The tiniest of twigs caused Englishman Matt Wallace considerable bother in the second round of the Valspar Championship. Thankfully for him, his honesty about the rules was matched by his own resilience.

Wallace was playing the par-5 11th hole of Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course on Friday when he drove into pine straw and leaves. As he readied for his shot, he saw his ball move ever so slightly.

“This one twig was sticking out, and I think when I was waggling the ball definitely moved,” Wallace recalled after the round. “Didn’t know whether it was in the action of my swing or anything, but I definitely touched it, and then the ball moved from that.

“So, I had to replace it … didn’t think I would be standing here making the cut after that. But a good bit of karma and managed to make some birdies coming in.”

Yet again we have an example of a player calling a penalty on himself when no one else would have had a clue what happened. Wallace couldn’t remember if he’d ever needed to take such an action.

“I was thinking back after, from the time I did it to walking to the next shot, I was like, ‘Has that ever happened?’ I don’t think it’s ever happened,” he said.

Impressively, Wallace recovered on the 11th to make a par, and then he made birdies at 14, 15 and 17 to shoot 68 and make the weekend. On Saturday, he double bogeyed the par-5 fifth, but bounced back with three birdies on the back nine and was tied for 20th as play continued.

Wallace, 35, missed the cut at the Valspar last year, but he previously finished T-7 in 2023 and T-17 in ’24. A solid finish this week would be big for him, since the one-time tour winner had missed the cut in three of his first four starts. 

“It’s one of my favorite courses that we play. It’s so hard,” Wallace said. “No one’s going to get away from you. You need to play well no matter what. You’re not going to breathe around here. So I still feel like I’ve got a chance to make a run at this weekend. ... That’s the big part for me is not just about this week, it’s about playing well. I’ve got three events coming up now that I like, so carry that on and hopefully get in contention at the weekend at some point.”