LOS ANGELES: World number one Jon Rahm got off to a smooth start at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play tournament in Texas on Wednesday, romping to a convincing victory over Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz.
Rahm, looking to build some Masters momentum at this week’s tournament at Austin Country Club in Texas, recovered from an early deficit to post a 4&2 victory.
Munoz had taken the early lead, going one up with a birdie at the par-four third hole, before Rahm hit back immediately with a birdie of his own on the fourth.
The Colombian then pulled away with a birdie on the 12th before rolling in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 13th to go three up. A birdie on the 16th clinched victory.
“It’s a good round,” Rahm said. “It’s not stress free, but maybe organised. I didn’t make many mistakes… overall a good round of golf.”
The 64-strong field for this week’s tournament is divided into 16 groups of four players for the round robin phase, with each player winning one point for a match victory, half a point for a tie and zero for a loss.
The 16 group winners advance to Saturday’s straight knockout rounds.
In other early round games, second seed Collin Morikawa got off the mark with a 2&1 win over Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre.
World number two Morikawa was unhappy with his form but ultimately relieved to escape with a win.
“It was a weird, weird day,” Morikawa said. “I felt like I started off really well… then I just made so many unforced errors.
“Sometimes you just get lucky and that’s what’s great about this format – you can make a bad score, get away with it and move on.”
DeChambeau tie
Third seed Viktor Hovland meanwhile left it late before overcoming Austria’s Sepp Straka.
Straka was one up heading to the 16th, but a birdie four for Hovland tied it up.
Straka then posted a bogey six on the 17th to leave Hovland ahead before holding on to win.
Play went largely to form across Wednesday’s opening games, with only one of the top 10 seeds – Justin Thomas – suffering defeat. Sixth seed Thomas was beaten 3&2 by Luke List, the 53rd seed.
Patrick Cantlay, seeded four, tied against Keith Mitchell, along with Bryson DeChambeau who returned from injury to tie his game against England’s Richard Bland.
DeChambeau, who has not not played since early February due to a wrist problem, admitted he was still getting used to playing again after an extended lay-off.
“There was a lot of drives out there I felt really bad because it’s not going the place I want it to go just because I’m not confident with how my wrist will go through it,” the big-hitting American said.
“That will get ironed out over time. A little bit of nerves will calm that down and just get comfortable playing golf again.”
Fifth seed Scottie Scheffler was a 2&1 winner over England’s Ian Poulter, the American edging home after birdies on the 15th and 17th holes.
Elsewhere, Justin Rose posted a hole-in-one in his duel with Australia’s Adam Scott but it was not enough to prevent a defeat.
Rose’s ace came on the par-three 17th after his tee-shot had landed out of bounds.
His second attempt off the tee rolled into the cup for a par, which left him one down heading to the 18th.
But the Englishman bogeyed the last and Scott parred to secure a two up victory. — AFP
