Mar 22, 2018: Bernd Wiesberger and Peter Uihlein won their respective matches against Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy on day one of the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play.
Wiesberger defeated the World Number One and defending champion Johnson 3 and 1 while Uihlein threatened to hand McIlroy a heavy defeat after going dormie 5 up on the Northern Irishman only for McIlroy to win three holes on the spin before Uihlein prevailed on the 17th green.
“I thought it was the easiest game I could have. I’m the underdog playing with the defending champion, so it was a case of just try to go out there and see what happens. We both didn’t have a great day, obviously, as you can see on the card. He gave away a couple of holes quite unexpectedly. You’ve still got to make the par when your opponent makes the bogey. I didn’t hit it as great. The golf course was tough and the wind was gusting. Just happy to get through the match.” said Wiesberger.
It was an intriguing first day in the 64-man match play event which sees the field split into 16 groups of four, which each player playing three matches before the winners of each group progress to the last 16 and a straight knock-out on Saturday and Sunday.
Ian Poulter defeated Race to Dubai Champion Tommy Fleetwood 3 and 2, while Paul Casey won the 18th to defeat Russell Henley 1 up. Those respective victories took Poulter and Casey’s total of career victories at the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play to 24, which tied them with David Toms as the second most prolific winners in the event’s history. Tiger Woods holds the record number of wins at 33.
New father Sergio Garcia won a hard-fought match against the current Race to Dubai Number One Shubhanker Sharma on the 18th green. There were also first day wins for Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Ross Fisher, Tyrell Hatton, Francesco Molinari and Alex Noren
European Tour Report
