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Miami - Second-ranked Rory McIlroy was eliminated from title
contention on Thursday at the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play after
group rival Gary Woodland withdrew and Soren Kjeldsen won his second
consecutive match.
Denmark's Kjeldsen, barely in the field at 62nd in the world
rankings, defeated Argentina's Emiliano Grillo 4 and 3 to end McIlroy's hopes a
day after a shock victory over the four-time major winner from Northern
Ireland.
The situation was created after Woodland conceded his
second-round group match with McIlroy for personal reasons, handing him a
victory but also giving Kjeldsen a walkover in their scheduled Friday matchup.
The Dane will advance to the knockout stage round of 16 on
Saturday after a 3-0 finish in the group while the best McIlroy can do is 2-1
even if he defeats Grillo on Friday.
Grillo began birdie-par to win the first two holes over
Kjeldsen in windy conditions, but the Dane birdied two of the next four holes
to square the match. Kjeldsen won the first four holes on the back nine, taking
the 10th and par-5 12th with birdies, and despite a bogey to drop the 14th,
clinched the match with a six-foot par putt at 15.
"I'm brought up in this," Kjeldsen said of the
blustery conditions, with wind gusts reaching 72 kilometres per
hour. "I like to shape shots. I like to change trajectory. I like to play
golf in this where you have got to be really creative."
"When I saw it was windy today I was very happy."
While McIlroy has a meaningless match, Kjeldsen said he
plans to spend his unexpectedly free Friday with his children after Woodland's
exit.
"Due to a personal family matter, Gary Woodland must
withdraw from the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play,"
said a statement issued by Woodland's agent, Mark Steinberg. "We ask that
you respect his family's privacy at this time."
Woodland was the second golfer to withdraw from the
tournament for personal reasons.
On Wednesday, distraught Australian star Jason Day conceded
his match against American Pat Perez after only six holes at Austin Country
Club.
He later revealed he had withdrawn to be with his mother,
who is battling lung cancer.
The Texas tournament sees the field split into 16 groups of
four players who play each other on a round robin basis through Friday. Group
winners then advance to the knockout rounds starting on Saturday.
England's Paul Casey edged South Korea's An Byeong-Hun 1 up to set up a Friday showdown of unbeatens against South Africa's Charl Schwartzel, who beat Dutchman Joost Luiten 4 and 3, to decide which advances.
"I played the golf course today. I think that was
imperative - it was the key to staying sane," Casey said. "Boy was
it difficult, one of the more difficult days I've seen of the golf course in a
long time."
Casey shrugged off the windy conditions now that he was in
familiar match-play territory in Friday's only meeting of 2-0 players.
"It's what I like now, straight knockout," Casey
said. "I'm going to enjoy it."
Another win-to-advance showdown matches up Spaniards Sergio
Garcia and Jon Rahm. Garcia beat American Kevin Chappell 4 and 3 after halving
with Ireland's Shane Lowry to open, so he must win to advance over Rahm, 2-0
after beating Lowry 2 and 1.
US star Jordan Spieth beat Japan's Yuta Ikeda 4 and 2 to
sustain his hopes of reaching the knockout stage despite the tricky winds.
"Everybody in the field knew it was going to be a very
challenging day so you change the way you play certain holes," Spieth
said. "I thought I was very solid given the conditions."
"It's about as tough as I think I've ever seen it," he added. "This is tough because of where the pin locations are and the speed of the greens. With your putting, it's hard to trust out here."
Results from Thursday's second day of round robin group matches at the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play at Austin (Texas) Country Club (USA unless noted):
Group 1
Dustin Johnson bt Martin Kaymer (GER) 3&2
Jimmy Walker bt Webb Simpson 3&2
Group 2
Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) bt Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 4&3
Rory McIlroy (NIR) bt Gary Woodland by withdrawal
Group 3
Lee Westwood (ENG) bt Jason Day (AUS) by withdrawal
Pat Perez bt Marc Leishman (AUS) 2&1
Group 4
Ross Fisher (ENG) bt Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 2&1
Jim Furyk bt Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 3&2
Group 5
Hideto Tanihara (JPN) and Ryan Moore halved
Jordan Spieth bt Yuta Ikeda (JPN) 4&2
Group 6
Kevin Na bt Justin Thomas 4&2
Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG) bt Chris Wood (ENG) 4&2
Group 7
Jon Rahm (ESP) bt Shane Lowry (IRL) 2&1
Sergio Garcia (ESP) bt Kevin Chappell 4&3
Group 8
Alex Noren (SWE) bt Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 3&2
Thongchai Jaidee (THA) bt Francesco Molinari (ITA) 5&3
Group 9
Kevin Kisner bt Patrick Reed 1 up
Brooks Koepka bt Jason Dufner 6&5
Group 10
Tyrell Hatton (ENG) bt Wang Jeung-Hun (KOR) 2 up
Charles Howell bt Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP) 1 up
Group 11
Bill Haas bt Danny Willett (ENG) 6&5
Kim Kyung-Tae (KOR) bt Russell Knox (SCO) 3&1
Group 12
Paul Casey (ENG) bt An Byeong-Hun (KOR) 1 up
Charl Schwartzel (RSA) bt Joost Luiten (NED) 4&3
Group 13
Bubba Watson bt Scott Piercy 4&3
Jhonattan Vegas (VEN) bt Thomas Pieters 3&1
Group 14
Phil Mickelson bt Daniel Berger 5&4
Kim Si-Woo (KOR) and J.B. Holmes halved
Group 15
William McGirt bt Branden Grace (RSA) 2&1
Brandt Snedeker bt Andy Sullivan (ENG) 2&1
Group 16
Zach Johnson bt Matt Kuchar 2 up
Brendan Steele bt Tommy Fleetwood (ENG) 1 up
