“As of now, I’m going to try to get back there with my mom for her surgery and make sure everything goes right with her”, he said. He was No. 1 in the world for almost a year until Dustin Johnson overtook him a month ago.
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Soren Kjeldsen and McIlroy only halved five of their 17 holes.
Lewis was runner-up last week for the 12th time since her last victory in Arkansas in June 2014.
McIlroy (No. 2) and Spieth (No. 5) face critical matches the rest of the way.
Perez had taken a 3 up lead after six holes when Day withdrew. Kjeldsen birdied the last four holes.
Television: Thursday-Friday, 10:30 a.m.to 1:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 2-5:30 p.m. (Golf Channel); Sunday, 2:30-6 p.m. (Golf Channel).
“Family is first. It’s just a hard time”.
“At this point I’m rooting for a Ryan Moore victory tomorrow”, Spieth said Wednesday after a post-round practice session with instructor Cameron McCormick at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
McIlroy turned things around with the help of a mammoth drive at 12, delivering three birdies on the spin to edge in front of the Dane.
Martin said the only reason Day came to Austin for the Match Play was that he felt a responsibility to the fans, and to his mother. And he never caught up.
The world No.32 had his irons going, hitting 14 of 16 greens and his only bogey was a three-putt at the fourth, but even that didn’t cost him as Westwood also bogeyed. No matter how Spieth and McIlroy play, they still will be here Friday, too.
The top player from each of the 16 four-man groups advances to the weekend of single-elimination matches. Ties are determined by a sudden-death playoff, and head-to-head matchups do not count. It can get complicated, though Sergio Garcia brought some simplicity to the most fickle of formats.
Leishman admitted his confidence level was “pretty high” after his win at Bay Hill, his second on the US PGA Tour.
“I didn’t know I was playing him until you just told me”, Thomas said. “But if you are in desperation and you’re trending in the wrong direction and shooting the 1-unders and winning, you are going to be thinking, ‘Oh God, I’m lucky to be winning”. I’m going to try and do my best and try to be there the best I can for her, because she’s the reason why I’m here today. He went through every other match, all the other 31 matches on the course and figured out he would have beaten every other player in the field except me.
Jason Day (No. 3), made an emotional exit, conceding his match after six holes to Pat Perez.
However, the 29-year-old Australian then told a hastily arranged press conference that he had found it impossible to focus on golf due to his mother Dening’s battle with lung cancer.
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He revealed doctors gave a terminal diagnosis and estimated she had 12 months to live, as she had a 3-4 centimetre mass on her lung.
