IT begins with a wall. This wall - an imaginary one - spans the left side of the fairway at the 15th hole at Medalist Golf Club near his Florida home.
In the mind of Matt Wallace, it helps to define his golfing fortunes. The target is always the wall from which to fade it on to the fairway.
The only problem as he stood on the tee in recent years, try as he might he could not find it. Where once the ball would land flush on the fairway, instead it was met with a splash of water or a shower of bunker sand.
Recently, he returned to the same tee not long before dusk at a deserted course and lined up 15 balls. With 14 of them, he once more found his target. "I've got my wall shot back," was his takeaway as he packed up his clubs.
This wall can be relocated and rebuilt. On Sunday, it was shifted to the 18th of Corales Golf Course in the Dominican Republic for his final tee shot of the Corales Puntacana Championship.
Hitting into the wind, he shook off the nerves of being tournament leader to find the wall from which he made par for a one-stroke victory, a first on the PGA Tour and a first title of any kind for nearly five years.
The initial sensation was one of relief before a quick call home to his parents, two beers and half a cigar in celebration before a nine o'clock bedtime, shattered by the week but also years leading up to his victorious reemergence.
Before turning off the lights, he looked back at a video he recorded of himself at last year's Houston Open he promised to show himself if and when a victory ever came.
This story is from the March 28, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.
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This story is from the March 28, 2023 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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