Group Info
f pressure on me. Its not an easy situation.
MARANA, Ariz. Yeezy 550 For Sale . - Rickie Fowler has a simple approach at the Match Play Championship. "You have got to beat whoever you play in match play or else youre going home," Fowler said Thursday after sending another top player packing. A day after beating European Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter 2 and 1, Fowler edged Jimmy Walker 1 up to set up a third-round match against Sergio Garcia. "Got Sergio tomorrow," Fowler said. "Thats all I know." After Fowler drove left into the desert and lost the short, par-4 15th, he squared the match with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th. He won the par-4 17th with a par and finished off Walker with an 8-foot par putt on the par-4 18th. Fowler missed the cuts in his last three tournaments, while Walker leads the tour with three victories this season and opened with a 5-and-4 victory over Branden Grace. "Its just a couple of bounces here and there — either way, both guys," Walker said. The biggest bounce came on the 235-yard 16th. After Walker hit to about 25 feet, Fowlers ball went right and kicked left of a mound and settled 20 feet from the pin. "Thats just kind of the stuff that happens," Walker said. "He got to watch mine go down there and he ended up making it." Fowler knew he had some margin for error. "Ive seen that kick before and I knew I had room over there," Fowler said. "I was playing a club that was landing maybe front edge and I did miss it a little right of my line, but I knew I had somewhat of a bank there." He took advantage of the break by making the putt. "I told my caddie, Im going to make this one. I knew I needed to," Fowler said. He took the lead on No. 17, getting up-and-down for par from the back fringe. Walker drove into the right rough and his approach went left down a steep slope. "I wanted it to cut a little more," Walker said. "I think it landed right distance-wise, but it was left and took a hard kick to the left." After Walkers pitch went 9 feet past and he missed the putt to the right, Fowler holed a 7-footer to take the lead. "I knew I was going to have to make some putts," Fowler said. Fowler holed out from 69 yards for eagle to win the par-5 second after losing the first. "Good turn of events there," Fowler said. "Hes up there just short of the green. Hes making 4, so I knew I had to get a wedge in there close." Fowler nearly holed another wedge shot on the par-4 14th, hitting to a foot from 134 yards for a birdie win that tied the match. Garcia beat Bill Haas 3 and 1. ___ MR. MATCH PLAY: Defending champion Matt Kuchar birdied the 18th hole to beat Ryan Moore 1 up and improve to 17-3 in the event. "Match play is fun," Kuchar said. "Its unique, its different. We play 72-hole stroke play every week. Its nice to change things up. Certainly makes for a lot of excitement. Its an 18-hole battle." Third in the 2011 tournament, he opened with a 3-and-2 victory over Bernd Wiesberger. Kuchar has won eight straight matches at Dove Mountain and 12 of his last 13. "This course has been good to me," Kuchar said. "Im hoping to keep the good luck going." He set up a match against 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, a 5-and-4 winner over Thomas Bjorn "Man, I got my work cut out for me," Kuchar said. "Hes been playing some awesome golf, hits it a long way and putts it great." Hunter Mahan, the last player to beat Kuchar, is 17-5 in the event after edging Richard Sterne 2 up. Mahan beat Kuchar 6 and 5 in the 2012 quarterfinals en route to the title, and lost 2 and 1 to Kuchar in the championship match last year. "I love playing in this event," Mahan said. Mahan will play Graeme McDowell on Friday. ___ STILL STANDING: Nine of the 27 U.S. players in the 64-man field advanced to the third round, the most Americans to survive the first two rounds since nine also made it in 2004. There have been five all-American matches so far. On Thursday, Rickie Fowler beat Jimmy Walker, Matt Kuchar topped Ryan Moore, and Webb Simpson edged Brandt Snedeker. In two more all-U.S. matches Friday, Kuchar will play Jordan Spieth, and Harris English will face Jim Furyk. Graeme McDowell, Sergio Garcia and Victor Dubuisson were the players in Europes 25-man contingent to survive. Justin Rose, the only one of the five English players to win Wednesday, dropped out Thursday, and all three Swedes were eliminated. Three of the six South Africans advanced. U.S. players are 14-7 against European opponents, going 4-1 on Thursday. ___ DIVOTS: Harris English, Jordan Spieth and Victor Dubuisson are the only tournament newcomers to reach the third round. Nineteen players were making their first appearance in the event. ... The second-round losers received $99,000. The winner will get $1.53 million from the $9 million purse. Second place is worth $906,000, third $630,000, and fourth $510,000. The quarterfinal losers will get $280,000, and the third-round losers $148,000. Yeezy Powerphase Australia . -- Jacksonville Jaguars rookie receiver Marqise Lee has agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth more than $5 million. Yeezy 700 V2 Australia . No, really, his head. Late in the game, the St. Louis goalie craned his neck into the air to block a shot, taking a puck square in the mask. HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. -- Sam Querrey gave the U.S. a commanding 2-0 lead Friday night in its Davis Cup World Group playoff against Slovakia with a 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-3 win over Martin Klizan. In the opening match of the night, American John Isner hit 29 aces in a 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-2 win over Norbert Gombos. The U.S. can ensure a trip to the 2015 World Group on Saturday by winning the doubles when it sends out U.S. Open champs Mike and Bob Bryan. "Its the kind of day you want to have, be comfortable 2-0 with the Bryan brothers coming up," U.S. captain Jim Courier said. "Both Sam and Jim started off slow but finished strong. Played their best tennis at the end of the match." Querrey, ranked 51st, faced a set point in the first-set tiebreaker, but responded with two straight aces. He captured the opening set when the 57th-ranked Klizan netted a backhand. Querrey finished with 20 aces on the hard court at the Sears Centre, none bigger than the two he unleashed in the tiebreaker. "It was tough. But my serve is my biggest weapon," Querrey said. "Just puts the pressure right back on him." Gombos, ranked 126th, was a surprise choice as Slovakias No. 2, but he showed his skills during a group quarterfinal in April when he made his Davis Cup debut and beat Austrias Dominic Thiem. But this time he had to fight off the powerful serves of Isner and managed only two breakpoint opportunities. "Going into a match like this, three-out-of-five match, its not surprising I didnt lose my serve," Isner said. "Ive done that before, for sure. Always going to be the biggest part of my game and its going to be the part of my game that I lean on the most.&qquot; Isner trailed in the first-set tiebreaker 4-2 before pulling it out 7-5 when Gombos netted a volley and hit long after a strong serve. Authentic Yeezy Boost For Sale. . Isner then broke Gombos in the opening game of the second set and his game improved steadily thereafter. "I was a bit nervous in the beginning. I had to really dig deep to win that first set. But once I got that under my belt, I exhaled and then I started to play better," Isner said. "Its never easy. But that first set was very important." Serving for the second set at 5-4, Isner double-faulted twice but then won the next four points with an ace, a volley, an overhead and a service winner. "I know that hes serving perfect, like from the Eiffel Tower, you know," Gombos said. "I never returned a serve like his because its quite different from the other players because he is really tall. The ball is bouncing so high." Isner said he was aware of how well Gombos, who has flat groundstrokes and good speed around the court, can play. "Its a tough match for someone like me," Isner said. "Were at home. Im ranked higher than him. I guess on paper Im expected to win that match. Theres a lot of pressure on me. Its not an easy situation." The U.S., which lost to Britain earlier this year, hasnt missed competing in the World Group, the upper tier, since 1988. Slovakia is trying to pull the upset and make it back to the World Group for the first time since 2006. "Well, its really tough. I was hoping at least to get one point today. With the better luck we could maybe hope for more," Slovakia captain Miloslav Mecir said. "But this is the reality." ' ' '
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Activity: May 25 '20
