Top guns go packing in chaotic windy day

AUSTIN, Texas – Phil Mickelson hit a simple chip toward the hole that never stopped until it was off the other side of the green and into the water.

Jordan Spieth felt a gust of wind as his tee shot was in the air and began pleading for it to get down. He only stopped talking when he heard the crowd cheer and saw the ball 2 Phil Mickelson feet from the hole.

Brandt Snedeker brought a touch of class to an exasperating at the Dell Technologies Match Play. He watched Andy Sullivan roll a putt to within 2 feet of the hole, only for the wind to blow back 7 feet away. Snedeker gave him the putt to halve the hole. “Pure class,” Sullivan said. It was pure chaos Thursday at Austin Country Club, where 30 mph gusts raged through the edge of Hill Country and made conditions so brittle and blustery holes were won with bogeys.

And it was just as wild trying to keep score thanks to two more players withdrawing.

Soren Kjeldsen and Alex Noren won their groups, one round before group play is even finished.

Rory McIlroy took the day off, and he’s already guaranteed the weekend off.

The wind had nothing to do with a domino-effect of withdrawals that allowed Kjeldsen and Noren to get a day of rest Friday.

One after Jason Day withdrew because his mother faces surgery for lung cancer, Gary Woodland pulled out because of a personal family matter. He was scheduled to play McIlroy in the second round, and while McIlroy was conceded a victory, he was eliminated four hours later when Kjeldsen won his second straight match.