All the Americans are gone at the WGC Match Play.
Jason Day and Rory McIlroy will meet Easter Sunday morning in a battle of bombers while Louis Oosthuizen and Rafa Cabrera Bello will square off in the other semi-final at Austin Country Club.
Jordan Spieth bowed out Saturday morning in the round of 16 when he was bounced 4&2 by Oosthuizen.
“I’m not really sure what happened,” said Spieth, who had a horrible warmup session on the range. “I tried to figure it out for the entire range session,” Spieth said. “I didn’t make it very hard on Louie today, which was unfortunate. It was a very off day.”
Oosthuizen went on to best Dustin Johnson in the quarterfinals, 2&1. The big moment came at the 17th hole when Johnson was only one down and hit it to five-feet for birdie while Oosthuizen was 25 feet from the hole. Oosthuizen made his, Johnson missed and it was over. “I feel like I’m putting well. I’ll just try and keep giving myself birdie opportunities,” the former Open champion said.
Oosthuizen has never won on American soil. He’ll face Bello, a 2&1 winner over Ryan Moore in their quarterfinal match.
All eyes will be on Day and McIlroy in the semis.
McIlroy had a tough morning match as he beat Zach Johnson 1-up then he had it a bit easier in the afternoon with a 4&3 win over Chris Kirk. “Match play is a format I’ve always enjoyed,” said the defending champion. “Happy I made it to tomorrow. Each round momentum builds,” McIlroy said.
Day won both his matches 3&2. He beat Brandt Snedeker in the morning, Brooks Koepka in the afternoon and never lost control of either contest. “I think we’ll have a lot of fun,” Day said of his matchup with McIlroy. “I expect a really tough match against Rory.”
