Fleetwood is just ace
TOMMY FLEETWOOD will always remember how he booked his place in the last eight of WGC-DELL Technologies Match Play – he did it with a hole in one.
The 30-year-old Englishman was in sensational form and had comfortably seen off the challenge of South African Dylan Frittelli 4&3 in Austin.
But the highlight of his round came at the fourth hole, which had already seen play-off drama on Friday.
That was when Sergio Garcia took Lee Westwood to the fourth extra hole and aced his tee shot to win their thriller of a match.
Fleetwood arrived at the fourth and promptly sunk his tee shot on the
Par 3. He then followed it with birdies at the sixth and 10th to go 4up.
Despite a brief rally from Frittelli, it was the Stockport ace who secured the first berth in the last eight.
That’s where he faced American
Billy Horschel, who overcame a late scare to beat countryman Kevin Streelman in their last-16 tussle.
Up by four after the 12th, Horschel lost three of the next four to ensure it went to the final hole, but a birdie at the 18th booked him a last eight spot.
Spaniard Garcia backed up his
Friday hole-in-one against Westwood with a 2&1 win over Mackenzie Hughes to face Victor Perez in the last eight after he cruised past Robert Macintyre.
The 24-year-old’s fairytale debut ended a day after the Scot, who still lives in Dundee, had helped knock World No.1 Dustin Johnson out of the £7.6million event.
However, Macintyre’s displays here look set to ensure that he earns a Masters debut next month after he was able to consolidate his position in the top-50 world rankings.
Ian Poulter’s hopes of making the last eight were dashed.
The Ryder Cup star was hammered 5&4 by Scottie Scheffler, who put together a stunning run of seven birdies in 13 holes and book a lasteight date with Spanish heavy hitter John Rahm.