On a day when Jason Day’s withdrawal took center stage at the WGC Match Play, the other business of golf went on.
Day withdrew from the tournament after only six holes in his match with Pat Perez to head back home to Columbus, Ohio, to be with his mother who is battling lung cancer and will undergo surgery on Friday.
Day gave an emotional press conference to update everyone on what he’s been going through this year and how it has affected him emotionally. He did not discuss a timeline for his return to competition.
Dustin Johnson was the dominant player on day one and looked every bit like the world’s No. 1 as he easily romped former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson. Johnson got off to a four-up lead after just four holes, eventually scoring a 5-and-3 victory. “I played well, I made seven birdies, no bogeys,” Johnson reported after what looked like an effortless outing.
Jordan Spieth wasn’t as fortunate. He was stunned by Japanese entry Hideto Tanihara, the 54th seeded player in the event. Spieth looked flat all day and suffered a 4-and-2 loss.
Second overall seed Rory McIlroy was upset as well. Soren Kjeldsen came up with some late birdies and took the match, 2-and-1.
Hideki Matsuyama found the going tough against veteran Jim Furyk and that match was halved.
Patrick Reed was not the player from the Ryder Cup as he could only manage a tie match against Jason Dufner.
Phil Mickelson got off to a fast start with an easy 5-and-3 win over Si Woo Kim.
Round robin matches in the 16 groups continue on Thursday.
