Rory McIlroy through to last 16 of WGC Match Play after tough clash with Kevin Na
Saturday 26 March 2016 15:41, UK
Rory McIlroy scraped into the last 16 of the WGC-Dell Match Play after needing 20 holes to defeat Kevin Na in their Group 3 showdown in Texas.
The final group stage encounter was a straight shootout with both players having won their opening two matches, and it was McIlroy who prevailed in a sudden-death play-off after fighting back from being two down early on.
McIlroy made a mess of the second and allowed Na to go ahead with a par, and the American knocked his approach to inside three feet at the fifth to set up a winning birdie before the defending champion replied at the short seventh as he converted an excellent tee shot to eight feet.
Na looked to have a great chance to regain his two-hole advantage at the ninth as a poor pitch from McIlroy left him almost 70 feet from the hole, but the world No 3 drained the monster putt for an unlikely birdie which his opponent could not match.
But Na responded with a birdie at the next only for McIlroy to hole another superb putt from just outside 30 feet at the 11th, and the Northern Irishman edged ahead for the first time in the match when he hit a sublime wedge to four feet at the 15th.
However, McIlroy then pulled his drive into water at the next and was unable to match Na's birdie-four, and halves at 17 and 18 sent the pair back to the first hole.
And after a half in par-fours, Na was the first to buckle when he hooked his drive at the second over the wall and into the hazard, and McIlroy atoned for a blocked approach with a pitch to six feet and holed out for a hard-fought win which earned him a last-16 clash with Open champion Zach Johnson.
McIlroy, who has never successfully defended a title in his career, said afterwards: "It was tough, and all three of my matches this week have been pretty tough. Kevin was playing pretty well, and I knew coming in that Kevin had played a couple of really solid games.
"I didn't get off to a best of starts again, but I found my rhythm in the middle of the round, started to make some birdies and hit some good shots when I needed to. I had a couple opportunities to maybe finish him in regulation and had another opportunity on the first extra hole.
"It took a mistake from him to get me over the line, and obviously that's got me into the weekend," added the 26-year-old, who believes the Austin Country Club layout is well suited to Johnson's "precision" game.
"It doesn't get any easier," he said. "This is a golf course that sets up perfectly for Zach. It's very much a precision course and that's his game. If he can get it in play, he's going to be very tough to beat. But I feel like I'm playing well. I've had some good battles with Zach over the years in the Ryder Cup, so it should be a good one.
"My match play record has been pretty good over the last couple of years, so it was nice to get another win and be here for the last 16."
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