Knockout round of 16 set up

Jon Rahm lost his match and still made it to the weekend. Scottie Scheffler needed only 14 holes to win his match against Matt Fitzpatrick, and then six more to beat him in a playoff.

The third full day of endless action in the Dell Technologies Match Play finally ended Friday when Collin Morikawa drove the green on a par 4, this one not nearly dramatic as his shot that won the PGA Championship but still effective in getting him through group play.

Sixteen players remain for the knockout stage that begins Saturday morning, all of them knowing that three days of tense matches mean nothing going forward.

“Now it’s real,” Abraham Ancer said after squeezing by Webb Simpson. “Now you’re for sure not advancing if you don’t win.”

Rahm had that luxury by winning his opening two matches. He was sloppy on the back nine in losing to Patrick Reed, who played his best golf after already being eliminated. But the world’s No. 1 player avoided a playoff in his group when Cameron Young also lost.

Seamus Power also lost his match, but by then he was already assured of winning his group. The Irishman got another reward: By reaching the fourth round, Power is assured of staying in the top 50 and getting into the Masters.

Four of the groups were decided in extra holes.

PGA TOUR » Chico’s Kurt Kitayama missed the cut in the PGA Tour’s Corales Puntacana Championship. He shot a 3-under 69 in the second round but was done in by opening with a 75. KORN FERRY TOUR » Former Chico State standout Brandon Harkins carded a 3-over 74 in the second round of the Lake Charles Championship and missed the cut by one shot.