Day 5 - Bubba Watson claims WGC 7&6

March 25, 2018

Bubba Watson claimed a thumping 7 and 6 victory over Kevin Kisner to win a second World Golf Championships title at the WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play.

“This is unbelievable. A dream come true. Obviously ending on the 12th hole makes it a lot easier than try to battle and go extra holes like he did this morning. At the beginning of the week you don't know what's going to happen, because golf is very difficult. So for me to stay focused, stay committed to my shots, there's probably about four shots for the whole week that I wasn't committed to. That's pretty good for me."

The difference was six at the turn and while Kisner got the biggest cheer of the day as he won the 11th with a lengthy putt, Watson birdied the next to complete a comprehensive victory.

Noren finished third with a 5 and 3 win over Justin Thomas, whose loss to Watson in the last four prevented him from moving to the top of the Official World Golf Ranking.

“I'm very pleased with the way I played. It's been a long week. There's a lot of pressure. I feel the pressure. So I'm happy. I was very, very sad after this morning's loss. I thought I had it. But that's the way it goes sometimes. It's been a good week. I was very angry this morning after the loss because I really thought I had some great opportunities on the back nine to take the lead. But it didn't happen. And then he rolled some good putts. I was devastated after that loss. It was one of the hardest losses probably ever for me."

“And then coming out this afternoon, it feels just kind of weird that there's a lot to play for and I'm happy with the way I played. If somebody said at the start of the week I would be third, it would have been nice to take that. But, yeah, Justin’s a great player and I played steady today. It's great to play against the best, especially when you beat them."

The Swede now moves to fifth in the Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex, behind leader Shubhanker Sharma, who held on to the Number One spot despite exiting the WGC – Dell Match Play at the group stage.

Kiradech Aphibarnrat moved to second place after reaching the quarter-finals in Austin, while Tyrell Hatton is in third after reaching the last 16. Tommy Fleetwood completes the top five after moving to fourth spot.

In adding this victory to his 2014 WGC-HSBC Champions title, two-time Masters champion Watson becomes just the fifth player after Rory McIlroy, Ernie Els, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to win multiple Major Championships and WGCs.

“I know that we're supposed to make a big deal out of Augusta and everything, but it's a golf tournament. Everybody here, the top 64, well, top 71 or whatever they were in the world. So all those guys have a chance to win any week. I'm confident, obviously, having two wins. So if I miss the cut, I still have two wins to fall back on so far. But, yeah, when I get there, I'm going to look forward to it and hopefully I can get this focus and my putter rolling like it is.”

Full tournament scores.

Day 4 - Noren & Watson to face Kisner & Thomas in semi-finals

March 24, 2018

Alex Noren will face Kevin Kisner in the semi-finals of the WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play after beating Cameron Smith 4 and 2 on Saturday afternoon.

“I'm so happy to be in the semis. I wanted that last year when I lost to Dustin. I’m really looking forward to it. It's going to be a great day. It's a fun course to play, especially match play."

“I actually played against Kevin a lot when we played in college golf. We played on rival teams, and we played a lot of tournaments together. I don't know how many times I played with him. But I've only played with him once since then. But he has a very steady game, so I'm expecting that I have to do something very good to have to beat him.

After taking down Patrick Reed in the last 16 earlier in the day, the Swede led from start to finish as he saw off Smith with minimal fuss.

“It would be a pretty big deal if I was to win this tournament. I remember when Stenson won how big a deal it was back home and around the world so it would be pretty cool to do that and a pretty cool way to get my first win in America in such a big tournament.”

Justin Thomas will take on Bubba Watson in the other semi-final, knowing victory will take him to World Number One – regardless of the result in the final.

Kisner pulled off the biggest win of the day in his quarter-final encounter with match play specialist Ian Poulter, winning 8 and 6 after taking five holes in a row on the front nine.

Watson beat Kiradech Aphibarnrat 5 and 3 in the top match, while Thomas was a 2 and 1 winner against countryman Kyle Stanley.

Noren got off to a flying start against Smith, nonchalantly rolling in his 25-foot birdie putt at the first to go one up at the earliest opportunity.

The World Number 17 then made further birdies at the fifth and sixth to take a three-hole lead. But after Noren put his tee-shot into a bush at the short seventh, he carded a bogey at the eighth to lose two holes in quick succession.

Smith had a good chance to level things up at the tenth but he missed his birdie putt from seven feet to let Noren off the hook. And the Swede took full advantage, tapping in from five feet for a two to go two up.

The Australian missed another birdie putt at the 12th - and with it an opportunity to close the gap back to one - and Noren once again made him pay, knocking in from close range for a birdie to win the 13th and go three up.

Smith then kept his head above water at the 14th as he chipped in for par from the fringe of the green to halve the hole.

Noren finally closed out the win at the 16th when Smith conceded after failing to find the green with his fourth shot.

Day 3 - Alex Noren defeats Finau, Poulter & Garcia through

March 23, 2018

Alex Noren set up a mouth-watering last 16 match with America’s Patrick Reed at the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play.

"Playing Patrick tomorrow is obviously going to be a tough match. I know a lot of people might look at that as some sort of Ryder Cup rehearsal but I can't. The Ryder Cup is a long, long way away and I have to go out tomorrow and try and play well and keep making putts because Patrick is a great player and a tough guy to beat so I will need to play really good to beat him."

The Swede produced a brilliant finish with birdies on the 17th and 18th to defeat Tony Finau 1 up in his final group match to advance to the straight knock-out stages undefeated.

"I managed to hole a lot of good putts today, especially on 17 and 18 when it really mattered so that was really satisfying."

“It's great to get another and to get through - I putted so well again today and you really need to do that if you want to advance in this tournament because if you are confident on the greens you can be more aggressive and try and hole every putt you have."

Noren will be joined in the last 16 by fellow European Tour members Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton and Louis Oosthuizen.

Poulter was three up through eight holes in his Friday match against Kevin Chappell when the American conceded the match due to a back injury. The Englishman will face Oosthuizen, who came through a group play-off against Jason Dufner. Poulter needs to win his match with Oosthuiizen to secure a place in the Masters.

“Phase one done" said Poulter. "We're now obviously straight match play from here on out. This round-robin thing in the groups is very strange. I don't know if I like it. Obviously I've come through it, but it is strange. You win two matches and you are still not sure. So we have got the job done, but there's a long way to go. Four more matches hopefully to contend with and hopefully I can come out on top.

“Obviously I want to make the Masters. There's no secret. The form I'm in, I feel like I can really enjoy Augusta. But I need to get there. And it also goes beyond that. I'm staring four potential matches in the face here. If I can get through those four matches, I think there's a bigger picture with the Ryder Cup this year, which I obviously want to make as well.”

New dad Garcia was two down early in his third match against Xander Shauffele, but turned it round to win on the 17th and set up a last 16 match with Kyle Stanley of the USA.

Aphibarnrat will take on Charles Howell III on Saturday morning after matching the perfect qualifying records of Garcia, Noren and Poulter with a 4 and 3 win over Jon Rahm.

Hatton lost his third match of the group against Charley Hoffman but defeated Branden Steele in a play-off to set up his next round match with Australian Cameron Smith.

The remaining last 16 matches will see Brian Harman take on Bubba Watson; Justin Thomas will face Si Woo Kim and Kevin Kisner versus Matt Kuchar.

Day 2 - Ian Poulter defeats Daniel Berger

March 22, 2018

Ian Poulter defeated Daniel Berger of the USA to put his fate in his own hands at WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play.

“It was definitely an improved performance. I made many more birdies today than yesterday. Daniel is a tough cookie, I know that from watching Presidents Cup. He hates to lose. So I knew that going out today it was always going to be a tough match. He was never going to give me anything. He didn't, really. So I had to take the upper hand in that match, be confident. Step up and hit good shots when I needed to and hole key putts. Pleased I got through this one. Obviously another win is great. And I hope to do the same tomorrow.

Having defeated Tommy Fleetwood on the opening day, Poulter’s 2 and 1 win over Berger means the Englishman can secure his place in the last 16 over the weekend with a win over Kevin Chappell in his last group match before the tournament moves to a straight match play format over the weekend.

“This is my favourite form of golf. It's the purest form of golf. You are never out of the hole. I feel comfortable in this format. I love it. It gets the adrenaline going early, and there's nothing better.

Poulter has this week reverted to using the putter that made him a Ryder Cup legend in Medinah in 2012, and is hoping his incredible match play vibes continue as he looks for a strong finish in the event to secure a place in the up-coming Masters as well as gather some priceless qualification points for Thomas Bjørn’s European Team to face the USA in France later this year.

“There's a lot of motivation this week for me. 2018 is a Ryder Cup year. I know if I win several matches this week then I'm going to put myself in a rather nice position on that table. So when you think about an entire season to try and make that and obviously Augusta National, it really is straight in front of you. Now I'm down to five matches. So if I can win five matches then I'm going to be in good position on that list. I'm going to be in good position at the Masters. It changes everything for the season. It's easy to talk about that and get too far ahead of yourself, but that's what my goals are.”

Rory McIlroy got back into contention following his 2 and 1 win over Jhonattan Vegas. With Peter Uihlein – the man who defeated McIlroy on day one – losing to Brian Harman, McIlroy can advance by defeating Harman on Friday to at least guarantee a play-off to reach the last 16.

“I have got a chance tomorrow. Depending on what happens in the game behind. If Brian were to beat Peter, that would make it very interesting going into tomorrow. So yeah, I'm happy with how everything went. I wish I had -- I feel like I played okay yesterday. Had the result been different, it might have been a more stress-free Friday. I'm looking forward to the match tomorrow and at least I have given myself a chance to progress.”

There have been some fine performances over the first two days from many of the European Tour’s finest, specifically Poulter, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Francesco Molinari and Alex Noren who have all matched Poulter’s 100 per cent record on the opening two days.

“Really solid stuff today. I didn't make too many mistakes. I made some putts, really nice putts. I still find the golf course difficult. You saw me staring at that shot on 15. I had no clue how to play it. Kyle Stanley showed you how you obviously needed to play it. But the margin for error is so small. Today I just eliminated the mistakes, made some putts and made it very, very difficult for Kyle today.

I'm a guy that makes a lot of pars, a lot of birdies, and if I ever have a disaster it's usually something really big. It doesn't matter as much. It's just a loss of the hole, you go to the next. It frees my putting up, I can be aggressive with the putts. I played a lot as a kid growing up. That's all we did. I grew up in Surrey, just outside London, we played each other matches, matches against the other counties and club stuff. There's some tricks to it. I love it. It's such a pure form of golf, I really do.” - Paul Casey

Day 1 - Wiesberger & Uihlein beat Johnson & McIlroy

March 21, 2018

Bernd Wiesberger and Peter Uihlein won their respective matches against Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy on day one of the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play.

“I thought it was the easiest game I could have. I'm the underdog playing with the defending champion, so it was a case of just try to go out there and see what happens. We both didn't have a great day, obviously, as you can see on the card. He gave away a couple of holes quite unexpectedly. You've still got to make the par when your opponent makes the bogey. I didn't hit it as great. The golf course was tough and the wind was gusting. Just happy to get through the match.” - Bernd Wiesberger.

“I was solid most of the day" said Uihlein. "I really snuck one out on the 1st to tie that hole, was pretty big from a momentum standpoint. After that, I hit every green pretty much up to 16. And I just kept putting pressure on him all day. And I felt like, especially on the front, I was always having a chance to win the hole with a putt."

“I think when you're able to do that in match play, you kind of control your fate or control how the match is going to go. You always feel like a guy like that -- really any player seems like out there, they're eventually going to make a run. You're going to trade blows little bit. And he landed some at the end. And I was able to kind of hold him off, which was nice.”

Wiesberger defeated the World Number One and defending champion Johnson 3 and 1 while Uihlein threatened to hand McIlroy a heavy defeat after going dormie 5 up on the Northern Irishman only for McIlroy to win three holes on the spin before Uihlein prevailed on the 17th green.

“I made him earn it at least. I made the score line a little more respectable. I just came away a little flat. I didn't really necessarily play badly. He played pretty well. It was a few under through 9, and got down early and he didn't make a bogey all day. So it was -- it was hard to sort of claw my way back. It was gusty out there, the conditions were a little tricky. As I said, I made a run at him at the end, but it was a little too late.” - Rory McIlroy

It was an intriguing first day in the 64-man match play event which sees the field split into 16 groups of four, which each player playing three matches before the winners of each group progress to the last 16 and a straight knock-out on Saturday and Sunday.

Ian Poulter defeated Race to Dubai Champion Tommy Fleetwood 3 and 2, while Paul Casey won the 18th to defeat Russell Henley 1 up. Those respective victories took Poulter and Casey’s total of career victories at the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play to 24, which tied them with David Toms as the second most prolific winners in the event’s history. Tiger Woods holds the record number of wins at 33.

"Winning match play is always really pleasing. Tommy is a great player. I don't think either of us really holed any putts. I think I probably played just a little better than he did and obviously got it done.

“The simplicity of match play is win your match. It sounds really easy and it's not. So level of focus, level of concentration this week. Be super aggressive, try not to hand too many holes away. It's a tricky golf course this week. It's easy to get out of position and it's easy to hand holes to your guy with not really doing too much wrong. I'm happy with the win. A little practice with this putter, it needs to kick in, needs to warm up a little bit.” - Ian Poulter

“You never need to be up until the end. It was a very close match. It felt a bit flat out there. Nobody threw anything to the opponent. I feel a bit guilty to walk away with that one. But then again, I don’t care. It is what it is. Very, very happy to get the win.” - Paul Casey

New father Sergio Garcia won a hard-fought match against the current Race to Dubai Number One Shubhanker Sharma on the 18th green. There were also first day wins for Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Ross Fisher, Tyrell Hatton, Francesco Molinari and Alex Noren.

Justin Thomas and Patton Kizzire are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the FedExCup standings, respectively. With a victory, Thomas could potentially move to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The last three winners of the Dell Technologies Match Play have either been No. 1 in the world (Dustin Johnson-2017/Rory McIlroy-2016) or moved to No. 1 in the world by winning the event (Jason Day-2015).

Thomas pulled ahead of Luke List 2 up on the sixth hole when List, thinking he was frustratingly knocking his putter against a bush, actually hit a rock/wall and slightly bent the putter making it a non-conforming golf club. List spent the next 12 holes putting with his wedge and managed to extend the match the full 18 holes. Thomas won the 18th hole with a birdie to solidify his 2-up victory.

The win for Thomas is just his second in this format after going 0-3-0 in 2016 and 1-2-0 in last year’s event.

Francesco Molinari took down Kizzire, 3 and 1. Molinari has struggled in the event in the past entering the week with a 2-10-0 record.

Last year’s runner-up Jon Rahm halved his match on the final hole with Keegan Bradley despite Bradley’s three birdies and an eagle from holes 9-12. Bradley left the 15th hole 2 up with three holes remaining but bogeys on the 16th and 18th holes left each player with half a point after round 1.

Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat defeated Chez Reavie 3 and 2 to take the day-1 lead in group 3.

Fourth-seeded Jordan Spieth defeated South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel, 2 and 1.

Patrick Reed, who became the youngest player to win a World Golf Championships event when he won what is now the Mexico Championship in 2014, defeated Hao Tong Li, 3 and 2. Reed has only advanced beyond the group stage in one of the past three Dell Technologies Match Play appearances.

Spieth and Reed will play against each other in Friday’s third round. The two have been paired together 12 times between the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.

Playing against his fellow countryman Yusaku Miyazato, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama recorded a 2-and-1 victory.

Australian Cameron Smith defeated USA’s Patrick Cantlay, 2 up, in a battle of Dell Technologies Match Play rookies.

Jason Day defeated James Hahn 4 and 2 and Louis Oosthuizen defeated Jason Dufner 1 up.

No. 59 seed Charles Howell III defeated Phil Mickelson, 3 and 2, as Mickelson made his return to competition following his first PGA TOUR victory in five years at the last WGC at the Mexico Championship.

This is Mickelson’s first time losing in the first round of the event in his last 12 events dating back to 2002.

Scores