Longhorns Pro Scottie Scheffler Advances to Semifinals at WGC-Dell Match Play
Former Texas Longhorns golfer Scottie Scheffler won both of his matches in the WGC Dell-Match Play Championship on Saturday to advance to the semifinals at Austin Country Club.
Meanwhile, the other two former Longhorns golfers in the field — Jordan Spieth and Dylan Frittelli — fell in their matches on Saturday morning.
In his morning match, Scheffler defeated Ian Poulter, 5 and 4, in what qualifies as a blowout in match play. Scheffler had the lead by the third hole of the match, and Poulter failed to win a single hole. Scheffler had birdies on No. 10, No. 12 and No. 14 to end the match.
Then, in the afternoon quarterfinal match against John Rahm, Scheffler beat the No. 3 seeded player in the field, 3 and 1. Scheffler had another great round, moving into the lead on Rahm on the second hold and pushing his lead to as much as three throughout the round. Scheffler was 2 up going into the 17th hole, but after he birdied that hole and Rahm parred it, the match ended.
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Scheffler will play Matt Kuchar in the semifinals on Sunday morning.
Spieth faced Matt Kuchar in the Round of 16, and Kuchar won the match, 1 up. In one of the more compelling matches of Saturday morning, Kuchar won by sinking a 6-foot birdie on the final hole to claim the victory and eliminate Spieth.
Frittelli, who had a magical run in group play, saw the magic end against Tommy Fleetwood, who won 4 and 3. Fleetwood won the first two holes and then aced a par-3 early on in the round to build a lead he would never relinquish. However, it was a solid weekend for Frittelli, who entered the tournament as the last overall seed in the 64-player field.
What do you think of Scheffler's performance thus far? Comment and join in on the discussion below!
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Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Longhorns in the Pros for Longhorn Country on FanNation.com and SINow. He also writes for CowboyMaven and DallasBasketball.com, covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com and is the Editor of the College Football America Yearbook. Have a story idea about a former Longhorn now in the professional ranks? Contact Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.