SAN FRANCISCO – From Hideki Matsuyama’s late charge to the Friday matches that don’t matter, here are some of the winners and losers from Day 2 at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play:
WINNERS
Hunter Mahan: Amazingly, he hasn’t lost a hole all week. Even more amazing: He still hasn’t secured a weekend tee time.
Jordan Spieth: After making 14 birdies in two days here, it should be fairly obvious: Right now, the dude is tough to beat in any format.
Rickie Fowler: His putter caught fire for the first time in months, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. He sank 71 feet worth of putts over the final four holes to stun a game Shane Lowry.
Charl Schwartzel: An inward 31 helped erase a three-hole deficit against Dustin Johnson, then he completed the comeback with a birdie on the 20th hole. Stout.
Hideki Matsuyama: Two down with five to play? Matsuyama turned it into a 2-up win after running off three birdies in a row, then winning 18 with an eagle-3.
LOSERS
Final-day drama: Twenty-two players have already been mathematically eliminated. Well, at least slow play shouldn’t be an issue Friday.
Keegan Bradley: That’s seven consecutive match-play losses. Not even Phil could save him this week.
Ian Poulter: Two days, two blowout losses. So much for that aura of invincibility.
Stephen Gallacher: We can already hear Darren Clarke mumbling, “Please don’t make the Ryder Cup team … please don’t make the Ryder Cup team.”
Big-name Aussies: Jason Day and Adam Scott went 0-4. John Senden and Marc Leishman went 4-0. Just like we all expected.