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Sergio Garcia of Spain celebrates with his wife Angela after digging a hole in one (Photo by Darren Carroll / Getty Images)
Sergio garcia passed the fourth hole par 3 to beat Lee Westwood in a playoff on Friday and reach the WGC Match Play Championship Knockout rounds while in first place Dustin Johnson stepped out.
Garcia hit a 9-iron in the 160-yard quarter and the 39th-seeded Spaniard, who sank an eight-foot putt in the third to stay in the playoff, didn’t even see him roll back into the cup to defeat the English 18th seed at Austin (Texas) Country Club.
“The hole in one is amazing. It was a great shot,” Garcia said.
“I hit a big 9 iron. I couldn’t see in the glare. I saw it bounce past the hole. When we heard people go crazy, we knew it was in. That was a good way to end it.
Westwood had beaten eighth seed Tyrrell Hatton 4 and 3 to reach the playoffs after Garcia lost 3 and 2 to 51 seed Matt Wallace.
“Well, 28 years on tour and I thought I had seen it all. I hadn’t seen it!” Westwood tweeted after the tiebreaker, one of the eight tiebreakers needed to decide the groups.
Garcia was among 16 who advanced to Saturday’s first knockout matches, where she will face Canadian 48th seed Mackenzie Hughes, who advanced by halving with American 59th seed Talor Gooch.
Three of the five worst seeds made it into the weekend, but the only player in the top 16 to advance was third seed Spanish Jon Rahm, who sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the second hole of the playoffs to beat the seeded 24th U.S.
“It wasn’t easy. He was the one who played the best golf,” Rahm said. “The whole day felt like a playoff, but I hit a good shot in two and made the putt.”
Johnson, the best champion of the Masters, was eliminated with a 1 loss to the 28th seed of the United States, Kevin Na, who won three of the last four holes with birdies.
Na called Johnson back to par 3 11 to complain that the No. 1 picked up before Na conceded a six-inch putt, increasing tensions. The hole was cut in half and no penalty was awarded, but Johnson got into the water at 12 o’clock en route to defeat.
“I think it’s the right thing to do,” Na said. “We all know he can make a six-inch putt.”
Scotsman Robert MacIntyre drove the 18th green from 371 yards within three feet of the cup and the 41st seed rolled on a birdie putt to cut in half with the 61st seed Adam Long and advance to the stage. play off.
“I probably had one of the best and luckiest golf shots I’ve ever made,” MacIntyre said. “It just shows that anything can happen in this game.”
Next up for MacIntyre is No. 31 of France’s Victor Perez, who beat South Korean No. 16 Im Sung-jae 2-1 and advanced when Australian Marc Leishman and American Russell Henley were cut in half.
Undefeated English 60th seed Ian Poulter, a European Ryder Cup legend and WGC and World Match Play winner, defeated 46th US seed Lanto Griffin 2 & 1
“My game feels really good right now,” Poulter said. “I feel very comfortable. I wouldn’t say it’s the best I’ve ever felt, but I feel pretty good.”
He had a knockout game with US 30th seed Scottie Scheffler, whose 13-foot birdie on the second hole of the playoffs knocked out US sixth seed Xander Schauffele.
English 21 seed Tommy Fleetwood, 4-up after seven holes, sank a 14-foot birdie putt to split par 5 of 16 in half and held on to overtake fifth-seeded American Bryson DeChambeau 1 up, advancing with two wins. And a tie.
“It was tough for a lot of the last nine,” Fleetwood said. “Match play is that fun week. Guys who play better than me go home.”
He will face South African Dylan Frittelli, who lives nearby and became the first 64th seed to advance despite losing 2 to 40th American seed Will Zalatoris.
“A lot of confidence,” Frittelli said. “I knew it was not a true 64th seed. Knowledge of the courses at home means a lot here.”
USA 52nd seed Matt Kuchar beat 2019 winner Kevin Kisner, USA 34th seed, 2 & 1, to book a knockout game against 49th seed Jordan Spieth.
Also meeting Saturday is US 55th seed Bubba Watson, two-time Masters winner, and US 54th seed Brian Harman.
