KUCHAR TIES TIGER’S MATCH PLAY RECORD
Matt Kuchar has a place in the record book with Tiger Woods. Equally pleasing Friday was getting a spot in the weekend at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Kuchar had an easy time at Austin (Texas) Country Club with a 7-and-6 victory over Si Woo Kim to win his 36th match in tournament history, matching the mark held by Woods.
“I still find it hard to comprehend that I’m saying that, that I tied one of his records,” Kuchar said. “So I’m hugely proud, please. There’s 300 more records, I’m sure, to go. But it’s a fun one to be able say you’ve got something you tied Tiger with.”
The final session of group play was all about getting to the knockout stage on the weekend, and a record number of top seeds survived.
Defending champion Scottie Scheffler (1), Rory McIlroy (3), Patrick Cantlay (4), Max Homa (5) and Xander Schauffele (6) each won their groups. That’s the highest number advancing among the top eight seeds since the Match Play switched to group play in 2015.
McIlroy had no trouble against Keegan Bradley in a rematch of their Sunday singles match in the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah.
Scheffler won his eighth consecutive match dating to last year. He lost the opening two holes to Tom Kim and then won four of the next five holes to pull away in a 3-and-2 victory. Scheffler also had a chance to join Woods in the record book. Woods is the only player to have won golf ’s most fickle tournament two years in a row.
“I’m not overthinking things,” Scheffler said. “I haven’t thought about last year once this week. Just glad to get through my group and focus on tomorrow.”
Next up for Scheffler is J.T. Poston, one of 11 players who won all three of their matches in stroke play.
That list includes San Diego State’s J.J. Spaun, who has played only 46 holes in three days. Spaun’s last test was his toughest, against Min Woo Lee. Spaun was 1 down with five holes to play when he ran off four straight birdies for a 2-and-1 win. He is the No. 61 seed, the lowest to advance.
“My caddie said, ‘Let’s birdie every hole starting on 14.’ That’s kind of ... well, that’s exactly what we did,” said Spaun, whose next match is against fellow Aztec Schauffele.
Some players had an extremely short day when their opponents withdrew. Hideki Matsuyama was on the range for about 20 minutes when neck soreness forced him to concede. That sent Max Homa through to the weekend.
“It’s nice for me — bogey-free round,” Homa said. “Would have rather played, but I’ll take it as a quasi-win.”
The highest seed headed home was Jon Rahm. Even with a loss on Wednesday, he still had control of getting to the weekend if he beat Billy Horschel. Instead, Rahm took double bogey on the second hole and trailed the rest of the way.
The match got away from him when Rahm hit into the water on the par-3 11th to fall 4 down. He was in good shape to win the 12th until he set his wedge behind the ball in the rough to the right of the green, and the ball slightly rolled out of a divot. That was a one-shot penalty, he halved the hole with a par and then he missed a birdie chance on the next.
Elsewhere
Matt Wallace of England birdied his last three holes for a 6-under 66, giving him a oneshot lead going into the weekend in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic. He had a one-shot lead over Sam Stevens and Wyndham Clark.
David Toms shot a 7-under 65 and leads
Kevin Sutherland by one stroke after the first round of the PGA Champions The Galleri Classic at Rancho Mirage.
Jenny Shin of South Korea had a run of five straight birdies to close out her front nine on the way to a 5-under 67 and shared the lead with Maddie Szeryk of Canada and
Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand after two rounds of the LPGA Drive on Championship at Gold Canyon, Ariz.
Nick Bachem led at the halfway stage of the DP World Tour’s Jonsson Workwear Open in Johannesburg after a second-round 66 took him one shot clear at 13 under par.