Denmark’s Lucas Bjerrregard overcame Hertfordshire’s Matt Wallace to reach the last 32 of the WGC-Dell Technologies World Match Play, at Austin Country Club. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

A RECORD-breaking eight Europeans progressed to the last 32 at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play after another fascinating day at Austin Country Club.

Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard was the only debutant in the field to top his group – setting up a clash against fellow Scandinavian Henrik Stenson.

Bjerregard’s match with England’s Matt Wallace went all the way to the 18^th hole, but the 27 year old battled to a one up victory to join nine other European Tour members in the final 16.

The Great Dane, who won the 2018 Alfred Dunhill Links at St Andrews, revealed: “I had not seen anything from Justin’s match.

“My caddie is the one who told me when I missed the one on 18 that he had halved. I just knew that I had to win. It’s been a couple of stressful days but I’m happy to come out and go through.

“It should be fun. I like Henrik. I don’t think I’ve ever played with him, actually. But it should be fun.

“And he’s obviously been playing well too. So we should have a good game, and I’ll tease him a little. We’ll have a little bit of Swedish-Danish thing going on.”

Stenson, meanwhile, beat 2020 Ryder Cup Captain Jim Furyk 5&4 to make it three successive victories.

The Swede, who won the WGC World Match Play back in 2007, said: “That’s the best round of golf I’ve played all year for certain. I’m very pleased to put it together.

“It was called the group of death and I guess I managed to bring it to the other guys. It was always going to be a tough group.

“I think that was really inspiring on my end, being up against such great players. I just happened to bring my best game.

“I’m trying to keep expectations low. I haven’t had a great start to the year. I’ve been working hard to try to get it to the right place.

“Certainly today I had some beautiful iron shots. I think I hit it within a foot four times on my approaches, which is good on any day anywhere.

“So I’m very pleased with that and just trying to take it one day, one match at a time.”

The 2018 Race to Dubai Champion Francesco Molinari also retained his 100 per cent record with a 2&1 triumph over Webb Simpson, as did Branden Grace.

The South African overcame Chez Reavie 2&1 to set up a showdown with Ryder Cup legend Sergio Garcia, who progressed despite a 2&1 defeat to Patrick Reed.

Garcia, whose best finish in the WGC event was fourth back in 2010, despite his enviable Ryder Cup pedigree, said: “Obviously that was the goal, to get through.

“In the perfect world, I would have loved to win today and I probably had my chances to do it.

“But you also have to give credit to Patrick, he played really well, mainly the back nine. He shot five-under in eight holes.

“So when someone does that to you and you don’t take a couple of chances that you had, it’s going to be difficult.

“But we’re through tomorrow. That’s the main thing on this round-robin thing. And now tomorrow it’s a brand new tournament.”

The first day of the knockout stages has thrown up numerous mouth-watering matches in Texas, with Molinari taking on his 2018 Ryder Cup team-mate Paul Casey – who beat Cameron Smith 4&3 to top his group – while Hampshire’s World No. 2 Justin Rose ground out a victory by one hole over Gary Woodland to remain unbeaten.

He will face Kevin Na in the first knockout stage.

Surrey-raised Casey, looking to win back-to-back titles and his first WGC belt said: “I’ve got to think I had a little bit of luck there with Cam three-putting right there.

“But I feel really good about the game. The only thing I’m trying to do is save the energy, because the win last week at Valspar, that was hard work on Sunday.

“It took a lot out of us. Johnny and I were really tired Monday and Tuesday. I guess the key is play as few holes as possible, I’m just trying to do that.”

Rose, last year’s Fed Ex Champion, said: “I was delighted to get through that match. It wasn’t really pretty, to be honest with you.

“I think I classed it as a pillow fight and then turned into a bit of a dogfight to the end.

“Gary actually played pure off the tee, especially. I think he let me in a little on the front nine.

“I felt like he could be two or three-up on me early, but fortunately I think I went one-up through eight.

“So that was the key moment in the match, about six, seven, eight – just really keeping myself in it or being let back into the match.

“And then I got a little bit of momentum up, and birdieing 12 and 13 got me two-up.

“At that point I was just trying to get it into the clubhouse and get through.

“Kevin is a gritty player. I think this golf course is his type of golf course. Length is not a big deal here. He’s got a great short game.

“He can walk putts in with the best of them. So I’m going to need to find something a little bit better than what I had today.”

China’s Haotong Li overcame Sweden’s Alex Noren in a play-off to squeeze through and he will come up against last year’s runner-up Kevin Kisner, who beat Ian Poulter on the third play-off hole to win his group.

Harleyford’s Tyrrell Hatton beat his English compatriot Lee Westwood 3&1 and he will face Matt Kuchar in the Round of 16, while Louis Oosthuizen triumphed over 2017 European Tour No. 1 Tommy Fleetwood to set up a clash with Marc Leishman.

All eyes in Texas though, are likely to be on the 8:30am match which pitches World No. 4 Rory McIlroy against 14-time Major champion Tiger Woods.

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Kevin Kisner put the disappointment of last year’s final defeat to beat Matt Kuchar in the WGC-Dell Technologies World Match Play Final. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

KEVIN Kisner claimed a maiden World Golf Championships title after triumphing over Matt Kuchar in the final of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

In the consolation match European No. 1 Francesco Molinari overcame Lucas Bjerregaard in an all-European battle to finish third.

Kisner, who finished runner-up to Bubba Watson in this event last year, went one better at Austin Country Club with a 3&2 win over his American compatriot.

That made it six wins in seven matches, and in the process became the first player to lift the trophy after losing his first match of the week.

Georgian native Kisner said: “I was thinking out there it might be the hardest match just because you have the physical aspect more than any other week.

“It was grueling, definitely, with the winds and the temperature today. Overall it was a long week, but I prevailed and I’m a World Golf champion.

“I just learned a lot from last year. I learned about preparation. I learned not to get too amped up for that final.

“You still have to come out and play golf. I don’t think either one of us played our best golf. But I drove it great all week with my Callaway driver, and it was a great week.”

Kisner’s opening defeat came to Englishman Ian Poulter, whom he later beat in a play-off decider to emerge from the group stage, and he had to beat another Ryder Cup hero – Molinari – in the semi-final to earn his place in the decider.

Having been two down with three to play, the reigning Race to Dubai Champion birdied the 16^th and 17^th holes to bring the match down the 18^th all square.

But a disappointing three-putt on the last ended the Italian’s hopes of a maiden World Golf Championships victory.

European No. 1 Francesco Molinari in action in the third and fourth place play-off match at Austin Country Club. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

Molinari said: “Obviously it was a very good start and then I think we were both really struggling for energy a little bit on the back nine.

“It was a very long week but we tried to keep going. And I think I played very well on the front nine this afternoon, so maybe a bit of consolation after this morning.

“It’s just one of those days, too many mental mistakes and some really weird shots around the greens. But all in all it’s a positive week.

“Obviously it’s bittersweet right now. I think going into Augusta, it’s a good week. Clearly I need to get my short game a little bit sharper than this morning, but otherwise it seems pretty good.

“It was definitely a positive week. Just a shame about this morning on the back nine.

“I didn’t play my best game and made too many mistakes, and kind of gave it away once, and then managed to fight my way back and then gave it away again.

“But it’s golf and it’s a long week, and with seven rounds it can happen to be slightly off for a few holes. So, it’s positive in general.”

Kuchar, meanwhile, dispatched of Bjerregaard on the 18^th hole in a tight semi-final match in which the Dane was never ahead but was never more than one hole down.

The American’s birdie at the par five 16^th put him one ahead with two to play and, although Bjerregaard held his nerve with a birdie putt at the penultimate hole to take it down the last, a pair of closing pars meant Kuchar progressed.

Having been embroiled in a row with Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who swiped at a tap in and missed before Kuchar could give him the nod for a concession, which ultimately cost the European in Saturday’s quarter-final, the 2013 World Match Play champion was disappointed not to  become the first player since Tiger Woods to win the title twice.

Kuchar, who already has two wins in the 2019 season under his belt, said after losing to Kisner: “It was certainly not what I’m looking for. It’s tough to maintain the high level of play the entire tournament.

“You hope to do it and I feel like I’ve kind of built a game that I could rely on playing some good, steady golf.

“But I gave too many holes away. It’s one of the things I pride myself on is not ever giving holes away.

“I knew against Kisner I couldn’t do it, and he just plodded along and played good, steady golf, and let me make mistakes. And that was good playing by Kevin.”

Both Molinari and Bjerregaard – who beat 14-time Major winner Tiger Woods in the quarter-final – could take consolation from their best respective finishes in a World Golf Championships event.

Big-hitting Bjerregaard, the last man in the field, was unhappy after coming down hard from his high after beating Tiger Woods to make the last four.

“There’s a lot of confidence from this. Today sucks, I’ll be honest with you. I had a lot of confidence from yesterday and the group play.

“But today really sucks – I didn’t bring my game today, unfortunately and I just kept making mistakes all day.

“Fran made it hard. I didn’t put pressure on him, but he put a lot of pressure on me right from the start.

“It was not really my match. It’s been a brilliant week. Of course, I can’t stand here and say it’s been a bad week.

“We were 64 to start and I’m in the last four. But to lose twice in a day, that hurts.

“I had a good match against Kooch this morning, and gave him a little bit for his money down the last few holes, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that against Frankie today.”

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Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregard holed a monster eagle on 16 before Tiger Woods’ missed par putt put him in the last four. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

LUCAS Bjerregaard showed nerves of steel to beat his childhood hero Tiger Woods in an enthralling quarter-final and reach the last four of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club.

European No. 1 Francesco Molinari also progressed after another day of domination for the Italian.

Dane Bjerregard was fearless under the most intense of pressure as he faced his very first experience playing alongside the 14-time Major Champion in front of sell-out crowds in Texas,

He had already overcome his fellow Scandinavian Henrik Stenson in the round of 16 earlier in the day.

It was a rip-roaring afternoon encounter, as Bjerregaard showed no signs of being overawed by the occasion, opening with a birdie to go one up.

Woods picked up three successive birdies to take a two-hole lead by the fifth, but the 27-year-old pulled it back to all square by the 10th.

A double-bogey at the 11^th set him back again but the real turning point came at the par five 16^th, where Bjerregaard drained a monster eagle putt to level the match going down the par three 17^th.

He stood firm again to hole a tricky putt and match Woods’ tap-in birdie before the game went down the final hole.

After the American found the bunker with his second, Bjerregaard gave himself an 18-footer to win.

Although he missed, it was game-set-match when Woods’ six-foot par putt slipped by. Bjerregaard will face Matt Kuchar in Sunday morning’s semi-final after he dispatched of Sergio Garcia in the quarter-final.

The 2018 Alfred Dunhill Links champion said: “It’s up there with my best days, that’s for sure. We had a great match, it’s a shame it had to end like this.

“It really didn’t deserve that. Obviously I’m happy to come out on the winning side. But we had a great match and I really, really enjoyed playing with him today.

“I’ve never played with him before, so it was a cool experience for me and obviously to say I’ve beaten Tiger, there’s not a lot of guys that can say that, so it’s up there.

“It’s so different to what I’ve ever experienced before. And I’ve played with some good golfers before.

“But I’ve never heard so many yell his name and all the stuff all the way around. And it was really cool to experience.

“I actually thought it was really enjoyable. But it must be hard, as well, doing that every day.

“The support out there was great. A lot of people yelling my name as well, and having a bit of fun with it. So there was support for me as well.”

Molinari, meanwhile, continued his remarkable week by beating Kevin Na 6&5, meaning all but one of his victories this week finished before the 16^th hole.

He has not yet played the 18^th this week. The reigning Race to Dubai Champion, who had beaten Paul Casey 5&4 to reach the last 16, will face last year’s runner-up Kevin Kisner – who took out Louis Oosthuizen in the quarter-finals – in the final four.

Last year’s Open Champion said: “I just played very well from the start. Kevin birdied the first and then after that just played very well and made a few putts, and didn’t make too many mistakes.

“It was playing tricky this afternoon. I’m glad it’s over now. I played great today, given the conditions. I would say a lot better than this morning.

“He birdied the first and then after that just started birdieing a few holes in a row, and just tried to keep pushing, like this morning.

“I think it’s really important at this level, even if you’re three or four up early, to keep going because matches can turn very easily.

“So again, I did that very well and I’m very happy with my performance.

“I’m just trying to play my own game as much as possible, not look too much at what they’re doing. I think in the past one of the mistakes I made was to get too hung up on what the other guy was doing on the course.

“In the end if you hit fairways, hit greens, make a few putts here and there, try not to drop any easy shots, you’re going to be pretty hard to beat.”

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Open Champion Francesco Molinari has won more holes in his first two matches than any of the other 63 players in the field at the WGC-Dell World Match Play so far. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

FRANCESCO Molinari’s love affair with match play golf continued at Austin Country Club as the Italian cruised to a second successive victory in the group stages of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, beating his fellow 2018 Ryder Cup team-mate Thorbjørn Olesen 4&3, on Thursday.

The reigning Race to Dubai Champion has won more holes than any other player this week after the opening two days of play in Texas, with 15, while he is the only player to have won both of his matches prior to the 16^th hole.

Including his incredible 100 per cent record at The Ryder Cup last September, Molinari has now won seven consecutive match play encounters in which he has played.

And the Italian faces Webb Simpson in round three later today (Friday) hoping to seal his passage to the weekend knockout stages.

Molinari said: “It was somewhat similar to yesterday – very good start the first six, eight holes and tried to control his comebacks.

“I have a lot of respect for Thorbjørn as a player, so I knew it was going not be an easy match.

“He fought hard today and obviously played some solid golf. So hopefully more to come the next few days.”

Justin Rose will also play Gary Woodland knowing a win will see him through having come back from three down with four to play against Frilford Heath’s Eddie Pepperell to gain a half.

Hampshire raised Rose revealed: “Obviously I’m delighted to get a halve. I had a great match with Eddie. He’s such a class individual, as well as player.

“To the point where you almost feel sorry for him by doing that to him over the last few holes.

“I felt I needed to birdie the last four holes, but we didn’t birdie the par five, otherwise I would’ve won the match. But my goal was to birdie out. And obviously you set new intention.

“You kind of forget everything that’s happened previously in the match and that’s the way you’ve got to do it.

“Eddie was obviously very, very hard for me. The whole day he was just solid, and his short game is so good. As you saw on 17 he’s never out of the hole.

“Every time he missed a green he upped and downed it. So I had to win holes with birdies.”

Rose also revealed he had been lifted by his long-time caddie Mark “Fooch” Fulcher, who was watching in the gallery as he continues to recover from minor heart surgery.

Justin, from North Hants GC, said: “I have to give a little credit to Foochie. He’s been walking on the sidelines here.

“He kind of gave me a bit of a ‘come on Rosy’ with four holes to play and lifted my spirits a bit and obviously fought hard for it.

“I could tell he hadn’t given up on me. That picked me up a little bit and made me dig a little deeper possibly.”

The half means Pepperell will be flying home early, having lost his first round match to Gary Woodland 2&1 as even a victory over Argentinian Emiliano Grillo will not be enough.

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson, meanwhile, will face off with the USA’s 2020 Ryder Cup Captain Jim Furyk in a winner-takes-all clash, with both players having won their opening two matches.

The 2016 Open Champion said: “I played okay. It’s difficult out there. You’ve got a course where the standard is quite high.

“It’s undulated greens and it’s blowing a good two-club wind. It’s difficult to get it right.

“A lot of times with the shorter clubs it’s probably even harder to get the yardages right than with some longer irons.

“It was difficult conditions. I played pretty solid and didn’t give much for free, even though I tried on one or two occasions.

“I kept it together nicely, and he gave me one or two easy holes, and other than that I thought I had it under control most of the day.”

Lucas Bjerregaard, Branden Grace, Matt Kuchar, Marc Leishman, Li Haotong, Rory McIlroy all hold the outright lead in their respective groups heading into day three.

Among those players still in with a shout of qualifying should they win their final group match include European Tour members Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Paul Casey, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Billy Horschel, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Alex Noren, Olesen, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele and Matt Wallace.

Garcia maintaineed his 100 per cent record with a 5&4 win over American Andrew Putnam and said: “Pretty much everything went well today.

“I think I missed maybe one green in these conditions, which were quite tough – a little wind, gusty. I drove the ball very, very well and it my irons really well. I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities.

“I put pressure on him every single hole. And after I got in front – other than that little bogey on 13 – I hit a good second shot just a little too hard – I didn’t give him anything. I kept putting pressure on him.”

Grace, who got the better of World No. 1 Dustin Johnson never having been behind in the match, admitted: “This is fun. Obviously I wish there were more of these events in a year, even if there’s just one more.

“But I think it’s tricky around a golf course like this because it’s elevated. There’s a lot of wind. It’s open.

“You still have to hit it in the fairways, you can’t always just play the golf course and try and make birdies.

“You have to keep your eye on what your opponent is doing, and feed off that and make decisions according to that.

“It’s always nice to beat the Number One player in the world. I knew it was going to be a lot of solid golf.

“And he obviously made a couple of birdies here and there, obviously with the power that he can get on the golf ball.”

For today’s matches and live scoring see here

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Sergio Garcia shakes hands with Shane Lowry after his 4&2 win in the first round of the WGC-Dell Technologies World Match Play Championship at Texas’ Austin Country Club. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

IT was a hugely successful opening day for the stars of the European Tour at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Texas’ Austin Country Club.

Francesco Molinari, Sergio Garcia, Tommy Fleetwood and Paul Casey were among the 18 members to register victories, while Tom Lewis halved his match with World No. 3 Brooks Koepka.

There were a plethora of notable stories in round one of the group stage, with Stenson overcoming Phil Mickelson 2&1 in a rerun of one of the greatest final round battles in Open Championship history back in 2016.

Lucas Bjerregaard and Lewis both produced massive upsets as the Dane beat World No. 5 Justin Thomas 3&2, while Hertfordshire’s Lewis – who was playing on the Challenge Tour a mere six months ago – clinched a half point against three-time Major Champion Koepka.

Lewis said: “Every game will be tough this week. I knew that I was going to get a tough draw, being one of the last guys in.

“Brooks is a nice guy, I’ve known him through the European Tour and it was a good day. We weren’t at our best. I handed him the first couple of holes. It’s a bit frustrating but I’m pleased I made that birdie on the last hole.

“I’ve been working on my wedge play the last couple of weeks, and it’s obviously shown through there.

“I pulled it the tiniest bit. I knew that the slope wasn’t really going to kick in. I was pleased to have a putt for the winning hole.”

Moor Park’s Matt Wallace, who also hails from Hertfordshire, also won on his debut, overcoming former Major Champion Keegan Bradley, as did Justin Harding who staged a remarkable comeback to beat Matt Fitzpatrick, having been two down stepping onto the 16th tee.

Ryder Cup legend Sergio Garcia beat the current Race to Dubai leader Shane Lowry 4&2, while Ian Poulter – a former winner of this event – sealed a two-up victory over Kevin Kisner.

Poulter, who went to school in Hertfordshire before becoming a club pro in Bedfordshire, said: It was a fun match. Up, down, up, all square with a couple to go, so it was interesting.

“When you’re two-up with four to play, you hit a great shot in there to about five feet and Kevin had a putt from about 15 or 17 feet.

“You’ve always got to expect him to hole it, which he did. But I wasn’t expecting to miss my five-footer there. So that was a bit of a shame.

“And then I hit driver-driver on 16, which I’d like to play the hole over again. It doesn’t matter now.

The Woburn member added: “It kind of got up on to the green and it just trickled off and obviously he holes out from 70 yards, he goes square, and it’s really game on from a position where I kind of had control of it.

Tiger Woods won his opening group stage match, beating Aaron Wise 3&1, while four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy cruised to a 5&4 triumph over Luke List.

Bjerregaard, who claimed the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, in October, said: “The last couple holes were a little more stressful than I was hoping. I hit a good drive on 15 and then, it was a pretty simple pitch shot in there that I messed up pretty bad.

“But I played well today, I didn’t make many mistakes. I made that one on 15 and hit a shot in the hazard on three. Other than that I put it in some good spots and drove the ball nicely.

“I didn’t give too much away. And then I made a couple of good putts where JT had hit it closer than me and he missed those.

“So there was a couple of match play moments in there that were pretty key for me there.”
Molinari, a 5&4 winner over Japan’s Satoshi Kodaira, said: “I played really well, made some nice putts at the beginning and throughout the match.

“So I’m really happy the way I played. Obviously, it’s a little bit easier when you start that way, but you still have to play a lot of golf and close the match out.

“So there were a couple of moments where I could have done maybe better, but all in all a very good day. It’s great to start with a win.

“It doesn’t mean a lot unfortunately, with this format. So I need to show up tomorrow and try to play some similar golf to today.”

“And I had a big putt there at 17 to leave myself just under the hole to give myself a right-to-left putt, which was a good one. I holed it, and obviously up and down from the last.”

Stenson, after getting the better of Mickelson again, said: “You could say it maybe wasn’t the most well-played match from either one of us, but there were still some good golf in there.

“I was pretty happy with my performance today. I hit some really nice iron shots and made a couple of important putts, as well.

“Phil is always worth the price of admission. He hit some fabulous short-game shots on three or four holes.

“He’s in some areas where you just can’t get up and down, and he’s Phil Mickelson and he gets it up and down. So that’s always tough to compete against.”

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Surrey’s Paul Casey is looking to go back to back at the WGC World Matchplay in Austin, after defending his Valspar trophy at Copperhead, last week. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

PAUL Casey arrives at this week’s WGC-Dell Technologies World Match Play in buoyant mood after the Englishman defended a title for the first time in his professional career last week at the Valspar Championship on the US PGA Tour.

The 41-year-old is the most recent of three Europeans to have won in consecutive weeks on the other side of the Atlantic – alongside Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari.

And all three are present at Austin Country Club in a field which features 48 of the world’s top 50. Casey, who was raised in Surrey, has a strong record in knockout formats, having won the Volvo World Match Play at Wentworth Club back in 2006.

His Ryder Cup record of four wins and five ties out of 12 matches – having played in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2018 having fallen out over the qualification process after missing out at Celtic Manor in 2010 – is one not to be sniffed at.

Add to that two runner-up finishes and four further top 10 in this event, and Casey is a force to be reckoned with in Texas this week.

The former Burhill junior who won back to back English Amateur Championships in 1999 and 2000 before turning pro at the end of that year said: “It feels great to be here after winning, really good.

“It’s obviously been a short week. I’m a little bit tired. I’d like to have a day off to recover, but it’s probably a good thing just to crack on.

“Last week was brilliant, so enjoyable, and what a tough golf course that is. But last year was like this huge kind of relief and quite emotional.

“Sunday was just exciting and felt great and kind of felt like the sort of golf – I certainly made mistakes, everybody did – but felt like golf I was playing 10 years ago, when I was in my 30s rather than my 40s.

So it felt very good.

“My matchplay record is fairly strong. Maybe not a huge amount of success in this particular event, or at Austin Country Club.

“But I played well finishing off the Ryder Cup last year in Paris. That was a great match against Brooks.

“I know how to play it. I’ve got massive respect for my group, but I don’t really have a group of death.”

The 13-time European Tour winner is one of 10 Englishmen in the field this week, a tournament record, and three of those are making their debut this week – Oxfordshire’s Eddie Pepperell and Herfordshire pair Tom Lewis and Matt Wallace.

Francesco Molinari does not have a standout record in the event, which has been won by Major winners in 12 of the last 16 outings.

The last outsider to produce a shock was Kevin Sutherland who won in 2002 when the WGC Matchplay was played at La Costa Resort in California’s Carlsbad, the home to two of the world’s biggest club manufacturers in TaylorMade and Calloway.

Molinari, who won his first Major by claiming the Claret Jug at The Open at Carnoustie, in July, said: “It’s always a tough event, not one where I’ve done particularly well in the past – so hopefully I’ll manage to change that trend this year.

“Clearly these guys are the best players in the world and it’s really exciting for people watching at home because anyone can beat anyone over 18 holes.

“I think the format is good, even if you win the first game you have to be on your toes and play well for the rest of the group stage and it can be a challenge for everyone for sure.

“You need a certain dose of good luck in match play but mostly you need to play good golf for a long time because it’s a lot of golf.

“In golf the margins are so small that really anything can happen, but you come into the week hoping to do well and hoping to play some good golf and that’s all you’ve got to do.

“So my focus will be on trying to control my game and my emotions and play some good golf and if you get the right breaks, you can go all the way.

“Since the event has come to Austin there has been a great atmosphere and the course is very good for match play, so many risk and reward holes so it should be a fun week for everyone.”   

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Frilford Heath’s Eddie Pepperell, who has soared up the world ranking rankings from outside the top 500 to No. 36 in less than two years , makes his WGC World Matchplay Champinship debut at Austin Country Club today.

OXFORDSHIRE’S Eddie Pepperell will take his mindset back to his amateur days when he makes his debut in the WGC Matchplay Championship at Austin Country Club, in Texas, this week.

The Abingdon ace, who takes on big hitting American Gary Woodlands, at 5pm GMT, on Wednesday, will be full of confidence after a top five at The Players Championship two weeks ago.

Pepperell will then face Hampshire’s Justin Rose – his playing partner in the final round of the recent Players championship where he finished tied for third – 24 hours later.

His final group stage opponent will be Argentinian Emiliano Grillo, on Friday, for a place in the last 16 where the group winner could face defending champion Bubba Watson, or former Masters Champion Jordan Spieth, on Saturday.

The 28-year-old, who will make his Masters debut at Augusta in two weeks, said: “Matchplay is very different. I’ve haven’t played matchplay for a decade or so – since I was an amateur. Although Matt and I played in the GolfSixes last year.

“I had a good matchplay record as a kid. I love playing the man, as opposed to the course.

“I’ve not got any expectations or pressure on this event. I mean out here, all these guys are very good golfers, so I think you’re taking it all with a pinch of salt.

“Anything can happen on the day. You’ve just first of all got to make sure that you play well. But I’ve historically loved matchplay so it will be nice to – hopefully we can use some of those positive memories and get positive.

“I think that’s going to be the hardest thing for me this week,” added the former Great Britain and Ireland junior international, who has been resting since his exertions at Sawgrass.

“I don’t know how competitive I am. I think I’m competitive. But the position these guys are in, I don’t know. It can sometimes be hard to be positive because they’re golfing very lovely. But then again if you stand on the tee, there might be more positive juices flowing. It’s hard to say.

“I think I’m prepared for it. I don’t think too much about those things, so I like to just play golf and make sure I’m playing as good as I can.

“And the good thing is as I’m getting a bit older, it seems that the results are coming better, and better results are coming as I tend to reach the levels I want to reach, let’s say.

“So that’s nice. And the fact if it does is great, and if not, so be it.”

Certainly, Pepperell, who claimed his second European Tour victory at Walton Heath – claiming the Skysports British Masters, in October – is benefitting from growing confidence levels following his latest display in the States.

Eddie said: “It was a bizarre week at The Players, I didn’t feel like I played very good. I was ready to go home pretty early in the week.

“And then before you know it, I found a good run here and there on a Sunday.

“One of those weeks I wouldn’t be able to say I expected or saw it coming, because I really didn’t.

“It was a lot of fun, that’s for sure. Playing with Justin on Sunday was great.”

Pepperell produced a string of birdies on the back nine to leapfrog the leaders thanks to a 30-foot snaking putt on Sawgrass’ infamous par three island green at the 17^th, to become the clubhouse leader before Rory McIlory caught him.

Eddie added: “Obviously the 17^th was a pretty magical moment for me. And I had a lot of people at home saying how much they enjoyed it.”

ABOVE: Experienced caddy Mick Doran (left) compared Eddie Pepperell to a younger Lee Westwood in his prime after the Frilford Heath ace finsihed third at The Players two weeks ago

Pepperell has formed a very good partnership over the last year with veteran caddy Mick Doran (above), who has worked with Lee Westwood when they won 16 tournaments together, having also caddied for Italian Constantino Rocca in the play-off at the 1995 Open at St Andrews, and for Justin Rose, Luke Donald and Camillo Villegas.

Doran was very impressed by Pepperell’s Players Championship performance – especially as it was his first look at a very fiddly Sawgrass, which tests players’ patience and course management to the full.

Mick told Golf South: “Eddie has something which a lot of golfers don’t – and that is when he is in a position near the top of a leaderboard he goes one way… forward.”

And Eddie also displayed a lot of grit having played poorly in practice but somehow found a way of scoring around the Pete Dye design where even the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy have seriously struggled before finding a way to win around Sawgrass, at Ponte Vedra Beach, the home of the PGA Tour.

Mick added “The Players was something I haven’t seen before where I can honestly say, in my eyes, Eddie was really struggling with his swing.

“I have been very fortunate to work with many great golfers and Westwood in his prime reminds me of Eddie. Both very humble guys with something in them where they have another gear. It’s been a week now from The Players and we finished third.

“To a lot of people that means nothing. But I promise you that week was very special as sometimes it’s about the bigger picture.”

It will be interesting to see how Eddie fares in his WGC debut – there will be more appearances for sure given his world ranking now which sees him in 36^th – the seventh highest ranked Englishman – behind Rose (2^nd), Paul Casey (11^th), Tommy Fleetwood (12^th), Ian Poulter (32^nd), Matt Wallace (35^th), with former B.B.&O. team-mate Tyrrell Hatton in 37^th place.

The post Pepperell prepared for WGC World Matchplay debut appeared first on Golf North.