Day 2 of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship narrowed the field to 16. Ryan Ballengee wraps up all 16 of Thursday’s matches at Dove Mountain. (Click for: Tiger Tracker | Running blog | Scoring)
HOGAN: Hunter Mahan (6) d. Y.E. Yang (13), 5 and 3 – Yang never stood a chance against Mahan, who rattled off five straight wins from No. 4 with five consecutive birdies. After a two-hole Yang rally on the back nine, Mahan finished it off with three straight wins – including two conceded holes.
JONES: Dustin Johnson (3) d. Francesco Molinari (11), 7 and 5 – Johnson dropped just one shot in the match, playing 7 under par for 13 holes. Molinari won the hole Johnson bogeyed, but was otherwise a bystander to a crushing win.
JONES: Steve Stricker (2) d. Louis Oosthuizen (7), 1 up – A tight match – against par and each other. Oosthuizen played 1-under golf, while Stricker was 2 under. A lengthy birdie putt at the last hole by Stricker was the dagger and the difference.
SNEAD: Martin Laird (10) d. Matteo Manassero (15), 2 and 1 – Laird was on fire, making eight birdies. Manassero countered with an eagle and four birdies of his own, but it was not enough to overcome the length and hot putter of the Scot.
JONES: Mark Wilson (10) d. Robert Rock (15), 3 and 2 – Rock struggled, recording just a single birdie. Of the six holes Wilson won, two were conceded and three were taken with pars.
PLAYER: John Senden (10) d. Jason Day (2), 6 and 5 – A combination of great play by Senden and poor play by Day was the difference in this Clash of the Aussies. Day failed to make a birdie, while Senden won six holes off of four birdies.
SNEAD: Paul Lawrie (11) d. Ryo Ishikawa (14), 1 up – Just seven holes were halved in this back-and-forth contest. Ishikawa won the 17th hole to reach 18 for the second day in a row, but could not make a birdie to force extra holes.
JONES: Peter Hanson (9) d. Ernie Els (16), 5 and 4 – A winning No. 64 seed has never won a second match, and Els made it 0-for-3 on Friday. The putts that fell against Luke Donald on Wednesday did not go against Hanson.
PLAYER: Sang-Moon Bae (11) d. Charles Schwartzel (3), 1 up – In a tight match throughout, Bae took the lead at No. 14 and halved holes to the house to survive.
SNEAD: Lee Westwood (1) d. Robert Karlsson (8), 3 and 2 – This match was never close, with Westwood getting a 5-up advantage by No. 11 tee. A few stumbles let Karlsson win a few holes before a three at the par-3 16th ended it.
HOGAN: Martin Kaymer (1) d. David Toms (8), 2 up – Toms did not play great, but hung in against last year’s runner-up. A short birdie miss at No. 17 cost him momentum and the match.
HOGAN: Matt Kuchar (4) d. Bubba Watson (5), 3 and 2 – Kuchar established a lead with two birdies and a concession through 10 holes, but Watson narrowed the lead to just one hole by going birdie-eagle at the par-5 11th and 13th. Kuchar ended the run with two wins to leave Watson out of holes.
PLAYER: Rory McIlroy (1) d. Anders Hansen (9), 3 and 2 – McIlroy played yet another solid, but not spectacular, match. Keeping it close got the opening nine, but a couple of wins with pars at No. 13 and 14 gave McIlroy the final margin.
SNEAD: Nick Watney (4) d. Tiger Woods (5), 1 up – Woods struggled all day with putting inside of 10 feet. From tee to green, Woods and Watney were close, but the difference was Watney made a few more putts.
JONES: Brandt Snedeker (5) d. Kyle Stanley (13), 2 and 1 – Close all the way through, it came down to mistakes Stanley made and his inability to take advantage of Snedeker’s errors. A couple of holes won in par at 15 and 16 were the difference.
PLAYER: Miguel Angel Jimenez (13) d. Keegan Bradley (5), 2 and 1 – Jimenez reeled off three wins to start the match, which created a deficit from which Bradley could not recover. Bradley hung in, reducing the lead to just one hole. Unable to get up-and-down for par at No. 17, Bradley lost the match.
Watch live coverage of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Golf Channel, Friday 2-6PM ET; Saturday noon-2PM ET; Sunday 8AM-1PM ET. NBC coverage can be seen live Saturday/Sunday, 2-6PM ET.
