Mcilroy’s loss among notable Match Play surprises

Jon Rahm and Patrick Cantlay thrust their fists in celebration with birdies on the final hole to win, the kind of emotions typical for a final round. In the Dell Technologies Match Play, every day can feel like Sunday.

The opening round of group play Wednesday featured 16 of the 32 matches going the distance, Rory Mcilroy suffering his worst loss in 10 years and some of the best moments belonging to newcomers to this fickle event.

That starts with Antoine Rozner, the 28-year-old from Paris who only got into this World Golf Championship by winning the Qatar Masters two weeks ago with a 60-foot birdie on the final hole.

Clinging to a one-shot lead over U.S. Open champion Bryson Dechambeau, a tree blocking the 54 yards that separated him from the flag, Rozner hit a bold flop shot that settled 8 feet behind the hole. Finishing with a flair, the Frenchman holed the putt for a 2-up victory over Dechambeau.

“I think it’s one of those shots you’ve just got to go ahead and hit it,” Rozner said. “I turned out to hit that shot really well …”

Next up was Bob Macintyre of Scotland, dropping two eagles over the final five holes in a 2-and-1 victory over Kevin Na. The second one was at the par-5 16th, where Macintyre holed a bunker shot to seize control.

With the talent pool in golf as deep as it has ever been, it’s hard to call any match an upset. That doesn’t mean players weren’t upset. Mcilroy was so discouraged walking off after 13 holes that he declined to talk about

his match for the second straight time in this event. The previous occasion was in 2019 when he lost to Tiger Woods in the knockout stage on the weekend.

This loss was to Ian Poulter, who did so much right — a 7-iron to a dangerous pin to 8 feet on No. 9, a 4-iron from 247 yards to 7 feet for eagle on the par-5 12th — that Mcilroy couldn’t afford to do much wrong. And he did plenty.

Mcilroy found water on a hole with no water hazard at No. 5 — his driver bounced off a path, over a fence and into the swimming pool of a house. He had a 12-foot birdie to win a hole and threeputted to lose. And the match ended on No. 13 when Mcilroy’s eagle chip from behind the green went all the way into the water.

It was his biggest loss in Match Play since Ben Crane beat him, 8 and 7, in the second round of 2011.