THE 154TH OPEN

July 17, 2026

Matthew Wallace

Mixed Zone

Q. How do you reflect on the round today?

MATTHEW WALLACE: Good. I played nice. Started great. Knew the conditions kind of similar to yesterday morning were going to play into our hands. I said to Jamie, I think we had the second best tee time out of the lot, which would have been the first group out from yesterday and today.

So took advantage of that. Played some really good stuff to start the day. A little frustrating not to birdie the par-5s there from position. Didn't hit the shots I'd like to, so clean that up, and yeah, very happy.

Q. Gives you a lot to build on going into the weekend?

MATTHEW WALLACE: Yeah. It's kind of been like that for this year. I just need to stay on my processes, which I was doing really well out there, especially with the putts. That last putt on the 18th there was exactly a good sign for me that I could implement what I've been trying to do in that moment. Didn't play how I wanted to down the stretch there in terms of some of the second shots, but the putts were decent, so that was my main thought.

Q. For people watching at home maybe in the States and they're used to the Open looking like this, but is there something that they couldn't grasp just by watching back home?

MATTHEW WALLACE: Well, I'd say to a lot of them, the bunkers at the front of the greens on some of the holes are, like, two to five yards short of the front edge. So if you cover them, you're great. But sometimes you can't. Sometimes you have to land it in between them to get to some of these flags, especially if it's downwind, and also into the wind with a 2-iron you're not going to just nodge it over the top.

For people watching at home, just see more shots going into bunkers, and you go, oh, that's a bad shot, when actually they missed their landing spot by maybe five yards.

Q. It seems like the buzz on the 18th when you putted out -- I know obviously English players get a big following, but does it feel --

MATTHEW WALLACE: Yeah, that was seriously special, and I know you won't believe it in terms of early in the day, but from the 5th hole, the short one over there, man, the amount of people saying, "go on, Matt," and egging me on and pushing me because you've got an Englishman at the top of the lead. When was the last Englishman to win an Open in England?

Q. '69, Jacklin.

MATTHEW WALLACE: That's what we're trying to deal with. But then the support we get and I got out there and also probably the other English guys out there - there's enough of us, you know - it's brilliant.

Q. Does it compare to any other place you've felt support like that?

MATTHEW WALLACE: No. Wentworth, my home club, I get that a lot, and it's brilliant. But I haven't been in contention up there as much as I'd want to to get the support like I did out there.

But I just still this as the best championship in the world, and it's the best crowds, and they love their golf. All I want to do is try and entertain them as much as possible and give them something to cheer for.

Q. Your numbers off the tee have been really good so far this week. What's your approach strategy-wise, and is it good execution --

MATTHEW WALLACE: Jamie has been great. We're staying out of bunkers, which is important. Hitting clubs that don't hit a downslope and can get into bunkers -- I've seen some guys get up in line with bunkers.

Like today, the 11th hole, a great birdie for me there. I hit 5-iron off the tee to guarantee I wasn't anywhere near that trap. No way I was going to leave myself a full 8-iron. I had maybe 190 to the flag. So you kind of feel like you want to push it further up, but you've got to know that you can get bad bounces. It can go in. If you hit that slightly left on a pull, that means you get into the trap, and that's dead. So leave myself a little further back and executed my iron shots really well. So staying out of the bunkers is the focus, yeah.

Q. Holes like 5 and 13 where you laid back, is that a game plan for the week or is that --

MATTHEW WALLACE: No, I hit the green on 5 yesterday and two-putted. That kind of started my week off really because I had a nice save on 4 and hit the green there and two-putted.

Q. What influenced the lay-up today then?

MATTHEW WALLACE: There was less wind helping. The traps were kind of like all that I could see with where my mini was going to go, and it's not driver there because driver is just going to go long. It's going to land on the green basically for me. In that moment, as well, I was like, this is an easy pin to get at from a 7-iron, wedge, and I focused on hitting a great 7-iron, then I had a perfect gripped-down gap wedge to about flag high that I could be aggressive with it straight downwind.

I saw where my playing partners were, and I'd have been way happier just playing into that part of the fairway, yeah, to that flag. Most other flags I'd probably get it past it, but back left flag with that wind, probably not.

Q. I appreciate it's a bit lightweight, but what was the reaction to your outfit?

MATTHEW WALLACE: Well, I've just been told upstairs I'm getting some nice comments on TV, so hope you guys like it as well. J. Lindeberg call this wine tasting colour, so I'm quite a fan of that. But I had to play well, didn't I. I've got to play well, yeah.

Q. Have you got another one planned for tomorrow?

MATTHEW WALLACE: You'll have to wait and see. You'll have to wait and see.

Q. Is there a prize for the best-dressed golfer?

MATTHEW WALLACE: Probably not, but is this up there?

Q. Any issues with the neck at all? I saw you reaching for it --

MATTHEW WALLACE: No, no. Sand. I was just covered in sand most of the time. I had a shot yesterday straight into the wind. Hit it out and then the top opened up as I did it and it was in my belly button.

Q. With the 18th hole, it plays as a par-5 for members. What do you make of the 18th hole?

MATTHEW WALLACE: Honestly, that is the best finishing hole in links Open golf. It's unbelievable. You have to think about everything. Yeah, you can hit 2-iron, but that first right trap is in play if you hit it over there. I think Xander hit it in there yesterday. Wind dependent, everything is difficult. If you hit 2-iron you're going to have another 2-iron into a tight narrow area where it rolls off.

It's the hole that you think about the most out there because you're really trying to dissect it, or you just do what I do and just blast it way right and not worry about it and get a drop. Wasn't happy which that tee shot but got away with it and still had 4-iron off a relatively whiffed driver. Brilliant finishing hole, and yeah, if you can hit the fairway, you still have a chance of making birdie.

Q. As one of the early finishers, what do you do the rest of the day?

MATTHEW WALLACE: Well, it was an early start. It was a 4:00 o'clock start. I'd like to just go through my processes with my putting again, go through my gates that I've been thinking about all day out there, so my start lines are good, my stoke is decent. Hit a couple shots I wasn't too happy with, like the two 2-irons that I had into the greens. I felt like if I hit those shots off the tee, I'd be really upset, so hitting them into greens shouldn't have been any different because the area was relatively wide still, but the shot into 17, it was still quite wide and I just pulled it.

So yeah, just do a little bit of cleanup work with those.

Q. In conditions like this and when it's sort of baked and we all sort of love it, but I imagine the greens staff are quite stressed about it, but in weeks like this, do you get an extra appreciation for the work that goes into it?

MATTHEW WALLACE: Unbelievable. Like the fairways, you might look at them and go, oh, it's baked out, there's no grass. There's a good amount of grass there. You can take a divot. So I think it's just burnt. Greens are pure this morning. Like yesterday they weren't as good and I was out for 11:50 so I'm guessing the 4:00 tee time wasn't too tasty. So yeah, perfect. We're going to have a late one tomorrow, so I'm going to have to go and get ready for that and prepared for that.

Honestly, with this thought process that I have, once I've chosen my line and locked in my read and my speed, the rest of the outcome is going to be what it is. I put the best putt on it that I can, and hopefully I can roll in a few.

Q. The greens keeping staff probably have a similar alarm clock to you --

MATTHEW WALLACE: Yeah, way earlier. Especially on a week like this, they're probably working all day until late because they've got to get the course ready for tomorrow. I think I put in a post on LinkedIn, just an appreciation post to all of the greenkeeping staff and all the people that work every single winner that only the winner gets to thank at the end of the week, so this is my appreciation post to the rest of those guys.

Q. On the two 2-irons on the par-5, did you miss those on the side you wanted to?

MATTHEW WALLACE: Well, the 2-iron was on the par-4, the 13th. So that was the one I was probably more annoyed at because it was way wider than 17, and all the lads do is put on -- so in those types of shots, all I try and focus on is my move and my strike, and I missed it. I hit it out of the neck and it's going to finish there.

So I know that. But I'm playing towards that side. I'm not playing towards into the toe and losing it left.

But the one on 17, our line was the -- the flag was our right-hand side, and over to the left-hand side where I finished. So I've hit it on my left side, but it wasn't the shot I wanted to execute. The shot for me there is a little fade off that left-hand side with that wind into, and then it'll feed up, and it could have got really close. It was a definite shot to go for, and I didn't execute it. That was it.