Rory McIlroy stays in the hunt to defend Dell Match Play title

European Tour Release

March 27, 2016: Defending champion Rory McIlroy, Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello and South African Louis Oosthuizen all made it through to the semi-finals of the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship on a magnificent day for European Tour Members.

McIlroy extended his unbeaten run in the competition to 12 matches, first seeing off Zach Johnson by one hole and then cruising to a 4&3 victory over Chris Kirk.

The Northern Irishman next faces Jason Day, who will return to the World Number One spot on Monday after easing past Brandt Snedeker and Brooks Koepka.

Cabrera-Bello had a slice of fortune when Byeong Hun An retired on the 12th hole with a neck injury in the last 16, and he made the extra rest count by downing Ryan Moore 2&1 in the afternoon with a hugely impressive display.

An added bonus for the 30 year old is that he will move into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking on Monday, thus guaranteeing his first appearance in the Masters in two weeks’ time.

Next up for Cabrera-Bello is Oosthuizen, who was ruthless in his dispatching of Jordan Spieth 4&2 in the last 16 and equally efficient in seeing off Dustin Johnson 2&1, closing out the win with a superb 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole.

“I played very well this afternoon. I think it’s the best I’ve played all week, and obviously the score reflects that. I feel like each and every day I’ve improved a little bit. I think I made six or seven birdies out there this afternoon. I said to myself I needed to be a little more aggressive, take a few more pins on, not be quite as conservative. It’s sometimes hard to do that on this course because of where the pin positions are and because there’s quite a bit of trouble around the greens. But I took a few more shots on and I was a little more aggressive and it definitely paid off,” explained McIlroy

“Even if tomorrow doesn’t quite go the way I want it to, I feel like I’ve still made a lot of great strides forward this week. It’s a big match tomorrow. He’s two in the world, I’m three. I’m excited about playing him.”

“I had two tough matches today. I was focused quite a bit this morning and wanted to give myself a good opportunity to have a shot against Jordan. This afternoon I was a little bit more relaxed and played some good golf. It was a huge match for me this morning. Jordan is obviously someone who’s been playing unbelievable golf and number one in the world. And I wanted to be really prepared for it this morning and stay in the moment and not do something silly. I made good putts when I needed to and just played solid golf,” said Louis Oosthuizen.

“Dustin is a great player, but unfortunately for him he missed quite a few opportunities for birdies on the back nine. I just wanted to go through to tomorrow and see if I can get into the final. I’m playing pretty solid golf and I just need to rest up tonight and be mentally prepared for tomorrow. It’s going to be another long day.”