Shock defeat.
Rory McIlroy’s recently recaptured sense of euphoria was shattered on Wednesday evening as he was beaten by American Peter Uihlein in their group stage match in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship at Austin Country Club.
McIlroy, who on Sunday returned to the winners’ circle with a stunning victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, struggled to produce his best golf, being distinctly second-best as Uihlein stormed into a 5up lead with five holes left to play.
At that point, the Holywood native fought back admirably, taking the match to the 17th hole where he eventually lost 2&1. The damage, unfortunately, had already been done, with the 28-year-old failing to match his opponent’s impressive scoring.
McIlroy did summon some great golf from somewhere, rattling off five successive birdies from the 12th to keep the game alive as long as possible. Uihlein halved the 17th to take the win, emerging as the deserved winner after outplaying his illustrious counterpart for two-thirds of the round.
5 down with 5 to play.
2 down with 2 to play.@McIlroyRory has birdied 5 straight and won 3 straight. pic.twitter.com/HPQ01UX0ph— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 21, 2018
Following his defeat McIlroy admitted that he wasn’t at his best:
“I didn’t really necessarily play badly. He played pretty well. He was a few under through nine and he didn’t make a bogey all day. So it was hard to claw my way back.
“It was gusty out there; the conditions were a little tricky. I made a run at him at the end but it was a little too late.”
McIlroy will face Jhonattan Vegas in his second group match on Thursday needing a win.
First round results:
Pat Perez halved with Si Woo Kim (Kor)
Gary Woodland halved with Webb Simpson
Justin Thomas bt Luke List 2 up
Francesco Molinari (Ita) bt Patton Kizzire 3 & 1
Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) bt Alexander Levy (Fra) 3 & 2
Charley Hoffman Lost to Brendan Steele 1 down
Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) bt Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn) 2 & 1
Patrick Cantlay Lost to Cameron Smith (Aus) 2 down
Alex Noren (Swe) bt Kevin Na 4 & 2
Tony Finau bt Thomas Pieters (Bel) 2 & 1
Jordan Spieth bt Charl Schwartzel (Can) 2 & 1
Patrick Reed bt Haotong Li (Can) 3 & 2
Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) Lost to Ian Poulter (Eng) 3 & 2
Daniel Berger Lost to Kevin Chappell 3 & 2
Jason Day (Aus)bt James Hahn 4 & 2
Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) bt Jason Dufner 1 up
Matt Kuchar halved with Zach Johnson
Ross Fisher (Eng) Lost to Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 2 & 1
Dustin Johnson Lost to Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 3 & 1
Kevin Kisner halved with Adam Hadwin (Can)
Marc Leishman (Aus) Lost to Julian Suri 3 & 2
Branden Grace (Rsa) Lost to Bubba Watson 5 & 3
Rory McIlroy (NI) Lost to Peter Uihlein 2 & 1
Phil Mickelson Lost to Charles Howell III 3 & 2
Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) bt Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn) 2 & 1
Jon Rahm (Spa) halved to Keegan Bradley
Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha) bt Chez Reavie 3 & 2
Paul Casey (Eng) bt Russell Henley 1 up
Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) Lost to Kyle Stanley 1 down
Sergio Garcia (Spa) bt Shubhankar Sharma (Ind) 1 up
Xander Schauffele bt Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 1 up
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