Tommy Fleetwood earns WGC-Cadillac Match Play debut
Monday 20 April 2015 18:52, UK
Tommy Fleetwood's third-place finish at the Shenzhen International on Sunday has earned him his debut in the WGC-Cadillac Match Play at the end of April.
The Englishman fired a pair of 69s over the weekend in China, although he finished one shot shy of being in a play-off with eventual champion Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Li-Hao Tong.
But Fleetwood picked up enough ranking points to propel him from 66th to 55th in the world, and he can now look forward to competing in the second WGC event of the year at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
American Ben Martin will also make his Match Play debut despite slipping into a share of 37th place at the RBC Heritage after weekend rounds of 70 and 71.
Martin scraped into his first WGC tournament as the world No 64, while Miguel Angel Jimenez (65) and Francesco Molinari (66) are both expected to feature.
World No 50 Luke Donald has already confirmed he will not take part in San Francisco as the event clashes with his brother's wedding, and South African Tim Clark is unlikely to tee it up having not played since January due to an elbow injury.
The WGC-Cadillac Match Play features a new format this year, with 16 four-man groups playing in a round-robin over the first three days in a significant switch from the traditional straight knockout.
But Tiger Woods will again be absent as he remains outside the world's top 100, while Ernie Els (80) and former champion Steve Stricker (74) also miss out.
