Dylan Frittelli joined last year’s finalists on the list of players exiting the WGC-Dell Match Play after his 2 down loss to Sergio Garcia on Thursday.
Frittelli was 2 up on the turn but was helpless as the 2017 Masters champion turned it on with a back nine rally at Austin Country Club. Garcia birdied the 10th to spark his comeback.
A birdie at the 12th and another at the 13th saw him move into the lead.
Frittelli made a costly error off the 14th tee which forced him into taking a drop after his second and ultimately led to a double. He rebounded sharply with a birdie on the 16th to pull one back before watching the Spaniard drive the 18th green and two putt for birdie and the win.
‘I think it was a couple under on the front which was very good scoring,’ said Garcia.
‘I felt like I played okay, but kind of let a couple get away and he got up.
‘But then I was able to turn it around on the back nine and made four birdies and no bogeys. On these conditions that usually is going to help you.’
Next up for Garcia is a pool-decider against PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Xander Schauffele with both players heading into the contest with perfect 2-0-0 records.
Like Frittelli, it was a second consecutive loss for Dustin Johnson. The defending champ was surprised by Adam Hadwin in a 4 & 3 loss.
Johnson was better on Thursday than the day before when he suffered two doubles and a quad, but Hadwin had too much firepower.
His eagle from 13 feet at the par-five 6th beat DJ’s birdie and gave him the lead that steadily built the rest of the way. Johnson conceded the 14th when he found the water off the tee to go 4 down and the match ended a hole later. It’s the second consecutive year the defending champ was eliminated in the group player stage (Jason Day WD’ing last year).
‘I played extremely solid all day, obviously,’ said the Canadian.
‘I made the putts when I needed to keep the momentum on my side. I expected Dustin to play a lot better than he did, I think everybody did. But I played really solid, steady golf. The way I played, I knew it was going to be a good match until the end.’
The man Johnson beat in the final, Jon Rahm, also crashed out.
The Spaniard was edged 1 down by Chez Reavie, who played bogey-free golf to build a 3-up lead through 12 holes and then survived a late charge.
Reavie grabbed the lead for good when Rahm doubled the 8th hole, and won the next hole after a terrific approach to three feet. Rahm birdied the 16th and 17th to move 1 down but missed his birdie putt from 25-1/2 feet that would have given him a half-point.
Photo: Keyur Khamar/PGA TOUR
