Mark Wilson edges past Robert Rock in the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship
Robert Rock, winner of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, who had been able to survive the knock-out format up till now, has finally been forced to bid farewell in the second round of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, after being defeated by veteran Mark Wilson.
This is the first time Wilson has made it into the third round of the Match Play event in his two starts. Although he admitted that none of the players played well, he was till happy to survive the tough format.
Wilson said, "Neither of us played great ... I'm just happy to survive".
37-year-old Wilson, with nine professional wins on his belt, is currently enjoying the fine form after winning the season-opener Humana Challenge in January 2012.
He defeated John Malinger, Johnson Wagner and Robert Garrigus in the final round of the event to lift the title by two strokes.
He is hoping to continue with his recent form and land the coveted Match Play event here at Doral, Tucson.
Rock did not have an equally lucky day as compared to his opening round, where he took over the rampaging Adam Scott by 1-up.
Rock said after his victory against Scott, "Quite a relief to get through, really. We probably didn't play the best. There was probably better matches out there on the course. I was a bit off today. I got lucky".
Wilson clinched lead on the second hole of the front nine, when he eagled the same to go 1-up. He won the third as Rock shot his approach into a bunker.
The Englishman came back with a birdie on the fourth to make up for the loss but dropped another shot at par-three, 6th to give an advantage to Wilson.
Wilson made the turn 3-up and held on to his lead tightly all through the nine holes of the back nine. Another birdie on the 15th eventually declared him as the winner with 3 & 2.
In his professional career, starting from the year 1997, Wilson has not been able to land a Match Play title in his career.
His glistening form may very well take him all the way to the top at the star-studded event. He has not trailed in any of his rounds since the fifth hole of his victory against Bo Van Pelt and has hit 78 percent greens in regulation.
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