Johnson crashes out in Austin
Austin, March World number one Dustin Johnson crashed out of the World Golf Championships Dell Technologies Match Play after suffering his second defeat of the tournament.
Defending champion Johnson, who suffered an upset loss to Austrian Bernd Wiesberger on Wednesday, was beaten 4& 3 by Canada’s Adam Hadwin at the Austin Country Club in Texas.
The loss made it impossible for Johnson to progress from Group One in the round- robin phase to the weekend’s knockout rounds, with Hadwin — who halved his opening match with Kevin Kisner — assured of finishing above the top seed.
Johnson trailed from the opening hole against 38th seed Hadwin, who sealed victory at the 15th when Johnson conceded.
Also eliminated was Spain’s third- seeded Jon Rahm, who lost to Johnson 23: in last year’s final. Rahm fell 1 up to US 43rd seed Chez Reavie.
European Ryder Cup star Ian Poulternotched up his second win, defeating US 26th seed Daniel Berger 2 & 1. US Ryder Cup team mates Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed set up a winner takes all showdown in Group Four with their second wins. Spieth was a 4& 2 winner over China’s Li Haotong while Reed defeated South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel 1 up.
SHARMA LOSES AGAIN Shubhankar Sharma lost to USA’s Xander Schauffele with a hole to spare in the second match.
The 21- year- old, who took the reigning Masters champion Sergio Garcia to the 18th hole, lost 3 & 1 to Schauffele. Two defeats in two matches means Sharma is out of the race for a berth in the knockout stage.