Sergio Garcia of Spain hit the shot of the week and Kevin Na pulled off the upset of the tournament in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Garcia made a walk-off hole in one on the fourth playoff hole to defeat Lee Westwood of England and win Group 8, while Na sank a four-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to beat top-ranked Dustin Johnson, 1 up, at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas.
Since Na (1-2-1) was going home anyway he took the top-ranked Johnson (1-1-1) with him, but DJ wasn’t alone as 15 of the top 16 seeds were eliminated. No. 41 Robert MacIntyre (1-0-2) halved his match with No. 61 Adam Long (1-1-1) and advanced to elimination play from Group 1.
“I really don’t know what to say,” said No. 39 Garcia, whose shot hit slightly past the hole and spun back in. “Obviously, yeah, a hole in one is amazing. Lucky No. 13 for me. But you know, the two putts I made on Nos. 2 and 3, massive, to keep myself going.
“And then obviously the shot on 4, it’s a great shot, but then you get lucky that first of all it doesn’t hit the flag because it must have been very close to hitting the flag, and then it rolls back in.
“Obviously, I’m very happy about that. I’m sorry for Lee … but unfortunately one of us had to lose.”
The playoff was needed because No. 18 Westwood (2-1) defeated No. 8 Tyrrell Hatton of England (0-2-1), 4 and 3, while No. 51 Matt Wallace of England (1-1-1), beat Garcia (2-1), 3 and 2.
No. 28 Na rallied to beat Johnson, who won the 2017 WGC-Match Play and has six WGC titles, by winning the last two holes with birdies. DJ was upset when Na gave him a talking to after Johnson picked up his ball on No. 11 before Na conceded the putt.
“I’m going to give it to you,” said Na, from Diamond Bar. “I’m just saying, just wait. I know it’s this (close), but you still have to wait until I say so.”
Johnson stalked off and did not speak with the media afterward.
In addition to Garcia vs. Westwood, there were eight other playoffs to determine which players moved on to the Round of 16:
No. 3 Jon Rahm of Spain (2-0-1) was the only top seed in any group to advance, getting past No. 24 Ryan Palmer (2-0-1) in Group 3; No. 32 Billy Horschel (2-1) beat No. 35 Max Homa of Valencia and Cal (2-1) in Group 4; No. 30 Scottie Scheffler (1-0-2) defeated No. 6 Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State (1-0-2) in Group 6; No. 55 Bubba Watson (1-0-2), the 2018 champion, downed No. 26 Joaquin Niemann of Chile (1-0-2) in Group 7; No. 54 Brian Harman (2-1) knocked off No. 10 Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA (2-1) in Group 10; No. 13 Kevin Streelman (2-1) took out No. 27 Abraham Ancer of Mexico (2-1) in Group 13, and No. 62 Erik von Rooyan of South Africa (2-1) upset No. 14 Daniel Berger (2-1) in Group 14.
No. 52 Matt Kuchar (3-0), the 2013 WGC-Match Play champion, sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to win Group 2 and eliminate No. 34 Kevin Kisner (2-1), the defending champion, 2 and 1, while No. 60 Ian Poulter of England (3-0), the 2010 champ, beat Lanto Griffin (0-3), 2 and 1, to take Group 11.
No. 11 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland (1-1-1), the 2015 winner, halved his match with No. 25 Cameron Smith of Australia (1-1-1) and was eliminated in Group 11, while No. 44 Jason Day of Australia (1-2), the 2014 and 2016 champion beat No. 57 Andy Sullivan of England, 2 and 1, in Group 6 but also was on his way home.
For complete results and pairings for the Round of 16, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html
