World number one Dustin Johnson and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy suffered surprise defeats on Wednesday as the WGC-Dell Match Play got off to a typically unpredictable start in Texas.
Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, seeded 52nd at the tournament, beat defending champion Johnson 3&1, while Peter Uihlein (57th) defeated McIlroy (sixth) 2&1 at Austin Country Club.
In another surprise, American Julian Suri, the lowest ranked of the 64 men in the field, beat Australia's world number 15 Marc Leishman, seeded 11th, 3&2.
McIlroy's defeat came three days after he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a barnstorming final round.
The Northern Irishman said he had been a "little flat" early on, though rallied late with five consecutive birdies to make it close before a relieved Uihlein closed it out with a par at the 17th.
"I made him earn it at least. I made the scoreline a little more respectable," McIlroy told reporters.
"I got down early and he didn't make a bogey all day. So it was hard to sort of claw my way back."
McIlroy and the other Wednesday losers will get a chance to make amends over the next two days as the tournament no longer uses a knockout format until the weekend.
The 64 players are divided into 16 groups of four, with everyone in each pod playing each other over the first three days. The winner of each group advances to the final 16 and the elimination stage.
Wiesberger said he played more freely without any burden of expectation against top seed Johnson.
"I thought it was the easiest game I could have," said the four-times European Tour winner.
"I'm the underdog playing the defending champion, so it was just go out there and see what happens.
"We both didn't have a great day. He gave away a couple of holes quite unexpectedly."
American Suri was another who revelled in the underdog role.
"I like to think I play my best with a little chip on my shoulder," said Suri, who plays mainly on the European Tour where he won the Made in Denmark tournament last August.
"A lot of people are saying congrats on being in the field. I don't think any other tournament they'd say congrats. I want to do more than just be here and take pictures."
Second and fourth seeds Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth won their contests while third seed Jon Rahm halved with Keegan Bradley.
Two-times Masters champion Bubba Watson made a hot start to beat South African Branden Grace 5&3.
"It was perfect," Watson said of his front nine, after racing to a 6-up lead at the turn.
"You couldn't ask for better. He (Grace) was under par on the front nine and somehow I just made a few more. I felt like McIlroy on Sunday."
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Peter Rutherford )
source: news.abs-cbn.com
American Dustin Johnson became the first player to win all four World Golf Championships events when he claimed the WGC-Dell Match Play in Texas on Sunday.
World number one and top seed Johnson beat Spanish 21st seed Jon Rahm 1-up in the 18-hole final at Austin Country Club.
Johnson built a 5-up lead after eight holes and held on, though only barely, after a late Rahm rally that cut the lead to 1-up after 16 holes.
“Today was a really tough day. I’m proud of the way I played, the way I stayed in there, even though he (Rahm) made some birdies on the back nine,” Johnson told NBC television after sinking his winning putt from inside three feet at the final hole.
Johnson earlier barely survived his semi-final against 54th seed Hideto Tanihara, winning 1-up after the Japanese player missed a good chance to win the 18th hole.
Rahm beat American 42nd seed Bill Haas 3&2 in the other semi.
It was Johnson's third consecutive victory, after he won the event formerly known as the Los Angeles Open and then the WGC-Mexico Championship.
Johnson's five WGC titles puts him second behind Tiger Woods, who has 18.
Johnson said the key to victory had been avoiding mistakes.
“I didn’t give him any holes, except for 10 (where) I three-putted. It was tough out there. The greens got really fast, the wind was affecting all the putts. Jon played really well. I just didn’t really give him anything.”
In a final that matched two of the game’s longest hitters, Johnson looked set to cruise to victory thanks to his big early lead, but it got interesting near the end.
Rahm, 3-down with four holes left, came to life, winning the par-four 15th with a birdie before taking the par-five 16th with another birdie, sinking a 30-footer after an astonishing second shot from the rough that he somehow threaded through an oak tree.
Rahm then drove through the green at the par-four 18th, ending up over the back, from where, perhaps distracted by a loud sudden banging noise just as he started his swing, he misjudged his 80-foot chip shot and could only par, allowing Johnson to escape with the win.
In the match for third place, Haas beat Tanihara 2&1, though the loser at least enjoyed a hole-in-one at the par-three seventh.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina, editing by Gene Cherry)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
World number one Dustin Johnson has the hottest hand in golf and will need to keep that form heading into Wednesday's WGC-Dell Match Play tournament after being grouped with a trio of major champions.
Johnson, who has won on his last two starts, has been placed in a group with U.S. PGA Championship title holder Jimmy Walker, twice major winner Martin Kaymer and former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson.
They represent one of 16 four-player groups that will play round-robin matches from Wednesday through Friday at the Austin Country Club with the winners of each group advancing to a single-elimination bracket at the weekend.
"I've got a lot of confidence in the game," Johnson. "I feel like I'm controlling my ball very well and I feel I’m starting to drive a little straighter."
Defending champion Jason Day and Marc Leishman, fresh off a victory at Bay Hill, are the two Australians in the event and they have been grouped with England's Lee Westwood and American Pat Perez.
The winner of their group will face one of Phil Mickelson, J.B. Holmes, Daniel Berger or South Korean Kim Si-woo.
"When it comes time to play match play you've just got to go out and try and beat them," said world number three Day. "You're not really friends for 18 holes and then when you get off the course you're back to being mates."
Rory McIlroy, who lost to Day in last year's semi-final but replaced the Australian as world number two this week, has been impressive since returning from a rib injury, finishing in a tie for seventh and share of fourth in his last two tournaments.
The 27-year-old Northern Irishman is grouped with Argentine Emiliano Grillo, American Gary Woodland and Dane Soren Kjeldsen.
Japan's Hideki Matsuyama has one of the most difficult draws as he will face South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen, who is 13-3 in this event over the last three years, veteran American Jim Furyk and Britain's Ross Fisher, who tied for third at the WGC-Mexico.
Should Matsuyama advance from the group stage, he could face twice U.S. Masters winner Bubba Watson in the round of 16, twice major winner and former world number one Jordan Spieth in the quarter-finals and Johnson in the semi-finals.
With only two weeks to go until the Masters, only four of the world's top 50 golfers have opted to skip this event to prioritise their preparations for the year's first major.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Nick Mulvenney)
source: news.abs-cbn.com
