Johnson, Rahm advance to Match Play semifinals
AUSTIN, TEXAS >> Dustin Johnson had reason to be rattled.
As he walked off the 12th green Saturday afternoon, the match referee said five words that Johnson heard for the first time all week in the Dell Technologies Match Play. “The match is all square.” Until then, Johnson had led after each of the 71 holes he had played at Austin Country Club.
He wasted little time responding to a rare challenge. Johnson birdied three of the next four holes for a 3-and-2 victory over Alex Noren to advance to the semifinals and stay on track for a potential showdown between No. 1 in the world and Jon Rahm, golf’s brightest young star.
“I wasn’t frustrated that I was all square. I was frustrated that I kind of gave 10 and 11 away,” Johnson said. “Came back strong after losing three holes in a row.”
Rahm was so dominant he played only 27 holes in two matches Saturday. He hasn’t had a match go longer than 14 holes since Thursday. And the 22-year-old rookie from Spain still hasn’t played the 18th hole since a practice round Tuesday.
“The golf I’ve played the last three matches really has been very impressive, even to myself,” he said. “And it seemed to get better as I played, which is something that doesn’t happen often.”
Rahm lost only one of the 27 holes he played in his 6-and-4 victory over Charles Howell III and his 7-and-5 victory over Soren Kjeldsen in the quarterfinals.
Rahm faces a semifinal match Sunday morning against Bill Haas, who ended Phil Mickelson’s hopes with a 2-and-1 victory. Mickelson had advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in 13 years with a victory against Marc Leishman.
Mickelson never trailed in any match until he fell behind on the first hole to Haas, and he had never led when the match ended on the 17th hole.
“I struggled making the putts that I have been making all week,” Mickelson said. “That seemed to me to be the difference.”
Johnson, going after a third straight PGA Tour title, faces one of this tournament’s biggest surprises in Hideko Tanihara of Japan.
“He looks unbeatable,” Tanihara said. “I hope FINAL FOUR: Dustin Johnson, Hideto Tanihara, Jon Rahm and Bill Haas. GOING FOR THE SWEEP: A victory will make Johnson the first player to sweep all four World Golf Championships. DEBUT: Rahm and Tanihara are playing the Match Play for the first time. Except for the inaugural winner, Jeff Maggert in 1999, no one has ever won in his debut. AUGUSTA PRIZE: By reaching the semifinals, Tanihara will move into the top 50 in the world ranking next week and qualify for the Masters. Ross Fisher also will get into the top 50 and return to the Masters by reaching the quarterfinals. MATCH OF THE DAY: Phil Mickelson rallied from 3 down at the turn to win the 10th and 12th holes. But he missed two putts to square the match, Haas made a 4-foot birdie on the 15th hole to go 2 up and close him out on the 17th. SHOT OF THE DAY: Alex Noren made a 40-foot birdie putt to win his third straight hole and square his match against Dustin Johnson. It was the only time in 76 holes Johnson has played this week that he wasn’t leading a match. KEY STATISTIC: Johnson is the only semifinalist who has never trailed in a match all week. NOTEWORTHY: For the second straight year, all four quarterfinal matches ended before the 18th hole. QUOTEWORTHY: “He looks unbeatable.” Tanihara on facing Johnson in the semifinals. SEMIFINALS LINEUP: Johnson vs. Tanihara, Rahm v. Haas. TELEVISION: Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Golf Channel); 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. (NBC).
he doesn’t feel good tomorrow, so maybe I have a chance.”
Tanihara began the week by beating Jordan Spieth. On Saturday, he took down Paul Casey with two late birdies in the morning fourth round, and then he beat Ross Fisher, 4 and 2, to reach the semifinals.
Johnson has looked unstoppable all month.
Now he’s two victories away from becoming the first player to sweep the four World Golf Championships.
None of Johnson’s five matches has gone beyond the 16th hole. In the fourth round, he beat Zach Johnson, 5 and 4. Noren is the only player to really make him sweat, and that was Johnson’s doing.
Johnson went 3 up at the turn, and then it was gone. He three-putted from 30 feet to lose the 10th hole. His tee shot on the par-3 11th hit the rocks and went into the water. And then he had to settle for par after leaving himself in an awkward spot, only to watch Noren hole a 40-footer to tie the match.
Johnson made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 13th — Noren missed from 8 feet — and then began to pull away with another 10-foot birdie on the 15th.
Also: Stroud leads in Puerto Rico
RIO GRANDE, PUERTO RICO >> Chris Stroud has gone 276 tournaments over the better part of a decade trying to win on the PGA Tour. A birdie on the final hole Saturday in the Puerto Rico Open gave him his first 54-hole lead, and he hopes his experience will keep him calm.
Looking over his shoulder could make that very difficult. Stroud kept a clean card at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club for a 5-under 67, giving him a one-shot lead over Bill Lunde and D.A. Points. What makes the final round more challenging is 10 players were within three shots. CARLSBAD, CALIF. >> Mirim Lee shot a 5-under 67 in the third round of the Kia Classic to go to 13-under and take a one shot lead over Mi Jung Hur, who made a 67-foot putt on No. 18 to card a 66.
Another South Korean, In Gee Chun, was tied at 10-under with Cristie Kerr, who was tied for the lead after the first round and was alone atop the leaderboard after 18 holes.