Day versus Mcllroy
Gallery watching the Day-Mcllroy match on final hole
Easter Sunday morning was slightly overcast, cool and windy. As the day progressed the clouds disappeared, the wind abated somewhat and the spectators had a great day to watch the worlds best players vie for the title of Dell Match Play champion. They were not disappointed.
As the gallery around the 18th green watched, Jason Day and Rory Mcllroy approached the 18th with Day one up. Both players missed the fairway.
Day was in the right rough and Mcllroy was in the right fairway bunker. Both approach shots missed the green to the left and faced difficult chip shots to a left pin guarded by steep slopes away from the players
Day’s 3rd at 18 in the semi-final match
Day was slightly short of hole high. He played a pitch away from the hole and used the slope of the green to trickle the ball down to about 12 feet to the right of the hole. It was similar to the famous shot Tiger Woods played in 2005 on number 16 at the Masters when he holed the shot for a birdie and went on to win the tournament in a playoff. (Click on any photo in this article to enlarge it)
Mcllroy was slightly past hole high and played his chip to trickle down the steep slope and finish about 10 feet left of the hole.
Jason Day makes a par putt on 18 to defeat Rory Mcllroy in semi-final match
As he watched, Day, who was one up at the time, made his 12 foot putt for par and advance to the final match. (Click the photo to enlarge)
Both Mcllroy and Day played well in the match. Mcllroy was bogey free and made four birdies. Day was three under for the round with one double bogey and five birdies. While both players displayed awesome power off the tee the match was eventually determined by the players short game.
Day and Mcllroy shake hands after their match
Prior to the match both players had commented that putting would be the difference in the match and that proved to be an accurate prediction. Day’s 12 footer on the final hole footer of the match was a double breaking putt that went right at first then left at the hole. He made it for the win.
Oosthuizen versus Cabrera Bello
The other semi-final match pitted South African Louis Oosthuizen against the 31 year old Rafa Cabrera from Spain.
Louis Oosthuizen
Oosthuizen, a British Open open champion, defeating Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson along the way to the semi-final match. He was obviously playing well. Click here to see how both players progressed through the match play brackets on the way to the semi-final match.
Rafa Cabrera Bello
Rafa Cabrera Bello is relatively unknown to the American golfing public. His play at the Dell Match Play WGC moved him into the top fifty in the world rankings and earned him a trip to the Masters. In watching his form through the week it is easy to see how he can become a top tier player.
Louis Oosthuizen and Rafa Cabrera Bello shake hands after their match
Oosthuizen established a three up lead after seven holes and appeared to be in command of the match. Cabrera Bello made a charge with a birdie on the 8th and a par on the ninth to make the turn only one down.
The back nine proved to be difficult for Cabrera Bello as he lost the form he displayed in previous matches. Meanwhile Oosthuizen made pars and did not give any holes away. In the end that was all that was needed to win the match.
Scorecards For The Semi-Final Matches
Scorecards of Semi-Final matches
Oosthuizen was one under par and Cabrera Bello was five over par. The scorecards of both semi-final matches are available in this photo. Click on the photo to enlarge it and use the back button to return to this posting.
After a break for short interviews and some lunch the consolation match between Mcllroy and Cabrera Bello commenced at 2:00 p.m. Easter Sunday. The championship match between Day and Oosthuizen followed at 2:15 p.m.
