Shane Lowry crashed at the round-robin stage for the seventh year in a row as Séamus Power kept his hopes alive of making the last 16 in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
The Offaly man lost 4&3 to 50th-seed Mackenzie Hughes of Canada, who raced five-up through seven holes at Austin Country Club, but Power birdied the 16th and 18th to beat Adam Hadwin one-up in a roller-coaster affair.
Lowry (pictured) now plays Jordan Spieth, and he will have a chance to build some much-needed confidence against the three-time Major winner in his last start before the Masters.
Spieth will also be desperate to win after making unforced errors at 13th and 14th that allowed rookie Taylor Montgomery to turn their match around and beat him 2&1 to top the group with two wins.
The defeat for Spieth means Hughes controls his destiny, as a win over Montgomery today would give him a play-off chance.
Power may also need a play-off to progress after just three holes were halved in a fierce battle with Canadian Hadwin.
The West Waterford man was two-up after seven holes, but while he lost four of the next five and was one-down with three to play, he finished birdie-par-birdie, rolling in a four-footer at the last to win.
He now faces Sam Burns, who beat Adam Scott on the last, meaning a three-way play-off could happen should Power beat Burns and Scott hand Hadwin his third defeat.
“Obviously, I needed that one to stay in it,” Power said. “I’m pretty sure Sam won right there in front of us so I knew I had to win that hole, so it was nice to sneak it in.
“Yeah, a lot of work to do tomorrow. Obviously Sam is a great player, so looking forward to the challenge.”
Meanwhile, defending champion Leona Maguire opened with a two-under 70 in the LPGA Drive On Championship to trail clubhouse leader Hsu Wei-ling of Taiwan by four strokes at Superstition Mountain in Arizona.
At the DP World Tour’s Jonsson Workwear Open in South Africa, a four-under 68 left Holywood rookie Tom McKibbin tied 29th, four strokes behind home players Darren Fichardt and Martin Vorster at The Club at Steyn City.
On the Challenge Tour, Niall Kearney raced to the turn in six-under 30 before a back nine of 38 forced him to settle for a 68 in the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge in India. He’s tied for 12th, five strokes behind Spain’s Nacho Elvira.
WGC-Dell Match Play,
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