Reed dispatches Spieth as top-10 seeds struggle

Thomas breezes, would reach No. 1 in world with win.

In a showdown that turned sloppy, Patrick Reed nearly holed a wedge to seize control and finished off Jordan Spieth with a 40-foot birdie putt from behind the 17th green to advance to the weekend of the Dell Technologies Match Play.

The 2-and-1 victory at Austin (Texas) Country Club sent Spieth home in search of his game with the Masters just two weeks away.

Spieth hit his opening tee shot onto the range and out of bounds. He hit into a hazard on each of the next two holes. And when he finally caught Reed with consecutive shots to tap-in range, he missed two key putts inside 6 feet.

“I don’t think it would have been that tough to beat me today,” Spieth said.

Reed was tough enough, twirling a wedge in his hands as it cut into the wind and grazed the front edge of the cup on the 13th hole for a 2-up lead to take command of the match. Spieth, who threeputted for the third time on No. 15 to fall 3 down, stayed alive with an 8-foot birdie putt on the 16th and looked as though he might have a chance to go the distance when Reed’s putt was racing toward the cup at the 17th.

The cup got in the way, and all Spieth could do was smile.

“Just happened to be the perfect line,” Reed said. “Thank God, because that thing was moving.”

And now Reed is moving along into the single-elimination phase of the weekend, four matches away from another World Golf Championship. Spieth is headed to the Houston Open without a top 10 in his last seven tournaments.

“I’m human and I’m realistic that based on the way the year’s gone ... it’s been kind of a trying time for me, especially on and round the greens,” Spieth said. “Stuff I took for granted in setup and pace control and all that kind of stuff ... has been a little bit more difficult. And I’ve been trying to figure out how to get back to that level, and I’ve been trying different things.”

Spieth, the No. 4 seed, wasn’t the only player leaving early.

Justin Thomas (No. 2) and Sergio Garcia (No. 7) were the only top-10 seeds to advance to the fourth round. Thomas had the easiest time, a 7-and-5 victory over Francesco Molinari. And with defending champion Dustin Johnson already eliminated, Thomas can go to No. 1 in the world if he wins this week.

Asked how he felt going into the weekend, Thomas replied, “The same as the other 16 guys. We all start at the same place.”

Rory McIlroy still had a chance until he lost to Brian Harman. Phil Mickelson was eliminated when Charles Howell III, who beat Lefty on Wednesday, completed a 3-0 mark in group play by beating Satoshi Kodaira.

Howell and Ian Poulter, who swept his matches when Kevin Chappell conceded at the turn with a back injury, still have a chance to earn a spot in the Masters by getting into the top 50 at the end of the week. They both need to win at least one more match. In other groups:

■ Garcia won on the 17th hole against Xander Schauffele and won his group for the first time since it switched to pool play in 2014. He also becomes the home favorite from living part-time in Austin, where his wife gave birth to their first child last week.

■ Si Woo Kim outlasted Webb Simpson on the 18th hole to advance.

■ Matt Kuchar made a hole-in-one in a 6-and-4 victory over Ross Fisher to advance to the weekend for the second time in three years.

■ Bubba Watson birdied his last two holes to earn a halve against Julian Suri and avoid a playoff. Watson next faces Harman, a match of Georgia lefties.

■ Louis Oosthuizen beat Jason Day with two clutch putts, and then won the group with a 12-foot par putt in a playoff to beat Jason Dufner.

PGA Tour: Former NFL quarterback Tony Romo didn’t embarrass himself in his PGA Tour debut at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in the Dominican Republic this week, but he certainly didn’t threaten the leader board. The top, that is.

Instead, Romo found himself in last place after a 10-over 82 in the second round. He finished the tournament with a two-day total 159 (15 over) and missed the cut by 16 strokes. He was 28 strokes back of leader Brice Garnett (13 under).

LPGA Tour: Cristie Kerr shot an 8-under 64 on Friday in the Kia Classic to open a five-stroke lead halfway through the second round in Carlsbad, Calif. The 40-yearold Kerr, the 2015 winner at Aviara, had eight birdies in her second straight bogey-free round to reach 13-under 131 on the rain-softened course.

Champions: Joe Durant had three straight birdies in a back-nine burst and a shot 6-under 66 to take the firstround lead in the Rapiscan Systems Classic in Biloxi, Miss. Because of the wet conditions, players were allowed to lift, clean and place their golf balls in the fairway.