60 in 67th place with 280,439 points.
The top three in the Race to Dubai Rankings remain the same. American Patrick Reed leads the way with 2,785,884 whilst England’s Race to Dubai champion Tommy Fleetwood retains second place after picking up 6,393 points with a tie for 59th finish to leave him on 2,473,864. Italian Francesco Molinari completes the top three with a total of 2,344,946 points.
The DP World Tour Championship, Dubai takes place at Jumeirah Golf Estates from November 15-18.
