Matt Wallace eager for BMW defence

Matt Wallace cannot wait to get things under way in the defence of his BMW International Open title in Munich this week.

Wallace emerged victorious last year when the event was played in Cologne, one of three European Tour wins during 2018 for the Englishman. He produced a late surge to charge through the field and pip the likes of Martin Kaymer, Thorbjorn Olesen and Mikko Korhonen on ten-under par.

The 29-year-old had a clear game plan on that final day and it paid off. “Coming here as defending champion, I want to put on a good show, play hard and play as well as I can,” he said.

“It was a great event for me. I’ve watched the highlights and I wasn’t really featured at all until the last day when I made a run at it.

“I remember saying to my caddie that we had to get to 10-under and that was it, really. Went really hard for that and managed to get to 10-under which I thought was going to be the winning score and it was in the end.”

A return to Golfclub Eichenried in Munich this year will not put him off, with Wallace confident the recent course changes can play to his strengths.

“The greens have changed a lot,” he explained. “Even the complexes of the greens have changed a lot, which I think can definitely help me.”

Having finished tied-third in last month’s PGA Championship at Bethpage Black, he backed that up in last week’s US Open, recording a tied-12th finish. Wallace also finished second in the British Masters last month and has risen to 24th in the world rankings.

He is the tournament favourite in Germany at 11.00, ahead of Sergio Garcia at 13.00 and last year’s joint runner-up Kaymer at 15.00.