AUSTIN, Texas – Professional golf doesn’t have a Selection Sunday, but once in a while, when the seeds line up and math paves the way for magicians, you get a Frenetic Friday.
It’s the kind of day that makes you enjoy playing through holes and forgetting, at least for another year, the ongoing debate between knockout and playing in the pool. A day like Friday at Match Play WGC-Dell Technologies, when the screams – that’s right, screams at the Austin Country Club – came at you with dizzying speed.
The day started out quite normal. Dylan Frittelli, a graduate in geography from Austin via South Africa, was the first to punch his ticket for the weekend right after lunch and became the first player from the 64th place to advance to the round of 16 since the transition to the pool play in 2015. He was still on course and behind Will Zalatoris at the time, but the math was on his side after Tony Finau closed Jason Kokrak to end his pod drama.
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“My caddy mentioned to me on the 16 green that we were going to go down 18 and Tony was 1 up, so that guaranteed me, so I had room to breathe walking up that hill to the 17 tee box,” said Frittelli.
Tommy Fleetwood was next, holding Bryson DeChambeau in what could be a prelude to the Ryder Cup. The only thing missing was Francesco Molinari, Fleetwood’s partner for two years in Paris, and the masses of the continent singing “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy” .
But as the key to the weekend slowly emerged from the fog of the game of pool, there were two moments in quick order that turned a fun day into a frenzy.
Standing at 18º tee behind Adam Long for a single hole, Robert MacIntyre from Scotland hit “one of the best and one of the luckiest golf clubs I have ever hit in my life”.
From 371 yards, MacIntyre’s opening shot went up the hill about 3 feet from the hole just as Dustin Johnson, playing in the group ahead, was lining up his shot. The shot configured an eagle passing by half and a spot in the weekend field.
“I had to get him to fly, but my mistake with that shot was in the unlucky left,” said MacIntyre. “But I was 1 less, I had to win the hole, so I thought, come on. Let’s take the lowest one ”.
The applause still echoed through Austin CC when Sergio Garcia put his mark on the theater of the day. Having lost to Matt Wallace, 3 and 2, in Round 3, the Spaniard traded three pars with Lee Westwood to determine who in his group advanced to stages one and made it when he moved to the fourth tee.
“I really don’t know what to say. Obviously, yes, a hole-in-one is incredible, ”said Garcia of his 160-yard starting ace to advance.
In all, a record eight playoffs were required to fill the Sweet 16 key.
Ian Poulter went 3-0-0 to advance because he is Ian Poulter and, because of last year’s pandemic, any lunar cycle that turns him into a superhero during the Ryder Cup years traveled through 2021.
“Well, mine was obviously extremely boring according to what I just heard. Sergio strives for a hole-in-one against Westy to advance and MacIntyre only raises to 3 feet and pokes Eagle for half to pass, ”Poulter laughed. “I just got a 2-1 win [over Lanto Griffin] and I’m done, so I think it was really boring. “
Too bad. Imminent. Whatever it is. When it comes to English and hole play, he usually keeps his heroism until the end, like on Sunday with a title or Ryder Cup at stake.
Matt Kuchar joined Poulter as the only player to post perfect pool play records with his 2-1 win over Kevin Kisner for a measure of redemption after Kisner defeated him in the final of the last WGC-Match Play, held in 2019.
Not all were theatrical winners. Jon Rahm-Ryan Palmer matinee, one of only two fights on Day 3 between players who won their first two games, included a halved double bogey hole (No. 14) and required extra holes for Rahm to advance.
There is also the question of a completely upside down support. Only one player in the top 20 (Rahm) advanced to the weekend, an exodus that included world number one Johnson. But even that loss came with some entertainment when Kevin Na – who defeated Johnson, 1 up – gave a lecture to DJ on the 11thº green on granted putts and an early scoop (we all have a friend who is to blame for the initial scoop) and, as expected, Johnson did not respond well to the sermon.
“From him [putt] he hit his lips and he was 15 centimeters and obviously he’s fine, but I didn’t say anything and he blew it, ”explained Na when asked about what happened on the 11thº green. “I froze there and looked at [caddie Kenny Harms] and I wasn’t going to say it’s a penalty, you’re going to miss the hole. I was going to say, you know what, that was good anyway. “
Second-placed Justin Thomas, fourth-placed Collin Morikawa, fifth-placed DeChambeau and sixth-placed Xander Schauffele also left for the weekend.
If this were the NCAA tournament, they could cancel the rest of the competition. But in golf, action provides entertainment, not seeds. If you didn’t like Frantic Friday at Austin Country Club, you don’t like golf matchplay.