THE CJ CUP BYRON NELSON

May 3, 2024

Matt Wallace

TPC Craig Ranch

Quick Quotes

Q. I don't know how entertaining that round was to play; sure was entertaining to call. You follow up a really good one yesterday. Great start today, especially on the back nine, and held it together coming in.

MATT WALLACE: Yeah, I felt the conditions kind of got a little bit tricky to an extent, and I think some of the pins were tougher today, especially the par-3s. You couldn't really get close to the one on 15. You can't get close to that pin downwind.

And then the front one on 7? Yeah, the front pin on 7 is just you can't really get close to that. So I hit two really good 6-irons into those two holes, but putting from outside 35 feet on the 7th is tough.

Apart from that, really happy with today. Really stuck in there well. Hitting the ball great off the tee. My long iron play can improve a little bit, but I still hit some really nice shots. Yeah, happy.

Q. You made golf look easy yesterday; it probably didn't feel as easy today. When you compare and contrast what are still two really good rounds of golf, is it just that's golf, or something you're even more proud of today even though the score wasn't the same?

MATT WALLACE: Yeah, exactly. I don't think two days are the same, so you have to roll with the different days and you need to deal with your swing might not be on or you might not be hitting it the way you wanted to.

I hit a couple 8-irons left early doors, and it didn't throw me, but didn't make my as comfortable as yesterday. So I had to adjust a little bit and hit some really nice shots coming in with my irons. Yeah, that's what you got to do as a professional, so I was happy with that.

Q. Talked a lot about your motivational tactics over the last couple weeks, whether it's starting thinking you're over par and having to rally back. What's the mental reset going into the weekend playing well and how you want to motivate yourself?

MATT WALLACE: Yeah, well, it might not be a surprise to you that I've got a slightly different mindset going on right now where I'm taking a lot of the outcome out of my golf. I'm taking care of my business, what I can do, and putting the best move on it as possible.

Hopefully that should -- with what I've seen on the range, my shot should stay in the dispersion patterns that I'm seeing. If I hit the ball as well as I can and try to do that, my dispersion patterns ends are quite tight.

So I'm really happy with that. I've done that the last two days and last week at New Orleans playing with Thorbjorn.

So I'm in a good spot. I know I can keep doing that, and then rolling the ball good on the greens, so I've kind of got everything.

Q. You might be only guy that's made two at 14 today.

MATT WALLACE: Yeah.

Q. What's your strategy there?

MATT WALLACE: Strategy today was hit it as hard as I could really. That pin was really tricky. If you lay it up there is a massive ridge about five yards short of it. You can't lay it far enough back to get some spin and then it's quite a tight pin.

The strategy today was get it as close as possible but not be in the bunker right and obviously not in the water left. Hit as good a shot as I can. I know I could get probably to the front on a really good one, and I'm obviously confident, so I swung it a little bit fast, a bit quick, and hit it perfect on the right line. A little draw, and pitched it about 315 into the wind and rolled her in.

I would like to be able to do that all the time and I would make quite a lot of money if I did that. Now I know what it feels like to be Rory.

Q. I need to ask you about that second shot on 9, the last hole. Talk us through that.

MATT WALLACE: I thought I hit a really good tee shot. I hammered it down the left side and I thought, you know what, that's the short line. It's going to be tight to the trees, but I didn't think it would hit it. I think it hit the tree, came down, obviously got a little bit lucky hitting the cart paths and just staying there.

When I got up there, and I was like, oh, no bother. But I haven't hit it off hard mud in a while, so I took it back with a 2-iron. I thought the 2-iron was the play to get it a bit further up than just the 4-iron and be left. 2-iron would take out the water from what I thought.

But it got caught on the way back, and the way through didn't I want to lean on it so I just tried to pick it and I picked it too much and I topped it. So I haven't topped one in a while, but I'm laughing now because I've managed to find it and get it up to the green and two-putt.

Q. What's the minute and a half or two minutes like when you...

MATT WALLACE: Well, I was hoping they found it so then I could at least try and make a five that way.

If not, two scenarios went through my head. Okay, right, where can I drop this to get it on the green. Then obviously found it, so as soon as I found it I was like, right, you got a bit of luck there so take advantage of it.

So as unlucky I got off the tee a little bit, I think I got away with that one, got lucky there, so happy with the five. And we go. We carry on.