Spieth grinds out win
He needs to beat Moore on Friday to have chance to advance
With a big lead on the back nine, Jordan Spieth put the ball in water again. Gulp. This time, there was no collapse, just a grind-it-out “must win” to beat Japan’s Yuta Ikeda in Thursday’s second round at the WGC Match Play in gusty wind that lived up to the legendary tough conditions of Texas golf.
Spieth beat Ikeda 4 and 2 at the Austin Country Club a day after losing his first-round match by the same score to Japan’s Hideto Tanihara.
Thursday’s victory, coupled with the draw between Tanihara and Ryan Moore, leaves Spieth needing to beat Moore on Friday and for Tanihara to draw or lose to Ikeda if Spieth is to move on to Saturday’s knockout rounds.
“I’ve got to play better than I did the last two days and I know that. I’ve just got to have complete trust because why not at this point. It’s a win or go home situation,” Spieth said.
Beating Ikeda took some work in conditions that saw gusts top 30 mph, often blowing straight in the golfer’s faces.
The pair made the turn with Spieth 2-up before he stuck his tee shot to within 18 inches on the par-3 11th and tapped in for birdie to win the hole. But Spieth hit a wild tee shot on No. 13 that plunked into the Colorado River — much wider than Rae’s Creek at Augusta — and he peeled out of the shot in disgust.
Instead of seizing the opening for a rally, Ikeda’s tee shot splashed as well. They halved the hole and Spieth steadily closed out the match without any mistakes the rest of the way.
“We both made a mess of the 13th, but all in all, it was a step in the right direction after yesterday,” Spieth said, referring to his opening-round 4-and-2 loss to Tanihara. Thursday’s highlights:
Advancing: Soren Kjeldsen and Alex Noren won their matches and their next opponents have withdrawn, meaning they win their groups.
Withdrawn: Gary Woodland (personal matter) and Francesco Molinari (wrist).
Eliminated: With one round remaining in group matches, 23 players already have been eliminated. That includes Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar.
Tee times have been moved up two hours because of storms forecast for Friday afternoon.
Five days after gettingmarried, TreyMullinax ran off nine birdies andsavedparwitha15-foot putt on his last hole for a 9under 63 to take the lead at the Puerto Rico Open.
The first round Thursday was suspended when showers turned into heavy rain at Coco Beach Golf & Country Club in Rio Grande and the course was too wet to continue.
Mullinax was coming off consecutive missed cuts in Florida when he got married Saturday.
And then it was off to Puerto Rico, and Mullinax posted his best round of the year. He had a one-shot lead over D.A. Points.
Former Las Vegas winner Bill Lunde, playing for the first time in fivemonths, and Xander Schauffele were at 65. The group at 66 included Harold Varner III, David Hearn of Canada and Jonathan Randolph, who still had three holes remaining.
LPGA: Cristie Kerr, Mo Martin and In Gee Chun each shot a 6-under 66 to share the lead after the opening round of the Kia Classic at Carlsbad’s Aviara GC. Kerr, the 2015 Kia champion, and Martin, a native of Southern California, were among the first groups to tee off. Tied at 4 under were Marissa Steen, Alison Lee, Karine Icher, Mirim Lee and Hyo Joo Kim. Anna Nordqvist, the 2014 Kia champion who won last weekend in Phoenix, shot a 3-under 69. Defending champion Lydia Ko struggled to a 2-over 74.