England’s Matt Wallace fired a 6-under-par 66 on Sunday to win the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic.
Wallace picked up four birdies over his final six holes and finished with seven against just one bogey on Sunday to finish at 19-under 269 for the tournament, one stroke ahead of second-place finisher Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark. Wallace was tied for third through 54 holes before matching Jonathan Byrd for the fourth round’s low score at Corales Golf Club.
The victory marked Wallace’s first on the PGA Tour.
“I was calm, felt I was determined, I kind of felt like I had it in me all week,” Wallace said. “I really felt like I was playing some really good stuff and I felt like I was going to be up there at the end of the week no matter what.”
Hojgaard shared the lead with Sam Stevens following the third round but couldn’t keep pace with Wallace on Sunday. He picked up three birdies and one bogey on the front nine before slowing down on the back, where he was only able to shoot 2 under.
“I had a lot of chances on the back nine today to put some pressure on him, so I’ve got a feeling I’m really disappointed right now,” Hojgaard said. “Obviously in a short period of time I’ll be happy with where I’m at, but you play to win and it’s tough coming up one short.”
Stevens slid even more, finishing tied for third with Tyler Duncan at 17 under. Austin Eckroat (68 on Sunday), Wyndham Clark (70) and Ricky Barnes (70) landed at fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
Belgian Thomas Detry posted a 72 on Sunday to drop five spots on the leaderboard, finishing the tournament in a five-way tie for eighth. Brent Grant and Ben Martin were also in that grouping.
Defending champion Chad Ramey didn’t finish at Corales after withdrawing ahead of his second-round tee time.
–Field Level Media
