Mark Ferguson reports from the World Match Play…
Two members of Europe’s victorious Ryder Cup team suffered an early exit from the World Match Play Championship today as defending champion Graeme McDowell and Jamie Donaldson failed to make the knock-out stages of the event.
With only two players progressing from each four-man group, both McDowell and Donaldson desperately needed to win their final group matches.
All was going to plan for McDowell as he went three up after eight holes against Joost Luiten.
However, Luiten was in no mood to give up his 100 per cent record during the event and fought back on the back nine – birdying the final four holes to win by two holes and send the Northern Irishman crashing out of the competition.
The opening match of day three rekindled that Ryder Cup competiveness by pitting the USA’s top scorer at Gleneagles, Patrick Reed, against European hero Donaldson.
Reed was on a revenge mission and set about his business from the off, never allowing Donaldson into the match.
Four up with four holes to play, the American was in a commanding position, though Donaldson did his best to hang in with impressive shots on the 15th and 16th, but Reed also made no mistake on the 16th and took the match 3&2.
There was nothing to separate Jonas Blixt and Paul Casey after 18 holes which left them tied on points after three matches. To decide who progressed to the quarter-finals they went to extra holes.
Casey made a costly mistake on the first by putting his approach shot in the water, presenting Blixt with a golden opportunity to progress to the weekend’s knockout stages, an opportunity that was snapped up by the Swede.
Another Swede to make the knockout stages is Henrik Stenson, who is the highest ranked player to remain in the competition. The current world number five holed his approach shot on the 17th secure a 2&1 victory over last year’s runner up Thongchai Jaidee.
The quarter-finals will get under way today and the two Swedes will go up against each other. Reed will take on George Coetzee, Victor Dubuisson plays Mikko Ilonen while Pablo Larrazabal stands in Luiten’s way of a place in the semi-finals.