He’s the first 64th seed to reach the third round in the 15-year history of the event. He booked a third-round match against another old friend from Northern Ireland, Graeme McDowell — who finally put away Sweden’s Alexander Noren at the 20th hole.
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Luke Donald and Louis Oosthuizen, the top seeds remaining after the shock first-round exits of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, were bundled out of the second round of the WGC Match Play Championship on Friday.
American Scott Piercy thumped England’s world number three Donald 7 and 6, taking the lead at the first hole where Donald opened with a double bogey.
Piercy won the next two holes with a birdie followed by another bogey from Donald, and went 4-up at the fifth when he holed out from more than 200 yards away for an eagle.
He sealed the match with one last birdie, sinking a four-footer to close it out at 12. His victory over the 2011 winner of this World Golf Championships event was the most lopsided result of the week so far.
“I played well, and he was off a little bit,” Piercy said. “That’s why it looked so one-sided.”
Donald said his game was “just very average”.
Donald was the top seed in his quarter and third seed overall in the 64-man field behind world number one McIlroy and number two Woods, who both fell in the snow-delayed first round on Thursday.
Fourth overall seed Oosthuizen, joined the exodus of bracket leaders as he was beaten 3 and 2 by American Robert Garrigus.
After a desert snowstorm cut short play on Wednesday, Friday’s second round was a day behind schedule.
Organisers planned to get back on track with third-round matches on Saturday morning followed by quarter-finals in the afternoon.
That should get the semi-finals and the championship and consolation matches off as scheduled on Sunday.
Giant-killer Lowry defeats Pettersson comfortably to set up McDowell encounter
Updated at 12.44am
SHANE LOWRY HAS advanced to the third round of the WGC World Match Play in Arizona today, after a straightforward 6&5 win over Carl Pettersson.
The Irishman produced another excellent performance, having shocked Rory McIlroy in the first round yesterday.
He’s the first 64th seed to reach the third round in the 15-year history of the event. He booked a third-round match against another old friend from Northern Ireland, Graeme McDowell — who finally put away Sweden’s Alexander Noren at the 20th hole.
Luke Donald and Louis Oosthuizen, the top seeds remaining after the shock first-round exits of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, were bundled out of the second round of the WGC Match Play Championship on Friday.
American Scott Piercy thumped England’s world number three Donald 7 and 6, taking the lead at the first hole where Donald opened with a double bogey.
Piercy won the next two holes with a birdie followed by another bogey from Donald, and went 4-up at the fifth when he holed out from more than 200 yards away for an eagle.
Donald said his game was “just very average”.
Donald was the top seed in his quarter and third seed overall in the 64-man field behind world number one McIlroy and number two Woods, who both fell in the snow-delayed first round on Thursday.
Organisers planned to get back on track with third-round matches on Saturday morning followed by quarter-finals in the afternoon.
That should get the semi-finals and the championship and consolation matches off as scheduled on Sunday.
Additional reporting by Paul Fennessy
- © AFP, 2013
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Carl Pettersson Report Rory McIlroy Scott Piercy Shane Lowry Tiger Woods WGC World Match Play