Matt Wallace has learned to trust those with a hunch. The finest endorsement for those who believed in the 27-year-old will arrive on Thursday morning when he makes his major championship debut, at the US Open. A year ago, Wallace was enjoying the most fruitful spell of an unremarkable career, winning three times on the Alps Tour, where first prizes occasionally approach £10,000. There was also a meeting with Chubby Chandler, the influential agent, when Wallace attended the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth as a spectator.
“This is freaky,” Wallace says. “It was the first time I’d ever met him. He said: ‘You know what, Matt? You are going to be playing here next year.’ I said: ‘Shut up. I’m on the Alps Tour, I have to play Challenge Tour, win things there … how am I even going to get close?’”
Wallace did tee up in the European Tour’s marquee English event having benefited from two things: his own ability and another demonstration of confidence, this time from Keith Pelley. It was the Tour’s chief executive who invited Wallace to last month’s Portugal Open where he opened with a 63, won the tournament and thereby earned full playing status.
“I spoke to Keith at Wentworth,” says Wallace. “I wrote him a letter of thanks, he got that and came to see me. He said: ‘I really appreciate the letter.’ I was like: ‘Well, I really appreciate you changing my life.’ He said: ‘You are exactly the reason why we give invites. You showed you could take your chance when we gave you that invite.’”
Wallace’s earlier periods on the road provide insight into a division far removed from the US Open, for which he earned a place from a play-off at international qualifying. The field at Erin Hills will compete for a prize fund of $12m (£9.4m). For Wallace, there was the distribution of a business plan to potential sponsors so that he could collect even some of the minimum £17,000 per year needed to play on the Alps Tour.
“I always felt like if I was able to go to events, I could win and make a living,” he says. “That’s how I spoke to people; some took an interest, others didn’t. I only had a couple of people helping me and you would have a certain amount of money to last five or six events. After that, I had to pay my own way so that was tough.
“Even in the year where I won six times, it was great but not significant or life-changing money and I was having to pay a lot of stuff off with what I won. I was getting sponsorship, maybe £5,000, so from there on I was paying with whatever I earned.”
Wallace is clearly confident but self-deprecating about his route to the top. “My parents are PE teachers, my whole family is very sporty. I was very good at pretty much all sports. I played really high-level cricket, football and rugby. I didn’t play golf seriously until I was 18.
“From 18 my head was on the wrong way, I worked for Hollister and was out partying all the time. I changed that when I was 20 when I had this thought of: ‘What am I going to do when I’m 30? I have nothing.’
“I wanted to go to America and get my degree. I did that on a scholarship to Jacksonville State and went there for a year. I was at the wrong university; I was the No1 there, won events, helped their ranking then got called into the England first team. I thought it was all going in the right direction but I still wasn’t any good. I was just playing with what I was given, talent, and that was it.
“I always managed to score and get it round. That helps me now. I wasn’t that good but I could and can play from positions others aren’t used to because I’ve been in those situations. I’ve changed my technique, because I had to, and I’m a proper golfer now. I’m quite confident standing next to anyone on the range and hitting shots.”
Wallace’s development is fascinating on two counts. That he is a prolific winner – the eventual tally on the Alps Tour last year was six – sets him apart from others, regardless of where those successes took place. At 27, and having turned professional in 2012, he is also relatively late to the high-level party. Wallace regularly doubted experiences like this “best six months of my life” would ever transpire. “I have worked really hard for years but over the first couple, I didn’t see much happening with my game,” he says.
“I didn’t see any purchase or any outcome which suggested I was going to be a professional golfer. I spoke to a few of my friends about giving it up at the end of 2013. I was busy writing a new CV. In hindsight, working hard wasn’t the right thing; I had to work a lot smarter.
“At the end of 2015 I changed coach after being in position a few times on the Alps Tour but not winning. It wasn’t mental; I felt great every time I was in position. It wasn’t nerves. Under pressure, my technique wasn’t holding up. I worked on my technique, made that a lot better and now have a great team around me.”
That coaching switch led to the widely respected Matt Belsham overseeing stunning improvement. Among Belsham’s other pupils is the world No8 Alex Noren. “This is a guy who I idolise,” says Wallace of the Swede. “His work ethic and his technique are brilliant. He isn’t completely happy with the way he swings it so there is a grey area where he is winning but he is always working to get better. That’s where I am because I never had great technique and it’s technique that gets the ball to go where you want it to.”
Chandler delivered a “told you so” message as Wallace lifted the trophy in Portugal. “I’ve taken so much confidence from someone of his stature telling me I was going to do all right,” says the man from west London. He will cherish Erin Hills more than most.
