Reed topples Spieth as top seeds fall

AUSTIN, TEXAS — One shot into the match, Jordan Spieth already was in a golf cart being driven back to the tee.

It took three holes before Patrick Reed had to putt.

The most anticipated match turned into a sloppy affair Friday when Spieth hit one shot outof-bounds, two shots into a hazard and three times gave away a chance to win the hole by threeputting.

And right when it looked as though Spieth might still have a chance, Reed buried him with a 40-foot birdie putt from behind the 17th green for a 2-and-1 victory in the Dell Technologies Match Play that sent Reed into the weekend and Spieth searching for answers.

"I don't think it would have been that tough to beat me today," Spieth said.

Reed was tough enough when it mattered. He seized control with the prettiest shot of the match, a knockdown wedge into the wind that grazed the front edge of the cup on the 13th for a 2-up lead.

He ended it with a putt that looked as though it might go 8 feet by until the hole got in the way.

Reed is among 16 players who won their group on Friday at Austin Country Club and advanced to singleelimination on the weekend, all of them from matches away from a World Golf Championships title.

That group includes Justin Thomas, at No. 2 the top seed remaining, who can go to No. 1 in the world by winning.

It doesn't include Dustin Johnson, the defending champion who played so poorly that none of the three matches he lost made it to the 18th hole.

Johnson left the gallery with one parting shot, a 489-yard drive that would be the longest in PGA Tour history except that stats from Match Play are not official.

Rory McIlroy had a chance to advance except that he was beaten soundly by Brian Harman.

And it doesn't include Spieth, who now has gone seven tournaments since his last top 10.

Thomas 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.

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.

The tightest match was between former Oklahoma State golfer Alex Noren and Tony Finau, one of four matches between players who had not lost all week.

Finau won three straight holes on the back nine to take a 1-up lead, only to lose the 14th with a bogey.

With the match all square, Noren made a 10-foot birdie at the 17th to go 1 up, and then holed a 15-foot par putt on the final hole to avoid going to a playoff with Finau.

Noren now has won seven of his last eight matches in his event, his only loss coming to Johnson in the quarterfinals last year.