The big news out of day one at the WGC Match Play isn’t necessarily who won and lost but who might have injured himself.
Jason Day, one of the favorites going into The Masters in two weeks, could barely stand up at the end of his 3&2 win over Graeme McDowell. Day politely declined to talk about his injury at the end of his match. With the round-robin format, it’s possible that Day could concede his second-day match to Thongchai Jaidee then come back and face Paul Casey on Friday if his injury is not serious. If it is, Day may well withdraw and hope to be good to go for Augusta.
Colin Swatton, Day’s caddie and coach, noticed Day’s discomfort on the 15th tee. “Just out of the blue. I don’t know if it was one swing or what it was,” Swatton said after the round.
Whatever it was, it was causing shooting pains that started in Day’s lower back and ran down both legs. After his round, Day was treated in the clubhouse by two physicals therapists for an hour. His agent later issued a statement stating that Day intends to play on Thursday.
While Day was getting treatment, there were upsets in the making.
One upset was avoided by Rory McIlroy. Thorbjorn Olesen had him on the ropes but handed McIlroy a 1-up win when he shanked a chip from behind the 18th green that led to a bogey, giving McIlroy a victory.
Others weren’t as fortunate.
Jason Dufner (58) took down Rickie Fowler (5), 2&1 while Patton Kizzire, the next-to-last man in the field at 63, halved Bubba Watson (4).
Jordan Spieth finally found some order in his game, he got off to a good start and never trailed Jamie Donaldson and ended the day with a birdie at the 16th that gave him a 3&2 victory. “It was set up fair but tough,” Spieth said of the Austin Country Club. “If you were under par, you were probably ahead in your match.”
Phil Mickelson posted one of the lopsided wins of the day, a 5&4 crushing of young Matthew Fitzpatrick, who is young enough to be Mickelson’s son.
One of the best performances of the day came from Zach Johnson. He was six-under par through 15 holes after beating Marcus Fraser, 4&3.
Here’s some of the highlights from the rest of the field:
Mild Upsets:
Thongchai Jaidee (36) took down Paul Casey (23), 2&1.
Emiliano Grillo (33) bettered J.B. Holes (21), 3&2.
Victory DuBuisson (39) defeated Justin Thomas (31), 3&2.
Medium Upsets:
Rafa Cabrera Bello (52) downed Hideki Matsuyama (12), 1 up.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat (37) took down Jimmy Walker (22) , 2&1.
Major Upset:
Robert Streb (49) clubbed Dustin Johnson (8), 3&2.
