Hardly one for the ages but Patrick Reed will no doubt enjoy the fact that he got one over Ryder Cup teammate Jordan Spieth at the Dell Match Play.
Reed advanced from the winner-takes-all pool game with a 2 & 1 win despite neither player enjoying much success on the green.
The cold flat stick was made clear when both failed to birdie the 12th from inside five feet.
Reed led almost the entire way after Spieth started with two doubles and snuck a halve at the 3rd with a bogey.
Spieth then clawed his way back into the contest. His birdie at the 10th squared the match, but he gave it right back with a bogey, and Reed eventually beat a 3-up lead.
The win helped Reed make it into the playoffs for just the second time in five attempts with Spieth going home at this stage for the second year running.
‘Of course it was exciting to play Jordan,’ said Reed.
‘Really I think no matter who you are playing, when it’s a literally a winner-move-on format, you are going to get excited about it. It was just one of those days that with how the conditions were, it wasn’t fun. I mean, with how windy it was, it was hard – it was a grinder’s day out there. You weren’t going to see a ton of birdies.
‘There’s just going to be who doesn’t make some mistakes, who’s able to grind out some pars and maybe make a birdie here or there.’
Spieth was well aware of his poor Friday showing.
‘I don’t think it would have been that tough to beat me today. I just didn’t have a really good day. You know, sometimes that happens. I just got a little off. Yesterday I could feel it after the round with my driver.
‘I went to the range, a set-up thing. It kind of bit me on the first couple of holes today with a few out-of-play balls. Patrick is a great competitor. I felt like I fought hard around the middle of that match and then I just didn’t quite have it today.’
– Reed will play Alex Noren in the Round of 16
With Dustin Johnson already eliminated, Justin Thomas has the chance to go to the top of the official world golf rankings with a win in Austin.
The reigning FedExCup champion and current leader defeated Francesco Molinari to advance into the weekend.
He made quick work of the Italian with seven recorded birdies and two others conceded, including the decisive one at the 13th to close out the match. Thomas rolled in three birdie putts of 10 or more feet on the front nine to set the pace in a match that was never in doubt.
Both players had come in with 2-0-0 records but it was the American who moved into the last 16 despite poor health and a record at this event that had seen him never escape from the pool stage.
‘I don’t think I had ever played with Francesco, so I didn’t know what to expect,’ he said.
‘I know his résumé and he’s played in many Ryder Cups, so he’s obviously a great match play player. But I don’t know if that may have helped me because I didn’t focus or worry about what he was doing, I was going out and trying to hit fairways and greens and make a lot of birdies. I was fortunate to do so.’
– Thomas will play Si Woo Kim in the Round of 16
Photo: Darren Carroll/Getty Images
