Morikawa’s ‘Bad Score’ Good Enough To Beat MacInytre In Match-Play Opener

2 years ago by Comments Off on Morikawa’s ‘Bad Score’ Good Enough To Beat MacInytre In Match-Play Opener

Open champion Collin Morikawa fended off a late Robert MacIntyre challenge to win 2 & 1 over Scotland’s top-ranked on day one of the WGC- Dell Technologies Match-Play in Austin, Texas.

The World No. 2 ranked Morikawa was never headed in his match against the now No. 70 ranked MacIntyre, sealing the win with a par at the par-3 17th in windy conditions on the Austin Country Club course.

The 25-year-old Morikawa, and just six months older than his Oban rival, won the first with a 15-foot birdie, while MacIntyre grabbed the second in sending his 145-yard second shot to just 18-inches for the first of four winning birdies.

Morikawa raced to 2 up with a par on three and then a birdie at four while MacInytre fought back to win with a par at five but was back to 2 down with a bogey ‘6’ at six.

MacIntyre was back to 1 down with a birdie on eight but it was all Morikawa heading into the back nine. The double Major winning Morikawa won the 10th with a par to go back to 2 up, and it was 3 up at the 12th where MacIntyre sent his drive right into trees and could only chip out to the fairway for a bogey ‘6’ to a Morikawa birdie.

Both players found the water guarding the green at the par-4 15th to square the hole in bogeys and then in turning their backs on the Pennymaker Bridge and Colorado River, MacIntyre grabbed his only birdie over the inward half in draining a 22-foot birdie gem at 15 to get back to 2 down.

MacIntyre had the chance to win the 16th missing a nine-footer for birdie before both players found the green at the 17th, and Morikawa sealing a first win in four match-play matches after losing all three a year ago.

Morikawa said: “It’s been a weird, weird day.  I felt like I was starting off really well with a birdie put on one, to get the match started.  I then made so many unforced errors, and somehow just got lucky.

“That is the great thing about this format as you can make a bad score and get away with it.

“The last couple of days I have been trying to wake myself up but apparently, I haven’t as yet.  The way I played today, I will not be getting out of this round robin stage.  I was very lucky today and hopefully I can move on and start playing smart golf”.

MacIntyre now faces American Jason Kokrak on day two and Morikawa up against Sergio Garcia who defeated Kokrak 4 & 3.

The Scot will need to beat Kokrak and then defeat Garcia on Friday to have any chance of going through to the weekend knockout stages.

Biggest win of the day was American Maverick McNealy and with the 64th ranked in the field handing out an 8 & 6 thumping of Chilean Joaquin Niemann who last month was handed the Genesis Invitational victory trophy by Tiger Woods.

McNealy was never behind in his match against Niemann who was born on the same day, November 7th, as his opponent but at 26 is three years older than Niemann.



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