Wallace Leads DP World Tour Championship in Dubai after History-making Back Nine

Golf - The 151st Open Championship - Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, Britain - July 20, 2023 England's Matt Wallace plays out of a bunker on the 18th hole during the first round REUTERS/Phil Noble/ File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
Golf - The 151st Open Championship - Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, Britain - July 20, 2023 England's Matt Wallace plays out of a bunker on the 18th hole during the first round REUTERS/Phil Noble/ File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
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Wallace Leads DP World Tour Championship in Dubai after History-making Back Nine

Golf - The 151st Open Championship - Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, Britain - July 20, 2023 England's Matt Wallace plays out of a bunker on the 18th hole during the first round REUTERS/Phil Noble/ File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
Golf - The 151st Open Championship - Royal Liverpool, Hoylake, Britain - July 20, 2023 England's Matt Wallace plays out of a bunker on the 18th hole during the first round REUTERS/Phil Noble/ File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Matt Wallace hit nine birdies on the back nine to card a third-round 60 at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Saturday, and takes a one-stroke lead going into the final round.

Wallace had 12 birdies in total, but it was the Englishman's run on the last nine holes which saw him become the first male golfer in a top flight tournament to birdie every hole on either the back nine or the front nine, according to Reuters.

Nine consecutive birdies also equals the European tour record set by James Nitties in the 2019 Vic Open and Bernd Wiesberger in the 2017 Maybank Championship. Wallace narrowly missed out on carding only the second 59 in European tour history.

"That was special. I didn't know that if I'd holed that bunker shot on the 18th that it would have been a 59 and I wish I had known because it might have spurred me on to make it," Wallace said.

"I knew it was a nine in a row though and I'm pleased that I'm the first to do it in a single nine. I'll always have that, which is special."

Wallace went into the third-round seven shots behind leader Nicolai Hojgaard, but now holds the lead at 16-under overall, one stroke ahead of Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland.

Fleetwood hit five birdies on the front nine, but two bogeys on the back nine cancelled out his eagle on the par five 14th.

"I played good early on. I looked at the pins this morning and it looked like the pins on the front nine were more accessible than they'd been for me on the first two days," Fleetwood said.

"Played great early doors and not that I was very far away there through the middle stretch of the round but I just felt like it got a bit trickier."

Jeff Winther moved up the leaderboard to fourth overall, just two strokes off Wallace, with an eight-under par round, while Hojgaard is now three strokes off the lead alongside Ewen Ferguson.

World number two Rory McIlroy hit five birdies and an eagle for a seven-under par round, but is eight strokes off the lead going into Sunday's final round.



Real Madrid Trusting New Improvised Defense to Hold on to La Liga Lead

Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
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Real Madrid Trusting New Improvised Defense to Hold on to La Liga Lead

Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)
Football - LaL iga - Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - February 8, 2025 Real Madrid's Raul Asencio reacts at the end of the match. (Reuters)

Real Madrid will have to stick to its improvised back line when it tries to hold on to its narrow lead in La Liga this weekend.

Madrid visits Osasuna on Saturday with a one-point lead over Atletico Madrid and a two-point advantage over Barcelona.

Depleted of defenders, coach Carlo Ancelotti fielded a back line that played together for the first time on Tuesday and won at Manchester City 3-2 in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs.

Ferland Mendy, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Raúl Asencio and Federico Valverde are expected to start in defense again this weekend.

Ancelotti doesn't have much choice. Injuries have robbed him of central defenders Éder Militão, Antonio Rüdiger and David Alaba and right backs Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vázquez.

But the coach was pleasantly surprised by how well this new back line held up at Man City.

Tchouaméni is a midfielder plugged into the central defense and Valverde is also out of position at right back. Like Tchouaméni, Asencio is a B team player, who turned 22 on Thursday.

“The back four had never played together, not even in training,” Ancelotti said this week.

“They were absolutely fantastic. Tchouaméni has come in for a lot of criticism but he was incredible. Asencio’s maturity continues to surprise people and Valverde and Mendy were fantastic. We’ve been able to bring something really positive out of an emergency situation.”

Ancelotti said the whole team has put in the extra effort to help defensively and keep the squad well balanced.

“I always say that defending is about the attitude of the whole team," Ancelotti said. "We defended well as a unit (against City). The team delivered a well-rehearsed defensive display.”

The injuries have prevented Ancelotti from rotating the squad and resting players ahead of the decisive Champions League second leg at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium next week.

“We need Rüdiger and Alaba for the return leg and I think they’ll be available,” Ancelotti said.

Tight at the top In La Liga, Madrid is coming off a 1-1 draw at home against Atletico. Barcelona took advantage of that result to close the gap on the Madrid rivals.

The Catalan club, unbeaten this year with nine wins and two draws, will host sixth-placed Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

Atletico handed Barcelona its last loss in December, and will host mid-table Celta Vigo on Saturday. Diego Simeone's team has only one defeat — 1-0 at Leganes in January — in its last 22 games across all tournaments.

Elsewhere, fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao visits Espanyol, and fifth-placed Villarreal hosts Valencia. Sevilla is at last-placed Valladolid and Real Betis hosts Real Sociedad.