WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play: With a 3&1 victory over Scott Stallings in Texas, Rory McIlroy got his pursuit for a second WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play championship off to a successful start.
The 2015 champion McIlroy was three up after six holes in Austin on Wednesday until the world No. 62 brought him back to one up after nine.
But the Northern Irishman increased his lead by birdying the par-3 11th, which his rival bogeyed, and then won by making another birdie at the par-three 17th.
The third-ranked golfer in the world, McIlroy, will play Denny McCarthy on Thursday and Keegan Bradley on Friday in an effort to win his four-man group and advance to this weekend’s knockout rounds. This will be McIlroy’s first outing since failing to make the cut at The Players two weeks ago.
The winners of each pool will go to the round of 16, with the quarterfinals taking place later that day before the semifinals and final are played on Sunday.
“Certainly this portion of the season you’ve got one eye on what you’re doing now and one eye on Augusta [for The Masters],” said McIlroy, who was carrying a new putter.
“It was enjoyable to experience a little bit of pressure and have to hit a shot or make a putt in response to what Scott did on the back nine.”
Rahm and Fitzpatrick lose, but Scheffler starts out winning.
Scottie Scheffler, the defending champion and world No. 1, beat Davis Riley by a stroke by sinking a 13-foot putt on the 18th green to match Riley’s birdie and secure the victory after Riley missed a three-footer on the previous hole.
The tournament began with a 2&1 loss to Rickie Fowler for world No. 2 Jon Rahm.
Rahm, who pulled out of The Players’ second round due to a stomach bug, was two up after three holes and held that advantage until the eighth hole, when the Spaniard’s bogey allowed Fowler to cut his lead in half.
Rahm made another bogey on the 11th, and Fowler levelled the match by making it to the quarterfinals in Austin. Rahm needs to win this match to get back within the top 50 in the world and qualify for The Masters the following month.
The Californian took a two-shot lead on the 15th hole as Rahm made his final bogey. Then, the winner matched Rahm’s birdie at 16 and par at 17, sealing the triumph.
Tyrrell Hatton, the Players runner-up, lost to Ben Griffin by a score of 3–1, and he might not be able to complete the rest of the way after getting hurt while warming up on the range while firing a shot.
In the meantime, Matt Fitzpatrick, the defending US Open champion, lost against JJ Spaun 5&3.
Fitzpatrick, who finished 14th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, has missed the cut in three of his last four starts.
Shane Lowry lost to Taylor Montgomery 2–1, while Tommy Fleetwood lost to J.T. Poston 3–2.
Nonetheless, Jordan Spieth, who defeated Mackenzie Hughes 4–3, was one of the winners.
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