LEE WESTWOOD AND Rory McIlroy suddenly have more at stake than the Match Play Championship.
Westwood, who has led 48 of the 49 holes he has played this week, got a small measure of revenge against Nick Watney and advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-and-2 victory on Friday at Dove Mountain. Watney had eliminated him each of the last two years.
McIlroy built a 3-up lead at the turn and hung on to beat Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, 2 and 1.
Westwood or McIlroy would go to No. 1 in the world with the title in this World Golf Championship. If they win their quarterfinal matches Saturday, they would meet in the semifinals Sunday morning.
“It’s a nice incentive,” McIlroy said. “It’s nice to have in the back of your mind. And if you’re struggling in a match and find it hard to get yourself up, or get any sort of momentum, if you think about that and you think if you can really dig deep, you still have a chance to become No. 1.”
Westwood was at No. 1 a year ago, and it’s a less of a priority than to capture his first World Golf Championship.
One year after Luke Donald became the first Match Play champion to never trail all week — Donald never even played the 18th hole in his six matches — Westwood is look every bit as dominant.
Advertisement
He is equipped with an improved short game, and it has carried him along the high desert. Westwood put away Watney for good with a pitch up a steep slope to the top tier on the 15th green, the ball so close that Watney picked it up for him.
Westwood had never made it out of the second round in 11 previous trips to this fickle tournament.
“I’m just happy to be looking for a different restaurant for Friday night,” Westwood said. “I had a little chuckle watching The Golf Channel on Wednesday morning and listening to them make all their predictions and things like that. I don’t think they got many right.”
And where did the prognosticators have Westwood?
“On the BA 289 on Thursday night,” he said, referring to his usual British Airways flight.
Westwood next plays Martin Laird, who won the battle of Scotland by taking down former British Open champion Paul Lawrie, 3 and 1.
Next up for McIlroy is Bae Sang-moon of South Korea, the surprise in his first Match Play Championship. Bae won three times last year on the Japan Golf Tour. And while he made it through Q-school to earn a PGA Tour card, he ended last year at No. 30 in the world.
[caption id="attachment_365660" align="alignnone" width="630" caption="Mark Wilson in action against Dustin Johnson. "][/caption]
In other matches:
One year after Mark Wilson was drubbed in the second round by big-hitting Bubba Watson, he overwhelmed another power player by beating Dustin Johnson for the second straight year. Johnson was too wild too often and couldn’t make putts, a bad combination in match play. Wilson will play Peter Hanson of Sweden, who dismantled Brandt Snedeker during a quiet, effective march to the quarterfinals.
“I know people keep talking about how I hit it so short that I can’t compete,” said Wilson, who has won three times on the PGA Tour in the last 14 months. “First of all, I don’t hit it very short. And secondly, it all comes down to putting. It really does. So I just don’t know how many times I have to explain it.”
Watney eliminated Tiger Woods on the 18th hole Thursday, despite a poor round of putting. His stroke didn’t get much better, and that left him little chance against Westwood.
Watney’s only hope for a shift in momentum came on the par-5 13th, when he was 10 feet away for birdie. Westwood was just short of the green in two, and his pitch hit the flag and caromed about 12 feet away. The Englishman holed his birdie putt to stay 3 up, and they halved holes the rest of the way.
Hunter Mahan took advantage of some mental lapses by Steve Stricker to build a big lead and held on for a 4-and-3 win. Mahan will play Matt Kuchar, a 4-and-3 winner against Martin Kaymer, a finalist last year at Dove Mountain. That assures there will be an American in the semifinals at the Match Play for the first time since 2009.
McIlroy and Westwood on course for duel in the desert
LEE WESTWOOD AND Rory McIlroy suddenly have more at stake than the Match Play Championship.
Westwood, who has led 48 of the 49 holes he has played this week, got a small measure of revenge against Nick Watney and advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-and-2 victory on Friday at Dove Mountain. Watney had eliminated him each of the last two years.
McIlroy built a 3-up lead at the turn and hung on to beat Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain, 2 and 1.
Westwood or McIlroy would go to No. 1 in the world with the title in this World Golf Championship. If they win their quarterfinal matches Saturday, they would meet in the semifinals Sunday morning.
Westwood was at No. 1 a year ago, and it’s a less of a priority than to capture his first World Golf Championship.
One year after Luke Donald became the first Match Play champion to never trail all week — Donald never even played the 18th hole in his six matches — Westwood is look every bit as dominant.
He is equipped with an improved short game, and it has carried him along the high desert. Westwood put away Watney for good with a pitch up a steep slope to the top tier on the 15th green, the ball so close that Watney picked it up for him.
Westwood had never made it out of the second round in 11 previous trips to this fickle tournament.
And where did the prognosticators have Westwood?
“On the BA 289 on Thursday night,” he said, referring to his usual British Airways flight.
Westwood next plays Martin Laird, who won the battle of Scotland by taking down former British Open champion Paul Lawrie, 3 and 1.
Next up for McIlroy is Bae Sang-moon of South Korea, the surprise in his first Match Play Championship. Bae won three times last year on the Japan Golf Tour. And while he made it through Q-school to earn a PGA Tour card, he ended last year at No. 30 in the world.
[caption id="attachment_365660" align="alignnone" width="630" caption="Mark Wilson in action against Dustin Johnson. "]
[/caption]
In other matches:
One year after Mark Wilson was drubbed in the second round by big-hitting Bubba Watson, he overwhelmed another power player by beating Dustin Johnson for the second straight year. Johnson was too wild too often and couldn’t make putts, a bad combination in match play. Wilson will play Peter Hanson of Sweden, who dismantled Brandt Snedeker during a quiet, effective march to the quarterfinals.
Watney eliminated Tiger Woods on the 18th hole Thursday, despite a poor round of putting. His stroke didn’t get much better, and that left him little chance against Westwood.
Watney’s only hope for a shift in momentum came on the par-5 13th, when he was 10 feet away for birdie. Westwood was just short of the green in two, and his pitch hit the flag and caromed about 12 feet away. The Englishman holed his birdie putt to stay 3 up, and they halved holes the rest of the way.
Hunter Mahan took advantage of some mental lapses by Steve Stricker to build a big lead and held on for a 4-and-3 win. Mahan will play Matt Kuchar, a 4-and-3 winner against Martin Kaymer, a finalist last year at Dove Mountain. That assures there will be an American in the semifinals at the Match Play for the first time since 2009.
- Doug Ferguson, AP
2012 Olympics: Evans finding his feet on the rocky road to London
As it happened: Munster v Cardiff, RaboDirect Pro12
Terry Connor appointed Wolves manager until end of the season
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Golf Hunter Mahan Lee Westwood Match Play Miguel Angel Jimenez Nick Watney PGA Tour Rory McIlroy Steve Stricker WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship