DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Matt Wallace has tied a DP World Tour record by making nine consecutive birdies, all of them on the back nine Saturday for a 12-under 60 in the DP World Tour Championship.
Wallace had a chance at the only the second 59 in European tour history. He had 202 yards to the green on the par-5 18th on the Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. But he hit into a bunker, and hit out to inches from the cup for a tap-in birdie.
He stands at 16 under par, one shot clear of Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland entering the final round of the season finale.
The nine consecutive birdies equal the European tour record set by James Nitties of Australia in the 2019 Vic Open and Bernd Wiesberger in the 2017 Maybank Championship in Malaysia. Wallace also tied the tour record with 12 birdies in one round, last done by Raphaël Jacquelin in the 2013 Turkish Open.
Wallace holed from 30 feet on the 10th hole and from 18 feet on the 11th. The rest of the way, two birdies were from 6 feet and the rest were from 3 feet or closer.
“That was fun,” Wallace said as he walked off the course.
Players were allowed to lift and clean their golf balls in the short grass because of soggy conditions from overnight rain. Wiesberger played under the same conditions when he first set the European tour record.