Matt Wallace was in a sombre, pensive mood as he flew to New York for the USPGA Championship at Bethpage last month. A few hours before boarding the plane, he had missed a 3ft putt at the 17th that had cost him the British Masters title at Hillside. For a man who had claimed 10 trophies in three years during his spectacular progression on the game's various tours, he was struggling to accept it as one of those things that happen in a game where you lose far more than you win. Matt Wallace, pictured from inside the cup, wants to continue his stunning rise to the top The Londoner spoke to exclusively to Sportsmail's Derek Lawrenson about his journey 'Is that miss now going to haunt me?' he openly asked a member of his team. In truth, he was asking the question of himself. He wanted an answer - and he certainly found one at Bethpage Black. Even during the 29-year-old Londoner's stunning rise from outside the world's top 1,100 golfers to inside the top 30, doing well in a major had proved elusive. In the Big Apple he managed his first big finish - and the fact he needed to hole another slippery putt of 3ft to make third on the podium made it all the sweeter. 'The fact that I'd never finished better than 19th in a major definitely bugged me, and so it was a huge deal for me to finish third behind Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson,' he said. 'I loved the way I earned it as well, grinding it out over the last four holes, when the course was playing so hard on Sunday. I ended up with a slippery 3ft putt downhill on the 18th. 'The one I'd missed on the 17th at the British Masters really upset me, and it did go through my head as I was standing over the one at Bethpage. I like the fact I confronted those thoughts, and then proceeded to knock it straight in.' Wallace suffered disappointing when he missed out on the British Masters title on the 17th hole This is how it's been with Wallace during his exciting, four-year ascent. He wondered whether he could cut it on the Alps Tour and then won six times the following year. He was intrigued to see how he'd do on the Challenge Tour, but he breezed through that to earn promotion to the European Tour, where he won three events in no time at all. At the start of this year he sampled America for the first time and, in just his second start, was in contention on the final day at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, eventually finishing sixth. Now it's on to the US Open at Pebble Beach this week in a rather better frame of mind than the last major. 'I'm buzzing, as you can imagine,' he said. It's a measure of Wallace's rapid development that he's sampling America's West Coast for the first time,having only ever played Pebble on a PlayStation. 'I've played it hundreds of times, too,' he said, smiling. 'But I don't think when I come to play it for real that I'll be spinning the ball sideways on the greens or scoring in the low sixties.' The 29-year-old bounced back with an impressive third place at the USPGA Championship Helping him will be all that he learned over four insightful days at Bethpage, where his game and course management skills stacked up well to the stringent demands of a major, and coping with the raucous crowds. 'I thought New York was fabulous,' he said. 'I liked the interaction with the fans, it suits my personality. I liked the fact I was thinking clearly on the final day, not taking on silly shots but grinding it out. 'You know you're going to need to do that even more at the US Open, so it's great for me that I've now got the good experience I had at the USPGA to draw upon. At the end of the day, major championship golf is mostly about what's in your head. You know you're going to have to grind 100 per cent, that you have to let all the bad breaks go, and I can do that.' Wallace has taken a unique journey to the top and gathered his team at The Belfry last week Before heading to Pebble Beach, Team Wallace gathered at The Belfry last week for a golf day - Matt is an ambassador for the former Ryder Cup venue - and a long discussion about what happens next. Central to that is Steve McGregor, a man at the cutting edge when it comes to marrying sports science and performance, who helped Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood reach the top of the game and who remains a key man behind the scenes at Manchester City. 'I'm really looking forward to working with Matt, he's so willing to listen and I think there's obvious areas where we can work together and where I think he can improve,' said McGregor. Added Wallace: 'Steve's been out of golf for four years, but you can see he's relishing being back. It just feels a confidence boost in itself having someone like him in charge of the performance side of my game, and I think already that my attitude is getting better.' Wallace has come a long way since he missed the halfway cut at Augusta National in April It didn't work out well for Wallace the last time he entered one of America's golf cathedrals for the first time, missing the halfway cut at Augusta National in April. But he believes that was another valuable lesson. 'I took a week off leading up to the Masters, practised hard, and continued to do so when I got there,' he said. 'Then on the Wednesday I had the longest day of my life. I played in the morning with Rory, played the par three tournament and won it after two extra holes, and then had loads of media to do. It wasn't the best way to prepare, to say the least, and I won't be doing it again. 'Now, we're on to Pebble, and I'm not going to sit here and tell you that because I went from a missed cut at Augusta to third at Bethpage, that I'm now ready to win. I can't wait for it, of course. But this is about the long haul, getting everything in place piece by piece, learning what it takes to win and then to keep on winning.' A driven sportsman, and no mistake. As exciting as his progress has been over the last four years, it might pale beside the next four. All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility