Matt Wallace is hoping to continue his recent worldwide good form when he tees it up at a happy hunting ground at the 2021 Portugal Masters.
The Englishman won his maiden European Tour title on Portuguese soil at the 2017 Open de Portugal at Morgado Golf Resort and since then has secured three top 50 finishes here at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course.
He has also claimed three further European Tour victories since his win 50 kilometres west of Vilamoura and has become a truly international player.
His five worldwide top tens this season have come in four different countries and after a top five in Japan at the ZOZO Championship on the PGA Tour last time out, he is eager to add another to his list.
"I’m feeling good," he said. "I’ve played nicely the last couple of tournaments, so I’m coming here full of confidence.
"I hit some balls last week and I’m ready to go this week on a course that I like. I love the area, the hotel.
"There’s no doubt playing in the States makes you a better golfer, you have to play well to contend. The best players are going to win that week, whoever that may be because there are so many good players.
"Coming back here there are guys full of confidence and they can play. But I feel like if I can play like I did at the ZOZO and learn from my mistakes, hopefully we can be in contention come Sunday and hopefully get the job done."
Hopefully we can be in contention come Sunday and hopefully get the job done
As well as playing tournaments in Vilamoura, Wallace has also spent some time practising at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, although he believes it will be a very different test this week.
"The course is playing totally different to how I remember," he said. "I’ve been here plenty of times, I was actually here during a winter break back in the day. It was really firm then.
"They’ve had quite a lot of rain. It’s very spotty around the greens in the rough, you will catch fliers out there if you don’t hit fairways and around the greens it’ll be tough to get up and down.
"The greens are soft, you have to take a lot of spin off the ball this week. Ball-striking, a good short game and just limit the damage."
