March 23, 2018: The taste of medicine might always be bitter, but the result of consuming it is always sweet. Shubhankar Sharma is going through exactly that at the Austin Country Club, as he succumbed to a second straight defeat in the WGC Dell Match Play event. The 21 year old Indian golfer was taken out by an in form Xander Schauffele, who took a 3&1 win playing flawless golf.
With two defeats in two matches, Shubhankar can play without the burden of expectation on Friday. His match against Dylan Frittelli is academic, as the winner of the Sergio Garcia and Schauffele contest will proceed into the knockout stages for the weekend.
In the other match in group 7, Garcia overcame a two hole deficit at the turn to score a 2Up victory with four birdies on the home stretch.
“I think it was couple under on the front which was very good scoring. I felt like I played okay, but kind of let a couple got away and he got up. But then I was able to turn it around on the back nine and made four birdies and no bogeys. On these conditions that usually is going to help you.”
The match between Sharma and Schauffele saw action on the very first hole. The Indian got off the blocks with a double bogey and Schauffele took the hole with a birdie. When Shubhankar made another bogey at the third, the American drew two holes clear.
But the spirited Shubhankar produced two straight birdies to even the sheet by the fifth hole. Even as Indian hopes started to rise, Schauffele stamped his authority on the contest by taking the 6th and 8th holes.
Shubhankar pulled one back at the ninth, but took four strokes to reach the green on the par-4 10th hole and Schauffele took it home comfortably to close it out on the 17th hole.
“Out here it’s such a weird course. Great for match play. You can win a match at 3-over or lose a match at 5-under. I’ve sort of kept that close in my mind and just tried to battle through every match.”
Dustin Johnson will also be joining Shubhankar out of the event on Friday. The defending champion suffered a second defeat, with Adam Hadwin pounding him 4&3.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat continued to buttress his match play credentials, earning a 1Up victory over Keegan Bradley. He needs to only halve the point against Jon Rahm to progress into the weekend.
Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed have set up a juicy winner takes it all contest for a place in the knock out stages. Spieth defeated Haotong Li while Reed got the better of Charl Schwartzel on Thursday.
Group 6 containing Rory McIlroy and Group 8 with Jason Day in it, are wide open with possibilities. Ian Poulter scored a second win and sits on pole in Group 9, but both Tommy Fleetwood and Kevin Chappell are still in it with a good chance to push the decision into a playoff.
