Dylan Frittelli took an early lead and never trailed to register his only win on debut at the WGC-Dell Match Play.
In a match that meant little in terms of progression, Frittelli edged Shubhankar Sharma 1UP.
The South African playing in his home town of Austin birdied the 3rd, 5th and 7th but was only one up after a bogey on the fourth and par on the sixth helped Sharma stay in the contest.
Sharma made bogeyed the ninth to drop another hole after he failed to convert from 8 foot. The Masters invitee got to within one with a birdie on the 10th but that was short lived as Frittelli got warmed up. The two-time European Tour won the next two holes with two birdies to restore his cushion.
A birdie on the next helped Sharma limit the damage as the match with no consequence fizzled towards its ending.
In the pool decider, Xander Schauffele repeated Frittelli’s feat of leading through nine holes only to lose against Sergio Garcia.
The PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year was 2UP through nine and entered the last four holes all square only for things to unravel and allow Garcia to advance into the playoff stage.
Photo: Stanley Chou/Getty Images
