Must-win at Match Play
Woods needs win to have chance to advance
AUSTIN, Texas – Brandt Snedeker became Public Enemy No. 1 in Texas.
Snedeker toppled Tiger Woods 2 and 1 in Thursday’s second round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, putting Woods in a must-win situation in the final round of pool play Friday if he is to advance to the elimination rounds.
“I said I’m probably the most hated man in Texas right now for a few holes,” said Snedeker, who had never posted a better score than Woods in 13 previous stroke-play rounds on the PGA Tour. “I bet you my kids were probably rooting for him late in the round.
“I played really well. He played pretty solidly. We both gave each other a hole, hitting one in the water off the tee. Neither one of us seemed to make any putts. We had a bunch of 15- to 20footers, which was about as close as we were going to hit it today just because of the wind and how tough it was. It felt like it was a slow match in that sense. Nobody was really getting any momentum going.”
Snedeker, who never trailed in the match, seized momentum with a 9foot birdie to go 2 up on the 16th, and a par on the par-3 17th ended the match.
Woods didn’t meet with the media afterward but spoke with a PGA Tour official.
“It was difficult conditions out there today,” Woods said. “The wind was pumping, and if you went around there with no bogeys, you probably would win your fair share of holes. We both made a couple of mistakes out there, but he made a few less mistakes than I did.”
Woods has to defeat Patrick Cantlay on Friday to have a chance to move on.
The highlight for Woods on Thursday came when he played a shot from under a bush behind the green at the par-4 10th. He went left-handed, turned an iron around, went to one knee, chipped his third shot to 5 feet and made par to tie the hole.
“I thought he was wasting his time over there,” Snedeker said. “It’s just the kind of stuff he pulls. I don’t know how he got that up-and-down. Nobody else would probably even try to hit it. And somehow, he hits it out to 5 feet.”
The lowlight for Woods came on the par-4 13th, where he went for the safe route but hit an iron off the tee into the water. He had to drop on a peninsula and lost the hole with a double-bogey 6 to fall 2 down.
“I think probably the pivotal hole was 13,” Snedeker said. “Had a little more of a cushion. I know he birdied the next hole, but that was one you were not expecting. I was able to hit some clutch shots down the stretch and get it done.”
In other matches, Jordan Spieth took a 6-up lead and eventually defeated Kevin Na 3 and 2. World No. 4 Rory McIlroy birdied his last two holes in a 3and-2 win against Justin Harding.
Reigning British Open champion Francesco Molinari rolled to another victory, a 4-and-3 rout of Ryder Cup teammate Thorbjorn Olesen. World No. 2 Justin Rose birdied the final two holes to tie Eddie Pepperell. World No. 5 Justin Thomas remained alive with a 3and-1 victory against Matt Wallace.
Defending champion Bubba Watson was eliminated as he lost to Billy Horschel 2 and 1. In a battle of 48-year-olds, Jim Furyk eliminated Phil Mickelson 1 up.