Capsule appear at all completed matches from Round of 16 and Quarterfinals at Austin CC
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Written by Employees @PGATOUR
Day four of competitors at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play commenced with the Round of 16, vibrant and early Saturday morning at Austin Nation Club.
Eight players sophisticated to compete in Saturday afternoon’s Quarterfinal round, with the winners moving on to Sunday morning’s Semifinal matches.
Hold it right here to see how the action unfolds all through the day at Austin CC.
Sam Burns (13) v. Mackenzie Hughes (50)
Fresh off a mild upset victory more than globe No. four Patrick Cantlay in the morning Round of 16, Burns squares off against the upstart Canadian Hughes, who won final fall’s Sanderson Farms Championship — a year immediately after Burns secured the event’s Reveille the Rooster trophy.
Sam Burns sends in 51-footer for birdie to go 1-up at WGC-Dell Match Play
Scottie Scheffler (1) v. Jason Day (32)
The reigning WGC-Dell Match Play champ, regional hero and present globe No. 1 Scheffler faces off against former globe No. 1 and two-time WGC-Dell Match Play winner Day.
Jason Day’s impressive second leads to eagle and three-up lead at WGC-Dell Match Play
Rory McIlroy (three) v. Xander Schauffele (six)
A showdown in between 4-time important winner McIlroy and reigning Olympic gold medalist Schauffele, fresh off his alma mater San Diego State’s upset victory more than Alabama on Friday evening in the NCAA men’s basketball Sweet 16.
When playing the par-five sixth hole Saturday afternoon, McIlroy joined the NBC broadcast booth to talk about a current gear switch, how he approaches the marathon nature of a 36-hole match-play Saturday, and additional.
Rory McIlroy mic’d up quarterfinal match at WGC-Dell Match Play
Cameron Young (15) v. Kurt Kitayama (19)
Young has seemingly performed anything but win at the PGA TOUR level, and the Wake Forest alum aims to transform that this weekend. Very first he’ll require to get previous the spirited UNLV alum Kitayama, who earned his 1st TOUR title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard earlier this month.
Cam Young’s close to ace yields 1-up lead at WGC-Dell Match Play
Here’s a capsule appear at how Saturday morning’s Round of 16 matches unfolded at Austin CC.
Mackenzie Hughes (50) def. Max Homa (five), three and two
The 1st match out Saturday was a single that looked like a mismatch on paper as Homa, ranked No. six in the globe, was three- immediately after group play and had Friday off to rest due to the fact Hideki Matsuyama conceded their Day three match. But Hughes was riding higher immediately after going two-1 the final 3 days and defeating Taylor Montgomery in a playoff just to advance. Also overlooked is Hughes’ record in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play exactly where he sophisticated to the Round of 16 two years ago and final year he went two-1 but did not advance. His profession record is now 7-three-1.
Hughes didn’t play his most effective in the match against Homa but was steady adequate to hang challenging whilst Homa produced quite a few uncharacteristic blunders. Every player produced two birdies in the 1st 5 holes to stay tied, but Homa produced back-to-back bogeys to hand Hughes a lead he’d in no way relinquish. As the match reached the 16th hole, with Hughes two-up and playing the hole for the 1st time all week, Homa drove it into the water and later conceded the hole and the match.
“I knew it was going to be a challenging match,” Hughes mentioned. “Max kept the stress on me. My job was to not give him several holes.”
Sam Burns (13) def. Patrick Cantlay (four), two and 1
Burns often appears forward to testing himself against premier players in the game, and globe No. four Cantlay definitely fits the bill. Following a solo sixth at final week’s Valspar Championship — which he won in 2021 and 2022 — the LSU alum wasted no time in carrying the mojo to Austin, exactly where he sophisticated to the Round of 16 with an unblemished three– record in group play. Cantlay authored the exact same three– record to set up a matchup against his 2022 U.S. Presidents Cup teammate.
The match befitted this distinction, evenly contested all through. The 1st 4 holes have been tied with pars, the fifth and sixth holes tied with birdies, and Cantlay produced birdie at the par-three seventh to take a 1-up edge. Burns seized an opening with winning pars at Nos. ten and 11, as Cantlay stumbled to back-to-back bogeys this gave the Louisiana native the match benefit that he would not relinquish. Burns moved two-up with a birdie at No. 14, and immediately after Cantlay drained an 11-foot eagle to win the par-five 16th, Burns answered ideal back with an eight-foot birdie at the brief par-three 17th to win the hole and close the match.
Sam Burns dials in tee shot to set up birdie at win match two&1 at WGC-Dell Match Play
Jason Day (32). def Matt Kuchar (59), 1-up
This match featured two of the additional veteran members of the Round of 16 – Kuchar, the oldest player in the field at 44, against Day, 35, who held the globe No. 1 spot in the mid-2010s. With a two–1 mark in group play, Kuchar tied Tiger Woods with 36 match wins general at this occasion – no player has won additional.
In the final iteration of the WGC-Dell Match Play, Kuchar’s activity Saturday morning was easy: defeat Day to advance to the Quarterfinals and take his location ahead of Woods in tournament history. It was tight all through Day went birdie-eagle on Nos. five and six to win each holes and assume a two-up lead, but Kuchar steadily chipped away and tied the match with a winning ten-foot birdie at the brief par-four 13th. The match in the end swung on the par-five 16th, even though, as Day smoked a drive 373 yards down the middle, struck a mid-iron to 15 feet, and two-putted for a vital winning birdie – as Kuchar could not convert his 7-foot birdie attempt. The par-three 17th was tied with pars Kuchar missed the green at the par-four 18th and could not chip in to win the hole and tie the match. Day’s two-putt par was fantastic to advance for a Quarterfinals date with globe No. 1 and regional hero Scottie Scheffler.
Scottie Scheffler (1) def. J.T. Poston (43), 1-up
The battle in between two players who went via the group stage three- lived up to its billing, as Poston had the No. 1 player in the globe on the ropes late in the match, till Scheffler did what Scheffler does. Following the 1st 14 holes it was Poston who was additional steady, creating 3 birdies to that point with no blemishes on the scorecard. Scheffler, who later mentioned he was not pleased with “too several mental errors,” had produced 4 birdies but also sprinkled in 3 bogeys.
The fireworks, on the other hand, began on the final 4 holes, with Poston holding a two-up lead. Scheffler produced birdie from ten feet on 15, two-putted from 40 feet for birdie on 16 and produced a different birdie from ten feet on the 17th hole to tie the match with a single remaining. Scheffler was in for par on the residence hole, leaving Poston with a six-footer for par to tie the hole and move the match into a sudden-death playoff. But he missed it, and the No. 1 player in the globe, PLAYERS champion and defending Match Play champ advances to meet Jason Day.
“I’ve performed a excellent job more than the years in this tournament of staying patient and not attempting to force items,” Scheffler mentioned. “I got down, and J.T. is such a excellent player and putter that he place the stress on me right now and I let it get the most effective of me, but I was in a position to finish sturdy and come out on leading.”
Stated Poston: “Didn’t want to give him any there, but however gave him a couple down the stretch and ended up costing me. For the most portion I played excellent all week, right now incorporated.”
Scottie Scheffler birdies No. 17 to tie match at WGC-Dell Match Play
Xander Schauffele (six) def. J.J. Spaun (61), three and two
Following the San Diego State Aztecs men’s basketball group secured an upset of No. 1 seed Alabama in the Sweet 16 on Friday evening, it was maybe fitting that two Aztecs would square off in Saturday’s morning Round of 16 in Austin. Each players speak fondly of their days at Viejas Arena, but any residual nostalgia expected a swift shift in focus to the activity at hand on the course.
The duo did just that the 1st hole was tied with birdies, and Schauffele went 1-up with a birdie at the third the reigning Olympic gold medalist extended his lead to two-up with a birdie at No. six. Following Spaun’s winning par at No. 9, Schauffele struck ideal back with a winning 9-foot birdie at the par-four 10th, and Spaun – defending champion of the upcoming Valero Texas Open – could draw no closer. Spaun won the 15th with a birdie to extend the match, but a wayward drive at No. 16 basically ended matters.
Xander Schauffele rolls in birdie putt to go three-up at WGC-Dell Match Play
Rory McIlroy (three) def. Lucas Herbert (46), two-up
The match was tied immediately after six holes, with every single man creating 3 birdies to that point, and McIlroy jumped to a two-up lead immediately after Nos. 9 and 12, but Herbert, playing in his second Match Play, would not roll more than and go away. The Australian produced birdie from four feet on 13, matched birdies with McIlroy on the par-five 16th, then, back against the wall on 17, drained a sliding, winding putt from outdoors 30 feet that hit the hole, rolled about it and dropped for birdie. McIlroy matched it with a birdie and then closed with a single on the final hole to win the hole and the match.
“If you appear at the stats more than the final 3 days, Lucas most likely played some of the most effective golf of absolutely everyone, so I knew I was in for a challenging game,” mentioned McIlroy, who now will face Xander Schauffele. “I got off to a definitely fantastic start off, but each and every time I hit it in close, he’d answer me with a birdie.
“Again, nine birdies, no bogeys. I required each and every a single of these birdies to beat Lucas. He played excellent.”
McIlroy, Herbert trade birdies to extend match at WGC-Dell Match Play
Kurt Kitayama (19) def. Andrew Putnam (56), six and five
This was the penultimate match in the morning but it was the third match of the eight to finish due to the fact of such a lopsided margin of victory. Kitayama, in his rookie Match Play look, dusted Tony Finau, four and three, on Day three to get into a playoff, then outlasted each Finau and Adrian Meronk to advance to Saturday’s Round of 16.
Putnam, playing in his second Match Play, was undefeated in the group stage and ran into an absolute buzzsaw in Kitayama, who produced seven birdies in 13 holes. The reigning Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard winner produced 3 birdies in the 1st 4 holes, then when Putnam produced a double bogey on the par-four fifth hole and Kitayama followed it with birdie on the sixth, Kitayama was swiftly four-up. Standing on the par-four 13th tee five-down, Putnam drove it into the water left and brief of the green. Moments later, when Kitayama chipped his second shot close, the match was more than.
Kurt Kitayama sinks birdie putt to go five-up at WGC-Dell Match Play
Cameron Young (15) def. Billy Horschel (22), five and four
Young is playing like a man who is annoyed with hearing that he’s the only man left in the championship who has in no way won a PGA TOUR occasion. In 4 day he’s four- and has now collected 24 total birdies and two eagles. He reached the 18th hole as soon as, in his second match against Corey Conners, but none of the other 3 have noticed the final two holes.
Saturday was just additional of what we’ve noticed from Young currently this week – he produced six birdies with no bogeys and, as tilted as the outcome was, it could’ve been worse. Horschel, the 2021 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play champion, defeated Jon Rahm to get into the knockout rounds but was off his game from the start off, creating two bogeys in the 1st 3 holes and ending with six bogeys total, against only 3 birdies.
“I did play definitely properly and was thankful for the couple blunders he produced early,” Young mentioned. “It’s not like Billy to do that. He’s a single of the most intense guys you are going to uncover out right here, and I consider – I was entirely prepared for him to come out of the gates hot, and as soon as he did make these blunders, there was often a possibility he just begins creating putts, which is scary. Satisfied to get that a single more than with.”
