Wednesday 15 May 2019 15:33, UK
Matt Wallace has apologised for his "petulant act" on the final green at last week's British Masters and vowed to work on controlling his emotions.
Wallace was in contention throughout the tournament at Hillside and was one ahead of playing partner Marcus Kinhult with two holes remaining on Sunday when the Swede bogeyed 15 and 16.
But the Englishman failed to convert a short birdie putt on the 17th and Kinhult grabbed the chance to tie the lead, and Wallace's frustrations boiled over on the 72nd green when he slammed his putter into the turf after missing from 10 feet.
Kinhult then holed from similar distance to snatch his maiden European Tour title, with Wallace left to rue playing the final seven holes in one over par as he finished in a share of second with Eddie Pepperell and Robert MacIntyre.
In his column for the Evening Standard ahead of this week's PGA Championship, Wallace said: "The way I reacted in banging my putter on the green on 18 was not right and, for that, I can only apologise. I'm really disappointed in the way I behaved. For 71 holes, I'd done really well, then let myself down badly with one petulant act.
"The best players in the world don't do that so why should I? That's not who I am and, in that moment, it was just pure passion to win. I'm not, though, disappointed with the way I played. I hit 82 per cent greens in regulation, my best ever, so it feels like a step in the right direction compared to a few weeks ago."
Wallace now heads into the second major of the year ranked a career-high 31st in the world and, while he had tempered his expectations for Bethpage Black, he remains confident of being able to break into the world's top 10.
"I'm excited about what I'm doing, but genuinely there's no expectations for this week at the second major of the season apart from trying to control the emotional side of things," he added.
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"I've never played Bethpage, but it looks brutal and the weather does not look great, so it'll be cold and playing long. For me, it's the next step in going from 31st in the world to the top 10."
