If nothing quite as miraculous as Lazarus, there was nevertheless a safety line to survival bought by Rory McIlroy in his endeavours to stay alive in the WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay at Austin Country Club in Texas, where he bounced back from his first day thumping at the hands of Ian Poulter to claim a comprehensive second day win over American Lanto Griffin in the round-robin group phase.
The comfortable win 4 and 3 win at least breathed new life into McIlroy’s hopes for survival, although his prospects of advancing to the weekend knockout stage remain out of his control. While McIlroy claimed that victory over Griffin, Poulter continued doing what Poulter tends to do in matchplay and remained as favourite to move on from Group 11.
For McIlroy to advance, he would need to beat Cameron Smith in the final group match while also requiring Poulter to lose to Griffin. The odds are definitely in favour of the Englishman, a man given the moniker of ‘The Postman’ for how he consistently delivered through his Ryder Cup career in reveling in the noble demands of mano o mano combat and doing so for his own benefits on this occasion on the banks of the Colorado River.
In Group 3, Shane Lowry got off to a good start against Jon Rahm and was two up through three holes before the Spaniard turned the tide.
Rahm won the fifth and the seventh to get it back to all square before winning the ninth, the 10th and the 12th – where Lowry lost a ball – to go to three up. Lowry got one back at the 14th before Rahm made it dormie three up on the 15th only for Lowry to again fight back with birdies at the 16th and 17th to take the match up the last but it was not to be enough as Rahm sealed victory two up. The loss sealed Lowry’s fate at the tournament and he will play Sebastian Munoz in a dead rubber on Friday while Rahm and Ryan Palmer – both with two wins each – face off for a spot in the last-16.
On a day of sunshine and sufficient wind to make players think twice about club selection and execution, among those to exit the championship before the group stages had even come to an end were Justin Thomas, the world number two and winner of The Players on his most recent tournament appearance, along with US PGA champion Collin Morikawa and the heralded Norwegian Viktor Hovland.
At least McIlroy managed to keep his hopes, however slim, alive: the Northern Irishman’s reaction to an opening day defeat to Poulter was to hit the course running in winning the opening three holes - albeit aided and abetted to an extent by Griffin’s errant play - and, although McIlroy’s lead was reduced to just one hole by the turn, he hit a wedge approach to four feet for a birdie to win the 10th and then was conceded the 12th after Griffin’s initial wild tee-shot was followed by one poor effort after another to the extent it took him five shots to reach the green.
McIlroy increased his advantage when he won the 13th hole in birdie three to take a four hole lead. McIlroy’s final group match is against Smith.
“Winning the match keeps me in the tournament and gives me hope. I hit a couple of destructive shots (against Poulter on Wednesday) but the scoreline didn’t match up with how I felt I played ….. I played solid, kept it in play and holed some putts when it mattered. At least I still have some hope,” said McIlroy, whilst acknowledging his destiny is intertwined with how Poulter fares.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre looked to have the run on world number one Dustin Johnson when he went two up with three holes to play but the Masters champion made an eagle on the par-five 16th and birdied the 17th to leave both players with one and a half points from two matches in group one.
“He holed putts when he had to hole putts,” a disappointed MacIntyre said. “He does that to win numerous majors. I’m young. I’ve got plenty of time ahead of me.
“Obviously I was dying to win that match. I was in such a great position to do it. But he threw everything at me, and I can be proud of finishing there all square, but obviously inside I’m a little disappointed not to win.
“But once we walk away from here and get in the car and drive back to the house, it’s going to be, you know what, I can compete with these best guys on the planet.”
Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington's busy schedule continued in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic where the 49-year-old Dubliner again showed good form with an opening round 69, three-under, to be inside the top-10 after the first round where Germany's Stephan Jaeger set the pace after signing for a 66. Graeme McDowell opened with a solid 70 while Séamus Power signed for a first round 72.
On the LPGA Tour, Stephanie Meadow made a brilliant start to the Kia Classic at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California, with an opening round 68 - which featured a lone bogey and five birdies, including a hat-trick from the sixth to the eighth - that saw the Northern Irishwoman trail clubhouse leader Hyo Joo Kim, the world number eight, by one stroke.
Leona Maguire continued her strong start to the season with a level-par 72 - two birdies, two bogeys - as the Co Cavan golfer followed up her tied-eighth finish at the Drive On Championship on her last appearance a fortnight ago.
Day two results (US unless stated)
Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) bt Corey Conners (Can) 5&4
Patrick Reed bt Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 2&1
Brian Harman bt Hideki Matsuyama (Mex) 1up
Patrick Cantlay bt Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 1up
Joaquin Niemann (Chi) halved with Bubba Watson
Matthew Wolff halved with Jordan Spieth
Kevin Kisner bt Justin Thomas 2&1
Matt Kuchar bt Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 1up
Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) bt Jason Kokrak 3&2
Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) bt Antoine Rozner (Fra) 4&3
Bryson DeChambeau bt Si Woo Kim (Kor) 2&1
Tony Finau halved with Will Zalatoris
Bernd Wiesberger bt Viktor Hovland (Nor) 4&2
Abraham Ancer (Mex) bt Kevin Streelman 2&1
Max Homa bt Collin Morikawa 2&1
J. T. Poston bt Billy Horschel 4&2
Mackenzie Hughes (Can) bt Webb Simpson 4&3
Paul Casey (Eng) bt Talor Gooch 3&2
Lee Westwood (Eng) bt Matt Wallace (Eng) 5&3
Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) bt Sergio Garcia (Spa) 3&2
Sung Jae Im (Kor) bt Marc Leishman (Aus) 2&1
Russell Henley bt Victor Perez (Fra) 4&3
Dustin Johnson tied with Robert MacIntyre (Sco)
Adam Long bt Kevin Na 2&1
Rory McIlroy (NIrl) bt Lanto Griffin 4&3
Xander Schauffele bt Jason Day (Aus) 2&1
Ian Poulter (Eng) bt Cameron Smith (Aus) 1up
Scottie Scheffler tied with Andy Sullivan (Eng)
Brendon Todd bt Daniel Berger 2&1
Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) bt Harris English 2&1
Jon Rahm (Spa) bt Shane Lowry (Irl) 2up
Ryan Palmer bt Sebastian Munoz (Col) 2&1
