McIlroy has China in his hands

Here are nine tidbits from Saturday’s matches at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. The Austin Country Club plays 7,108 yards (par 71). We’ll start with the Sweet 16 and move forward. Perfection Pools It’s safe to say that NOBODY had a perfect bracket at the conclusion of pool play. Of the 16 predicted group winners by gamers, only FIVE hit. Of the 16 seeded pool favorites, based on OWGR, only FIVE advanced. Woof. Brackets Busted: Sweet 16 Of the five seeded winners advancing to the round of 16, exactly two of them made it to the quarterfinal round. The biggest fish to be fried in the morning session was local favorite Sergio Garcia (7). After washing out Xander Schauffele 3 & 1 to complete pool play with a perfect record, he crashed out to Kyle Stanley (45), 3 & 1. I didn’t see anything from Garcia that would chase me away in the coming weeks or months but I did notice the different color tape jobs his wrist each round. … Tyrrell Hatton (12) was six-under-par and lost to Cameron Smith (46) 2 & 1. This is a perfect example of why match play is both beautiful and ugly at the same time. Oh, and it’s almost impossible to project because this can happen in any and every match. … Matt Kuchar (16) wasn’t looking ahead to the round of 16 in pool play. If he was, he noticed early that he wouldn’t have to face Dustin Johnson in round 2. It wasn’t any easier with Kevin Kisner (32) as Kuchar’s six birdies weren’t enough to advance. Savage. Brackets Busted: Quarterfinal Edition Interestingly enough, the quarterfinal matches went according to seed, minus Kiradech Aphibarnrat (28) and Bubba Watson (35). The Thai knocked off annual upset specialist Charles Howell III (59) in the morning but ran out of magic against the two-time Masters champ. His perfect 4-0 week came to a crashing end as Watson rattled off four birdies in a row to open the back nine, winning eventually 5 & 3. The Final Four Watson hasn’t lost this week either as he stormed into the final four 4-0-1. Joining him will be the seeded favorite Justin Thomas (2), Alex Noren (13) and Kevin Kisner (32). Watson is the highest seeded player left but even if he wins, he won’t be the biggest underdog to lift the trophy. That honor belongs to Kevin Sutherland who was seeded No. 62 in the 2002 edition. … Kisner, like Watson, also enters the last four with a record of 4-0-1, has drawn Alex Noren, who similar to Thomas, is 5-0-0 on the week. The last three winners of this “new” format, Rory McIlroy (1), Jason Day (2) and Dustin Johnson (1) have all come from Tier 1 (top 16 seeds from the OWGR). Crystal Ball Thomas and Watson will kick off the final four and both are in flying form. Watson, who has notoriously struggled in this format, has changed his mind set to make birdies and the heck with the rest. Since his drought ended with a title at the Genesis Open, Watson won’t be chasing that angle and will be able to focus on just playing. …Thomas limped into the week after wisdom teeth surgery and has proceeded to blow the doors off every opponent he’s faced. He’s trailed for four holes all week but he’ll be the one dealing with the pressure in this match. With a win in the semifinals he knows he would go to No. 1 in the OWGR. Only 21 players before him have had that honor. I’m excited to see how he handles THAT pressure. Watson steals it. … Noren and Kisner make up the other side of the bracket. Noren is looking to join Sutherland, Shane Lowry and Russell Knox as making their first TOUR win a WGC event. He was knocked out in the quarterfinals last year and now has cleared that hurdle. … Kisner reaching the final four is a site for sore eyes in the gaming world. Many jumped on board after his career year in 2017 but it hasn’t gone according to plan in the new season. His only top 10 in eight events so far has been T4 at The RSM Classic in November. He’ll cash for more than that tomorrow regardless. Kisner needed eight birdies to beat Kuchar. He then thrashed Ian Poulter 8 & 6. He’ll need all of that AGAIN to beat Noren. Chalk final. Final Group: Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship Brice Garnett, two-time winner on the Web.com Tour from 2017, is looking to go wire-to-wire for his first TOUR win. He sits on 16-under-par 200 and has a two-shot lead over Corey Conners and four shot lead over third place. Conners, who has played on four different circuits over the last four years, has never won on any professional level and will look to break his duck Sunday. The top 10 this week will be eligible for the Houston Open on Thursday next. Moving Day Monday qualifier Tyler McCumber is looking to keep his momentum of the week moving in the right direction. The son of Mark McCumber is just four back after tying Conners and Harris English for the low round of the day (67) in windy conditions. This is his TOUR debut but he’s won three times on PGA TOUR Latinoamerica … While the above are looking for their first victory at this highest level, Harris English is looking to add to his collection. His 67 moved him up 30 spots to T8.Thanks to two late bogeys by Garnett he’ll begin Sunday seven back instead of nine. English has won on paspalum grass before at the OHL Classic at Mayakoba. … The last time this course hosted an event it was last May as a Web.com Tour event. Nate Lashley shot 20-under to win and those gamers backing him this week were happy to see him move up 15 places to T23. Moving Day: Wrong Way After qualifying on Monday at Valspar and cashing T8, the big-hitting Trey Mullinax was on the radar this week. He didn’t disappoint through two rounds and entered Saturday T6. After 76 of them on Saturday he dropped 22 spots to T28. … David Lingmerth’s 67 on Friday pushed him into the top 15 but his 75 in Round 3 saw him drop off to T36. Study Hall Kisner’s undressing of Ian Poulter 8 & 6 to reach the semifinals was the biggest margin of victory since Ben Crane beat Rory McIlroy 8 & 7 in the second round in 2011. Read that again slowly. … Watson is the only player remaining that has a WGC victory (2015 HSBC). … English and McCumber had the only two bogey-free rounds at Corales. … Corales played a shot harder and over-par on Saturday as the wind provided a stout defense.

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Tiger Woods can count on being at the Ryder Cup, at least as a vice captain. U.S. captain Jim Furyk appointed Woods and Steve Stricker as vice captains on Tuesday. Furyk previously selected two-time captain Davis Love III to assist him. Woods has said he would like to both play in the Ryder Cup and assist Furyk if such an opportunity arose. Woods is playing the Honda Classic, his third PGA TOUR event since returning from a fourth back surgery. He also was a vice captain at Hazeltine in 2016, when the Americans beat Europe for the first time in eight years. Stricker will be a vice captain in the third straight Ryder Cup, and this follows his captaincy at the Presidents Cup last fall. The Ryder Cup matches are the last week of September outside Paris.

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