In the featured match of the day, 19th-seeded Patrick Reed sank a 40-foot birdie putt from the fringe to finish off a 2-and-1 victory over No. 4 Jordan Spieth and win Group 4 in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas.
Neither played particularly well, especially local favorite Spieth, who hit his opening tee shot out of bounds and found hazards on the next two holes after winning his first two matches.
“Of course it was exciting to play Jordan,” said Reed (pictured), who never trailed in the match and moved into the Round of 16 with a 3-0 record. “Really I think no matter who you are playing, when it’s a literally a winner-move-on format, you are going to get excited about it.
“It was just one of those days that with how the conditions were, it wasn’t fun. I mean, with how windy it was, it was hard—it was a grinder’s day out there. You weren’t going to see a ton of birdies. There’s going to be just who doesn’t make some mistakes, who’s able to grind out some pars and maybe make a birdie here or there.”
Said Spieth, who played college golf at Texas and played the Austin course often: “I don’t think it would have been that tough to beat me today. I just didn’t have a really good day. You know, sometimes that happens. I just got a little off.
“Yesterday I could feel it after the round with my driver. I went to the range, a set-up thing. It kind of bit me on the first couple of holes today with a few out-of-play balls. Patrick is a great competitor. I felt like I fought hard around the middle of that match and then I just didn’t quite have it today.”
Second-seeded Justin Thomas finished at 3-0 to capture Group 2 with a 7-and-5 victory over No. 21 Francesco Molinari of Italy, while No. 28 Kiradech Aphibarnrat also moved on with a perfect record by downing No. 3 Jon Rahm of Spain, 4 and 3, to take Group 3.
No. 7 Sergio Garcia of Spain was another golfer to finish at 3-0, beating No. 20 Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State, 3 and 1, to win Group 7, while No. 58 Ian Poulter took Group 10 with a perfect mark when No. 33 Kevin Chappell of Fresno and UCLA withdrew because of a back injury.
The last two of eight players to advance with 3-0 records were No. 59 Charles Howell III, who defeated No. 40 Satoshi Kodaira of Japan, 2 and 1, to win Group 14, and No. 13 Alex Noren of Sweden, who got past No. 29 Tony Finau, 1 up, to claim Group 13.
Others Group winners included: Group 1, No. 38 Adam Hadwin (2-0-1) of Canada; Group 5, No. 46 Cameron Smith (2-0-1) of Australia; Group 6, No. 18 Brian Harman (2-0-1); Group 8, No. 25 Louis Oosthuizen (2-1) of South Africa; Group 10, No. 45 Kyle Stanley (2-1); Group 11, No. 11 Bubba Watson (2-0-1); Group 12, No. 12 Tyrrell Hatton of England; Group 15, No. 50 Si Woo Kim (2-0-1) of South Korea, and Group 16, No. 16 Matt Kuchar.
Round of 16 matches include: Thomas vs. Kim; Garcia vs. Stanley; Hatton vs. Smith; Noren vs. Reed; Kuchar vs. Kisner; Harman vs. Watson; Oosthuizen vs. Poulter, and Aphibarnrat vs. Howell.
For complete results, visit https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard.html.
