The Texas winds came howling Thursday at the WGC Match Play and things got testy but Dustin Johnson still looks like the man to beat after two rounds at the Austin Country Club.
Johnson hasn’t trailed in a match as of yet and he easily disposed of Martin Kaymer, 3-and-2 and will square off against PGA champ Jimmy Walker Friday in his bid to go 3-0.
It was the wind that was the big story during the second day of round-robin play. There were gusts up to 35 miles per hour and it affected every phase of the game, especially the putting where some balls were being blown around the slick greens.
Besides Johnson, 13 other players emerged 2-0 going into the final day of qualifying for the round of 16.
Phil Mickelson is the oldest of the unbeaten and joining him with perfect 2-0 records were Bubba Watson, Alex Noren, Brooks Koepka, Paul Casey, Charl Schwartzel, Jon Rahm, K.T. Kim, Kevin Na, Pat Perez, Tyrrell Hatton, Will McGirt and Soren Kjeldsen.
After Jason Day’s shocking withdrawal on Wednesday, Gary Woodland and Francesco Molinari added their names to the withdrawal list on Thursday. Woodland cited family reasons while Molinari suffered a wrist injury.
Another big surprise after two days is Patrick Reed and his 0-1-1 record. He lost 1-up to Kevin Kisner and was knocked out of a chance to make it to the round of 16. Reed faces unbeaten Brooks Koepka on Friday.
A strong cold front was expected to come rolling through Austin and they moved the Friday tee times up two hours.
