Jordan Spieth falls to Lee Westwood, doesn't advance in match play
SAN FRANCISCO – Lee Westwood slowed Jordan Spieth's roll.
Westwood outdueled his younger Texas opponent down the stretch Friday at TPC Harding Park to move into Saturday's round of 16 in the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Match Play.
In a tense match throughout the back nine, Westwood came up with one big shot after another to hold off the Masters champion, who had ascended to No. 2 in the official world rankings by winning two tournaments and finishing second in two others in his last five starts.
The 21-year-old from Big D has been going so well for so long in competition and practice rounds that one colleague took to calling him the Golden Child, a nickname he loathes but one that will stick for some time.
"I knew Jordan was going to be tough to beat," Westwood said. "Sliding down the banister to start, 2 down after 2, I had to regroup and fight back after that."
Spieth was going well again this week and finished with 16 birdies in three matches. But Westwood, the tough-as-nails Englishman who has played a stellar role for Europe in many appearances in the Ryder Cup and is a former world No. 1, was up for the task. His first big shot came at the 15th, where he knocked in a 9-footer for birdie to halve the hole after Spieth had chipped in for birdie.
On the next hole, Westwood bladed his bunker shot from a tough lie over the green, then chunked his next chip shot. But then he holed his next chip for an unlikely par to halve the hole.
On the par-3 17th, Westwood struck his tee shot to 11 feet and made that putt to win the hole and move 1 up in the match. On the par-5 18th, Westwood knocked his bunker shot to close range and conceded the match when Spieth could not make his birdie putt.
"You know what it's like when you see a few go in? The hole starts to look bigger. That's been the key to Jordan's game," Westwood said. "I got to watch him. I was learning a little bit off the way he was freeing his stroke, not taking a lot of time over it. The hole must be looking as big as a bucket to him."
Spieth said it was a shame he was heading eastward to The Players Championship next week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., but said he's ready for the PGA Tour's flagship event.
"I'm excited about the way I'm playing," he said. "I've got a lot of momentum going into next week. … We were playing equal golf and it was just a matter of who was going to make that putt at the end and Lee did it on 17 there. All in all, Lee played well and pulled off the shots when he needed to at the end, and I didn't quite. … He hit a great shot in there (on 17), made a 2, such a hard hole. Then he drove the ball in the fairway on 18 and I didn't. It came down to those two holes who was going to hit the more clutch shots and he did today."