WALLACE’S RYDER BID OFF TO A FLYING START
MaTT WaLLaCE showed exactly the right attitude when he was overlooked, somewhat controversially, for a wild card for the last European Ryder Cup team.
‘I’ll be practising day and night to make sure I don’t miss out on the next one,’ declared the man who had won three tournaments and still wasn’t picked.
Was it just coincidence, then, that the 29-year- old Londoner struck two crisp blows to 3ft at the difficult opening hole when the qualifying process for next year’s team began at the BMW Pga Championship at Wentworth yesterday?
neither di d he back of f thereafter, following up that opening birdie with four more and an eagle for a bogey-free 65.
It earned him a one-shot lead — on a high- quality leaderboard — over t wo men who did make the last team; Spaniard Jon Rahm and Swede Henrik Stenson. a third, Justin Rose, showed no ill effects from the knee injury that had threatened his participation to deliver a 67.
Scott Jamieson is among a group tucked in behind after opening 68s, while fellow Scot Robert MacIntyre continued his hunt for a first European Tour victory with a 69 to sit alongside compatriot Russell Knox.
Tournament l eader Wallace said: ‘over the next 12 months, it’s certainly my intention to take care of business and be in a position where I don’t have to worry about a wild card.’
He is running into form again, following a poor summer where he made headlines only for the scale of his public spats with his veteran caddie Dave Mcneilly, whom he regarded as an elder brother.
Matters came to a head at The open, where highly respected coach Pete Cowen l abelled Wallace ‘a complete idiot’.
It was no surprise, therefore, when Wallace and Mcneilly went their separate ways. given the depth of Wallace’s affection for Mcneilly, it was no wonder his form dipped.
‘It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make,’ he said. ‘Dave’s got me where I am today — and it bothered me.’
on the criticism he received for the way he treated Mcneilly, Wallace said: ‘ That was the reason why I wanted the split to happen. I didn’t want to keep being like that with Dave, or him with me.’
after five holes, it looked like business as usual for Rory McIlroy, following all his good golf since the first-round horror show at The open. The sun was shining, he was three under after five holes, and it looked as if his enormous gallery were in for a treat. Who can explain what happened next?
Certainly not McIlroy, who didn’t feel in the mood to speak to reporters, following a back nine completed in 42 shots for a 76. Suffice to say, he will need a good round today simply to make the halfway cut.
Richie Ramsay opened with a one-under 71, but it wasn’t such a good day for a few other Scots.
David Law and Paul o’Hara each shot a 75, while Stephen gallacher and David Drysdale both slumped to 76s alongside McIlroy.