Geoff Ogilvy, Matteo Manassero and Graeme McDowell include major upsets at WGC-Accenture Match Play
The WGC-Accenture Match play continues to be thrilling for many and has produced some upsets during the tournament. It was not expected that the top seeded players will not be making it to the quarter-finals. Two Americans J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson are
through to the quarter-finals of the Match Play and J.B. Holmes was the player to replace the injured Tim Clark before the tournament teed off.
Holmes, who is famous for his hard hitting off the tee was among the players who had the longest drive this week. He also produced a massive 400-yard drive in the first round but was a little wayward. Due to his distance, it helped him curb the challenge
of Jason Day on Friday. The match went on to the 18th hole where Holmes was leading. Day was unable to make a birdie on the last hole and conceded his match after missing the putt.
Bubba Watson of USA easily won his match against his opponent Geoff Ogilvy and dominated throughout the match. The American who is long off the tee proved to many that he can be the best when it comes to the match play format. Watson never fell behind in
the match and showed his excellent shot-making ability on the course. The highlight of this match was on the par-5 11th where Watson was 290 yards away from the green. He hit a 3-iron with a slight draw which landed within 15-feet from the cup.
The match score was 6 up with 4 holes to play.
Watson was overwhelmed with his victory. While talking to media, he said, “I knew if I hit a bullet 3-iron, it could roll up close. We were just thinking about getting it on the green.” Ogilvy was disappointed after not making it through to the quarter final
stage.
Saturday morning is all set to produce some upsets and fireworks. It will be now be the hard hitting pair of Holmes against Watson in the quarters. The conditions will be a little windy but both the long drivers will be hoping to produce brilliance.
The young Italian Matteo Manassero who was playing his first Match Play was also eliminated by Luke Donald. Other young players like Rickie Fowler and Jason Day also were out of the tournament.
All eyes are now set on Martin Kaymer who is now the number one seed in the tournament. Kaymer was paired against Hunter Mahan on Friday. The German had a tough time winning this match and curbed the challenge laid down by Mahan. The score was 2 up with
1 hole to play. Kaymer will now be facing his fellow Ryder Cup member Miguel A. Jimenez. The Spaniard Jimenez is the oldest player in the tournament and is coming off a comfortable win against his opponent Ben Crane.
Another upset was witnessed as Graeme McDowell who was confident of lifting the trophy was eliminated by Y.E. Yang. McDowell was the player who gave his European Team the winning point in Ryder Cup last year which also has a match play format on the final
day. Yang was never down throughout the 16 holes he played and had a comfortable win against his opponent. The score of this match was 3up with two holes to play.
The quarter-finals will be played on Saturday morning followed by the semi-final on the same day as well. It is expected the Martin Kaymer and Luke Donald will make it to the semi-final stage and the weather conditions will certainly challenge the players
on the field. The final will be played on Sunday.
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