WGC Match Play: Who’s Alive, Who’s Going Home Early

Two days of group play in the books, one day to go and we have an idea of who may be advancing to the Sweet 16 on Saturday and who is heading home.

Things were a bit windy on Wednesday and pretty darn breezy on Thursday.  There are been some surprises and some big names playing well — world No. 1 Jon Rahm and No. 3 Viktor Hovland are both 2-0-0, No. 2 Collin Morikawa is 1-0-1 while No. 4 Patrick Cantlay has fallen flat on his face.  Cantlay , the overall No. 4 seed, is 0-1-1 in Group 4 and heading home by day’s end on Friday.

Here’s how things are shaping up so far:

The Undefeated, Untied (2-0-0):

Group 1:  Jon Rahm:  Rahm-bo’s been putting pretty good this week and that spells trouble for the rest of the field.

Group 3:  Viktor Hovland:  Viktor has looked solid the first two days.

Group 4:  Seamus Power:  Patrick Cantlay eliminated after two days.  He should be ashamed of himself.  Keith Mitchell out as well.

Group 5:  Matt Fitzpatrick:  A Friday date with Scottie Scheffler.

Group 6:  Kevin Kisner:  Kiz is tough in match play and it’s showing.

Group 7:  Lucas Herbert: Nice surprise from the 39th seed.  Tony Finau’s out — man is he having a lousy season!

Group 8: Dustin Johnson:  It’s about time for D.J. to start playing well and with The Masters in two weeks, this is a good time to start!

Group 10:  Corey Conners and Alex Noren headed for a Friday showdown to see who makes the Sweet Sixteen.

Group 12:  Billy Horschel:  The defending champion is flying under the radar.

Group 13:  Tyrrell Hatton:   Golf’s most entertaining man.

Group 16:  Brooks Koepka:   Goes 3-0 if he can beat Shane Lowry on Friday.

The Winless And Tie-less (0-2-0):

Group 2:  Robert MacIntyre:  Note to Henrik Stenson — keep him off your Ryder Cup team.

Group 5:  Ian Poulter:  Big surprise, this guy was a bracket-buster for a lot of fans.

Group 6:  Marc Leishman:   Surprising.

Group 7:  Tony Finau:  Tony’s lousy season continues.

Group 8:  Matt Wolff:  No surprise here.

Group 10:  Paul Casey, Louie Oosthuizen:  The only group with two 0-2–0 guys.  Casey has conceded both his match.  Go home Paul!!

Group 12:  Tom Hoge:  We were a Hoge believer.  Now we’re not!

Group 13:  Christiaan Bezuidenhout.  Say that last name 10 times really fast.

Group 14:  Russell Henley:  Not much to see here.

Group 16:  Erik van Rooyen:  The mustache didn’t help.

Now in between are the 1-1-0 guys and the 0-1-1 guys.

One big name eliminated on Thursday was none other than Bryson DeChambeau.  The Mad Scientist was very rusty with some EXTREMELY wild tee shots.  Bryson is 0-1-1 but eliminated in Group 9 where 54th seed Richard Bland is 1-0-1.

Last man in the field — 64th seed Maverick McNealy is 1-0-1 in Group 14 with a chance to move on to the Sweet Sixteen on Friday.

Friday’s Matches and Tee Times:

Thursday’s Match Results:

Ben Martin Leads At Corales-Puntaca:

Down in Puntacana at the Outlier Open (aka Corales-Puntacana), world No. 565 Ben Martin (remember him?) is your first round leader with a six-under par 66.  He was a shot better than No. 189 Adam Schenk, who was alone at 67, five-under.

It’s nothing but an assortment of strugglers, outliers and guys hoping to gain some better status on the PGA Tour in this opposite-field event.

Graeme McDowell was the most recognizable name near the top.  The former U.S. Open champion has fallen to No. 359 in the world and was one of four tied at four-under par 68.  Joining him were Hayden Buckley (No. 219), Vaughn Taylor (No. 396) and the outlier and former DP World Tour star Kiradech Aphibarnrat (No. 228).

Corales-Puntacana Scoreboard: