No miracle or anything like it for Rory McIlroy, who departed the WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay at Austin Country Club in Texas with little fanfare: indeed, one of his last acts - in losing to out to Australian Cameron Smith, who also left the scene - was to hit a wedge from the 17th tee to the green and watch as it kicked left over the rocks and down into the hazard to underpin his lack of control.
Up to that point, McIlroy - all-square at the time - had clung to an unlikely scenario where he could still escape from the group and into the knockout stage. However, that shot provided the death knell to such ambitions and, as it happened, clinging to such hope was a forlorn cause as Ian Poulter, as he tends to do in matchplay, took matters into his own hands by kicking on late in his match with Lanto Griffin to be the one to progress.
McIlroy holed a putt for birdie from off the green on the 18th to salvage a halved match with Smith, but by then his fate had been sealed as Poulter closed out his match with a 2 and 1 win over Griffin to win three from three.
The early departure of McIlroy from Texas provided the last competitive round for the Northern Irishman before he heads on to the US Masters in less than a fortnight, where he will again attempt to complete the last part of the jigsaw in his quest to join an elite group of career Grand Slam champions.
McIlroy had gone into the third and final group match requiring a win over Smith but trailed from the very first hole, never led but entered that final stretch with a sniff when getting back to all-square through 16 only to fluff his lines with an errant tee shot on the 17th that finished in the hazard before closing in style with that birdie on the 18th to draw level.
Shane Lowry knew before he teed off that he had no chance of progressing into the last 16 (for the knockout phase) but at least gave himself a confidence boost ahead of the Masters at Augusta with a comprehensive 3 and 2 win over Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz.
On a day of some stellar matchplay fare, there was a spectacular finish to Group 8 where European Ryder Cup rivals Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood went into sudden-death play-off after finishing level on two points . . . . and the Spaniard progress in sensational style with a nine-iron ace on the fourth hole of the play-off.
World number one Dustin Johnson was another to depart the scene, when his loss to Kevin Na opened the door for Scotland’s Robert MacIntrye, who also came through in quite sensational style. One down playing the 18th, the left-hander hit a huge drive to the 18th green - while Johnson and Na on the green eyed up their putts - and the ball finished just three feet from the hole. The Scot rolled in the putt for an eagle two, which won the hole and gave him a halved match and progress into the knockouts.
“One of the best and one of the luckiest golf shots I’ve hit in my life,” is how MacIntyre described his drive on the 18th.
In the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic, Graeme McDowell - who has struggled to make in his outings this season - shot a second round 69 for a midway total of five-under-par 139 that moved him into contention, two shots adrift of Rafael Campos and Fabrizio Zanotti.
“The wind has helped me just focus on hitting shots rather than technique,” admitted McDowell. “Hopefully this can be the turning point of the season regardless of what happens this weekend, (let’s) see if I can kick on, play some good golf and take some form away from this week.”
Séamus Power with successive 72s for 144 also made the cut where he was joined on that mark by Pádraig Harrington who slumped to a second round 75 to add to his opening 69.
Qualifiers
Group 1 -Robert MacIntyre
Group 3 - Dylan Fritelli
Group 4 - Billy Horschel
Group 5 - Tommy Fleetwood
Group 8 - Sergio Garcia
Group 9 - Mackenzie Hughes
Group 11 - Ian Poulter
Group 13 - Kevin Streelman
Group 16 - Victor Perez
