Interviews with professional athletes don’t get much more frank than the one golfer Matt Wallace had after a disappointing end to Friday’s round at the Genesis Scottish Open.
Wallace had a chance to make the cut entering Friday’s final two holes. But needing to play the two holes at one-under, Wallace bogeyed both. With that finish, he was two-over in Friday’s round and even par for the tournament, three shots off of the cut line. Shortly after his round, he headed into the Green Room.
What is the Green Room? The Green Room is something used on the DP World Tour (FKA, European Tour) where golfers will sit alone in a room facing a camera. Questions then come from a computer-generated voice. The feeling is that in this setting, golfers might be more willing to open up.
That’s exactly what happened with Wallace.
Just after sitting down, Wallace said, “Oh, dear.”
“Hi Matt,” the voice said. “Welcome to the Green Room. Is this your first time here?”
“First time,” Wallace confirmed. He then went right into talking about his play. “Pretty terrible, straight after signing my card. Didn’t realize it was this quick that they come in here. Yeah. Pretty gutted.”
When asked what he’d like to get off of his chest, Wallace focused on the mental aspect of his game.
“I’m trying to change my attitude towards the game a little bit, by being a bit more positive about it,” he said. “I just lack a load of self-confidence at the moment. Yeah, it’s hard.”
Wallace was then asked, “Do you want to talk about how you’re feeling? What’s going through your mind?
“I’m just not where I want to be, you know? In the game,” he replied. “You can’t force it. You gotta roll with the punches. That’s what I’m doing at the moment. Just working hard every day. It’s just how it is. The game doesn’t owe you anything. I don’t like to get emotional about it. But I’m quite an emotional person, as everyone knows. Yeah. It’s hard.”
Raw, honest, vulnerable. @mattsjwallace bravely opens up about the highs and lows of professional golf after a missed cut this week.#GenesisScottishOpen | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/Hfft7eeqm7
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 12, 2024
When Wallace was asked if he had anything else to say, he affirmed that he was an emotional person and golfer. But he also finished with a positive message for his fans.
“Everyone knows I’m an emotional person. I try the best I can. Some people don’t like the approach that I have. But I’m always just trying to improve myself and trying to be the best I can. To everyone out there that supports me, we’ll be back. We’ll get there.”
[DP World Tour on X]
