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If nothing quite as miraculous as Lazarus, there was nevertheless a safety line to survival bought by Rory McIlroy in his endeavours to stay alive in the WGC-Dell Technologies Matchplay at Austin Country Club in Texas, where he bounced back from his first day thumping at the hands of Ian Poulter to claim a comprehensive second day win over American Lanto Griffin in the round-robin group phase.
The comfortable win 4 and 3 win at least breathed new life into McIlroy’s hopes for survival, although his prospects of advancing to the weekend knockout stage remain out of his control. While McIlroy claimed that victory over Griffin, Poulter continued doing what Poulter tends to do in matchplay and remained as favourite to move on from Group 11.
For McIlroy to advance, he would need to beat Cameron Smith in the final group match while also requiring Poulter to lose to Griffin. The odds are definitely in favour of the Englishman, a man given the moniker of ‘The Postman’ for how he consistently delivered through his Ryder Cup career in reveling in the noble demands of mano o mano combat and doing so for his own benefits on this occasion on the banks of Lake Austin.
On a day of sunshine and sufficient wind to make players think twice about club selection and execution, among those to exit the championship before the group stages had even come to an end were Justin Thomas, the world number two and winner of The Players on his most recent tournament appearance, along with US PGA champion Collin Morikawa and the heralded Norwegian Viktor Hovland.
At least McIlroy managed to keep his hopes, however slim, alive: the Northern Irishman’s reaction to an opening day defeat to Poulter was to hit the course running in winning the opening three holes - albeit aided and abetted to an extent by Griffin’s errant play - and, although McIlroy’s lead was reduced to just one hole by the turn, he hit a wedge approach to four feet for a birdie to win the 10th and then was conceded the 12th after Griffin’s initial wild tee-shot was followed by one poor effort after another to the extent it took him five shots to reach the green.
McIlroy increased his advantage when he won the 13th hole in birdie three to take a four hole lead. McIlroy’s final group match is against Smith.
“Winning the match keeps me in the tournamentt and gives me hope. I hit a couple of distructive shots(against Poulter on Wednesday) but the scoreline didn’t match up with how I felt I played ….. I played solid, kept it in play and holed some putts when it mattered. At least I still have some hope,” said McIlroy, whilst acknowledging his destiny is intertwined with how Poulter fares.
Shane Lowry got off to a good start against Jon Rahm and was two holes up through three holes but turned one down and went two down to a birdie from the Spaniard on the 10th.
Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington’s busy schedule continued in the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic where the 49-year-old Dubliner again showed good form with an opening round 69, three-under, to be inside the top-10 after the first round where Germany’s Stephan Jaeger set the pace after signing for a 66. Graeme McDowell opened with a solid 70 while Séamus Power signed for a first round 72.
On the LPGA Tour, Stephanie Meadow made a brilliant start to the Kia Classic at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, California, with an opening round 68 - which featured a lone bogey and five birdies, including a hat-trick from the sixth to the eighth - that saw the Northern Irishwoman trail clubhouse leader Hyo Joo Kim, the world number eight, by one stroke.
Leona Maguire continued her strong start to the season with a level-par 72 - two birdies, two bogeys - as the Co Cavan golfer followed up her tied-eighth finish at the Drive On Championship on her last appearance a fortnight ago.