Scheffler moves into semifinals
AUSTIN, Texas — Scottie Scheffler delivered all the right shots Saturday and moved into the semifinals of the Dell Technologies Match Play by taking down Ian Poulter and Jon Rahm.
Scheffler was the highest seed remaining at No. 30, which is just a number the way he handled Austin Country Club against two of Europe’s best in this format
The 24-year-old Texan made 15 birdies in the 31 holes required to get through his two matches.
“Being able to take down those two guys, and Xander (Schauffele) in the final match on Friday, like I said before, I think my game’s trending in the right direction this week,” Scheffler said.
He advances to a final day that features three Americans and one European — Victor Perez of France, who made short work of Sergio Garcia in their quarterfinal match.
Matt Kuchar, the only player to win every match he has played in this most unpredictable event, pulled out a 1-up victory over Jordan Spieth in the morning and then kept Brian Harman from another amazing rally by rolling in a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole of their quarterfinal match.
Kuchar and Scheffler will meet in one semifinal match. Perez will face Billy Horschel, who never led in his quarterfinal match until Tommy Fleetwood sent his tee shot out of bounds on their 19th hole, the par-5 12th.
Kuchar won the Match Play in 2013 and lost in the championship match two years ago to Kevin Kisner. With his five wins this week, he now has 33 in this tournament, second only to the 36 matches won by Tiger Woods.
Scheffler knows Austin Country Club as well as anyone from his four years he spent playing for the Texas Longhorns, but this was more about the quality of his golf in the face of two intense competitors.
He never gave Poulter, a Ryder Cup stalwart and past winner of the Match Play, much of a chance. Poulter didn’t win a hole as Scheffler made seven birdies in a match that ended on the 14th hole. Poulter holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the 11th hole and looked to cut the deficit to 2 down, only for Scheffler to hole a chip from behind the green.
In the quarterfinal match, Rahm fell 3 down when his approach to the par-5 12th found the water.
As usual, the Spaniard who reached the championship match in his 2017 debut mounted a charge. Rahm ran off four straight birdies — and he only picked up one hole. Scheffler matched him on the 13th and made a 10-foot birdie after Rahm chipped in on the 14th.
“That was a big one,” Scheffler said. “I was standing there greenside and that was kind of the moment. It was kind of his do-or-die moment for the round, and I had a feeling he was going to hit a really good shot and it happened to go in. And I knew I had to roll that one in to keep things in check.”
They matched birdies on the 16th, and Rahm conceded after failing to birdie the 17th.
Horschel had never made it to the weekend in his four previous appearances, and this one looked doubtful, too, until he beat Max Homa on the third playoff hole to win his group. He dispatched Kevin Streelman in the fourth round Saturday morning, and never led against Fleetwood in the quarterfinals until they went extra holes.
Fleetwood had gone 67 straight holes — starting with the 17th hole Wednesday — in which he never trailed. But after the Englishman missed a 12-foot birdie putt for the win on the 18th hole, they headed to the par-5 12th. Fleetwood hit his shot so far left that it went well out-ofbounds, and the best he could manage after re-teeing was a bogey.
That almost was enough.