Bradley scrambles to a tie in match play
AUSTIN, TEXAS Keegan Bradley extended his dubious streak to 16 matches over 11 years without winning in the Dell Technologies Match Play. He sure felt like a winner Wednesday.
Bradley was four down with five holes to play when he rallied to scratch out a halve against Denny McCarthy in the opening round at Austin Country Club.
“Gosh, that felt good,” Bradley said. “That was a grind. That has the possibility of going a long way, so I’m excited about it.”
Defending champion and top seed Scottie Scheffler missed two putts inside five feet over the last five holes before making a 12-footer for birdie on the 18th to beat Davis Riley in a rematch of their U.S. Junior Amateur title match 10 years ago that Scheffler won.
Jon Rahm, the No. 2 seed, was the only player from the top four seeds to lose. Rickie Fowler took him down on the 17th hole, the first time Rahm has lost in the opening round.
Matt Kuchar, at 44 the oldest player in the field, outlasted Viktor Hovland and won his 35th match, one short of the career tournament record held by Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy had a shorter shaft in his driver and a new putter, and both worked just fine in his 3-and-1 victory over Scott Stallings.
Corey Conners was the only one of five Canadians to win, beating Sepp Straka 6 and 5. Mackenzie Hughes fell 4 and 3 to Jordan Spieth, Adam Hadwin lost 3 and 2 to Sam Bruns, Nick Taylor lost 1 up to Patrick Cantlay, and Adam Svensson fell 4 and 2 to Jason Day.
Nothing was decided Wednesday in the first of three rounds of group play. One player from each of the 16 groups will move on for the knockout stage on the weekend. But every point helps, and even a half-point felt big for Bradley.
He made his Match Play debut in 2012 by beating Geoff Ogilvy, who has the highest winning percentage (80 per cent) in tournament history. That was Bradley’s last win. He has lost nine and halved seven matches since then, and it wasn’t without a fight. This was his 11th consecutive match dating to 2015 that it was decided on the 18th hole, lose or draw.
“Man, it was looking pretty bleak there for a while, but I just put my head down,” said Bradley, who drove into the water on the reachable par-413th to make bogey, going four down and running out of holes.
“I finally started hitting some good shots coming in, and it definitely paid off,” he said.
He won the 14th when McCarthy missed a four-foot par putt. Bradley won the 15th with a birdie putt from six feet, the par-5 16th with a sixfoot eagle. After they halved the par-3 17th, Bradley hit wedge to six feet to win the last hole for a halve.
Adam Scott felt even better. He never led the entire match against Seamus Power until he made a 25foot birdie putt on the final hole.
“Just to win something feels good. I haven’t won anything in a long time,” said Scott, whose last PGA Tour victory was three years ago at Riviera.
Scheffler, who has won and lost in the championship match in his two appearances in the Match Play, never trailed against Riley. It was never easy, particularly the pillow fight that ensued at the end.
Scheffler drove to the edge of the green on the 13th and made a 25foot eagle putt for a two-up lead that seemingly put him in control. But then he hooked his next tee shot into the Colorado River and still had a chance to halve the hole until missing a five-foot putt.
The Masters champion missed a 10-footer on the 15th. Riley had a chance to square the match on the 16th until he missed a three-foot putt. Scheffler returned the favour when he missed a three-footer on the 17th that would have closed out the match.