Dustin Johnson seems to be almost unbeatable right now.
The top-seeded Johnson rolled into the Round of 16 in the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship by trouncing PGA champion and No. 18 Jimmy Walker, 5 and 3, to wrap up a 3-0 domination of Group 1 at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas.
“I feel like I’m playing pretty well, solid every day,” said DJ, who won the Genesis Open and WGC-Mexico Championship in his last two starts to take the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking. “I didn’t make any bogeys today, did have two yesterday, but none the first day, and if you do that it match play usually you are going to win.
“It’s only been two weeks (at No. 1) and I still have to play my best every week to win. Just because I’m No. 1 doesn’t mean I get a pass. I’m going to keep working hard so I can stay there.”
There were five playoffs to decide Group winners who moved on to the Round of 16 on Saturday.
No. 28 Marc Leishman of Australia, who won his match because No. 2 Jason Day withdrew earlier to be with his mother before cancer surgery, sank a 12-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole to turn back No. 43 Lee Westwood of England and No. 56 Pat Perez after all three finished Group 2 with 2-1 records.
No. 47 Ross Fisher of England birdied the second playoff hole to beat No. 23 Louis Oosthuzien of South Africa, runner-up to Day in the tournament last year, after they went 2-1 in Group 4. Fisher beat No. 51 Jim Furk, 4-2, in the third round and Oosthuizen dusted No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama, 6 and 4.
No. 46 Kevin Na of Diamond Bar made a birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat No. 27 Matthew Fitzpatrick of England after both went 2-1 in Group 6. Na lost his match to No. 49 Chris Wood of England in round three, while Fitzpatrick beat No. 6 Justin Thomas, 2 and 1.
No. 61 Charles Howell III won Group 10 with a four-foot birdie putt that knocked out No. 22 Rafa Cabrera Bello of Spain. No. 10 Tyrrell Hatton of England dropped out on the first playoff hole after receiving a two-stroke penalty for hitting a putt without moving the ball back to its original position after it moved. Earlier, Cabrera Bello beat Hatton, 2 and 1, and Howell downed No. 14 Jeunghun Wang of South Korea by the same score.
No. 41 Bill Haas knocked in a seven-foot birdie putt on the fifth extra hole to defeat No. 64 K.T. Kim of South Korea. Haas also beat Kim in their match earlier in the day, 2 and 1, and both were 2-1 in Group 11.
No. 14 Phil Mickelson joined Johnson and six others who moved on with 3-0 Group records by routing No. 31 J.B. Holmes, 6 and 4 to win Group 14; No. 12 Paul Casey of England was perfect in Group 12 after a 4-and-3 victory over No. 24 Charl Schwartzel of South Africa; No. 8 Alex Noren of Sweden finished with a perfect mark when No. 25 Francesco Molinari of Italy withdrew because of injury; No. 48 William McGirt won Group 15 with three victories by edging No. 52 Andy Sullivan of England, 1 up; No. 20 Brooks Koepka finished Group 9 with a 3-0 mark by downing No. 9 Patrick Reed, 1 up; rookie Jon Rahm of Spain, No. 21, put the finishing touches off a perfect mark by thrashing countryman and No. 7 Sergio Garcia, 6 and 4, and No. 62 Soren Kjeldsen claimed Group 3 with an unblemished mark when No. 33 Gary Woodland withdrew because of family issues.
For full results and Round of 16 pairings, were the knockout stage begins, visit http://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html.
