MacIntyre battles Johnson to draw
Bob MacIntyre grew up playing the rough-andtumble Scottish sport of shinty, and he had more than enough fight to give Dustin Johnson all he could handle Thursday in the Dell Technologies Match Play.
Johnson had to rally late with an eagle and a clutch birdie to send the match to the final hole, where both players missed birdie chances and settled for a tie.
Neither the world’s No. 1 player nor the 24-yearold from the tiny town of Oban were sure what to make of it.
“It was a tough match,” Johnson said. “Ended up making a really good halve, and definitely pleased with it.”
MacIntyre, who trailed for most of the front nine at Austin Country Club and led for most of the back nine, walked away with a mixture of satisfaction and disappointment.
Ultimately, both remained in position to advance out of their group to the weekend knockout stage.
“Obviously, I was dying to win that match,” MacIntyre said. “I was in such a great position to do it. But he threw everything at me, and I can be proud of finishing there all square. Inside I’m a little disappointed not to win. But once we walk away from here and drive back to the house, it’s going to be, ‘You know what? I can compete with these best guys on the planet.”
Some of the best in the planet were eliminated on the second day of roundrobin group play.
Justin Thomas, the No. 2 seed, fell behind big on the front nine for the second straight day and couldn’t catch up. Thomas made a strong rally against defending champion Kevin Kisner before losing on the 17th hole.
Tyrrell Hatton delivered more highlights in losing to Sergio Garcia. The Spaniard, whose American home is in Austin, won his second match and thus eliminated Hatton, the
No. 8 seed.
Other top seeds in the 16 groups who have no chance to move on were PGA champion Collin Morikawa (4), Tony Finau (12) and Viktor Hovland of Norway (13). In all, 18 players had matches Friday with nothing on the line.
Friday is the final day for groups, and Kisner’s victory set up a win-or-gohome match against Kuchar, a past Match Play champion who beat Thomas on the first day and outlasted Louis Oosthuizen on Thursday.
In other matches:
Patrick Cantlay played another superb round, making seven birdies in a 1-up victory over Carlos Ortiz. Cantlay is the equivalent of 15-under par through 36 holes.
Dylan Frittelli, the South African who hit the winning shot for Texas when the Longhorns won the NCAA title in 2012, has required only 29 holes to win both his matches.
Ian Poulter delivered a 15-foot birdie putt to win a second straight match. Rory McIlroy won easily, but needs Poulter to lose Friday to have any chance of advancing.