Horschel grinds out Match Play triumph
Scheffler falls in Match Play final
AUSTIN, Texas — Billy Horschel had just enough left in the tank to win the Dell Technologies Match Play on Sunday with plenty of help from Scottie Scheffler in a sloppy end to golf ’s longest week.
Horschel made only one birdie in the championship match, chipping in from 40 feet on the fifth hole, and left the big mistakes to the 24-yearold Scheffler in winning 2 and 1.
Horschel, 34, who never had reached the weekend in four previous appearances at this World Golf Championship, won six out of the seven matches over 122 holes he played at Austin Country Club. He won for the sixth time on the PGA Tour.
“It was one of those days where I didn’t play very good,” Horschel said, still able to smile because of the outcome. “I was just grinding it out.”
It ended a great run for Scheffler, a Texas graduate who beat three former Match Play champions and two players from the world’s top 10 to reach the title match.
He had the support of the Austin crowd that occasionally shouted out, “Hook ’em,” and Scheffler obliged.
He pulled a tee shot on the par-5 sixth that required him to take a penalty drop away from the boundary fence. He pulled his approach on the par-5 12th into the water. He hooked another drive off the two-story hospitality tent left of the 15th fairway. Through it all, he stayed in the match.
Scheffler made par and halved the hole after the penalty drop on No. 5. Even after hitting into the water on the 12th, he had a 10-foot par putt to win the hole after Horschel hit a wedge into the bunker. Scheffler missed to stay 2 down.
Horschel hit another wedge into a back bunker on par-5 16th. This time, Horschel got up-and-down to save par and halve the hole, and he won the match when Scheffler missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th.
■ LPGA: At Carlsbad, Calif., Bishop Gorman product Inbee Park opened her season with a wire-to-wire Kia Classic win, closing with a 2-under-par 70 for a 14-under 274 total, five better than runners-up Lexi Thompson (69) and Amy Olson (68). Park, 32, ranked fourth, notched her 21st tour win to tie LPGA founder Marilynn Smith for 25th on the victory list.
■ PGA: At Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, Joel Dahmen won the Corales Puntacana Resort &
Club Championship for his first tour victory, avoiding a playoff when wind pushed playing partner Rafael Campos’ final birdie try to the left. Dahmen, 33, closed with a 2-under 70 for a 12-under 276 total, one shot better than Campos (71) and Sam Ryder (67).