Cinderella has arrived at the Sweet 16 of the WGC Match Play.
It is Patton Kizzire, No. 63 in the 64-man field, the guy who bumped Ian Poutler out of the competition last week.
Still, it was a stretch that Kizzire would end up in the round of 16 at the Austin Country Club. The rookie from the Web.com Tour was in a group with Bubba Watson, J.B. Holmes and Emiliano Grillo.
To add to the drama, Kizzire went into Friday’s third day of round-robin play without a win. He had a pair of halves in his previous matches with Watson and Holmes.
He found himself all-square with Grillo on Friday, going into the 16th hole. He was just short of the par five in two and then pitched in for eagle-three to go 1-up in the match.
That’s all he needed to finish Grillo off at the 18th and get the concession for a 2-up win that moved him to the weekend.
“I knew some things had to happen,” Kizzire admitted afterward. One of them was J.B. Holmes beating Bubba Watson.
“Today was huge,” said Kizzire. “My finish was pretty clutch.”
