Jason Day, Rory McIlroy to meet in Match Play semifinal
AUSTIN — Heavyweights Jason Day and Rory McIlroy will meet Sunday morning in the semifinals of the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play Championship at Austin Country Club, a match pitting the world No. 2, Day, against the world No. 3.
It's a match pitting last week’s winner of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, that being Day, against a guy who hasn’t lost a match in the Match Play Championship since 2014. A match between major champions. A match between two of the game’s longest hitters.
“I know Rory is going to be a tough opponent,” Day said. “It seems like he's hitting it great. He always hits it great. Seems like he's got the putter going, as well. … I expect it to be very, very tough and very stressful out there. And that's the stuff I enjoy.”
The other semifinal match has a Cinderella story in Rafa Cabrera Bello, the No. 52 seed, against 2010 British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen. Bello defeated Ryan Moore, 2 and 1, in the quarters, while Oosthuizen beat Dustin Johnson, 2 and 1.
With his 3-and-2 victory against Brooks Koepka in the quarters, Day is expected to move to No. 1 in the world when the rankings are released Monday. On Wednesday, the 2015 PGA winner barely got through his win against Graeme McDowell after tweaking his back. He’s received treatment ever since.
“I've been on the massage table a lot this week,” said Day, who defeated Brandt Snedeker, 3 and 2, in the morning round of 16. “But it's sore. But everyone else is playing with some sort of illness, as well. They've got some sort of soreness, but for me it's inflamed more than it usually is. ...
“I'm not physically 100%. Mentally I'm just grinding it out as much as possible. It's very stressful out there, but that’s fine, I'm happy with that. So I think my biggest thing is just to try and stay mentally focused on the golf.”
Which is the reason he wasn’t thinking about becoming No. 1.
“I know that winning takes care of everything, and I've just got to focus on trying to win my match,” Day said. “That's what I've been trying to do is just focus on winning my match, and it's worked out great so far.”
McIlroy, the defending champion and four-time major winner, overpowered Chris Kirk in Saturday’s semifinals, 4 and 3, to run his unbeaten streak in the championship to 12; he last lost in the second round of the 2014 edition by Harris English. In the round of 16 Saturday morning, McIlroy capped Zach Johnson’s birdie on the final hole with one of his own to win, 1 up.
McIlroy’s career record in the event is 22-6-1. He’s also 2-0-1 in singles play in the Ryder Cup. If he were to win both matches on Sunday, McIlroy would break Tiger Woods’ tournament record of 13 straight matches without losing.
“I played very well this afternoon. I think it's the best I've played all week, and obviously the score reflects that,” McIlroy said. “I feel like each and every day I've improved a little bit. I think I made six or seven birdies out there this afternoon. I made a couple of mistakes and gave a couple of holes away, but for the most part I was very pleased with how I played. ...
“I feel like I've improved each and every day. And getting wins, as well, you do get momentum with every single round that you get through. You can feel it build and you can go with it and that's what I've been able to do.”
McIlroy has been building toward the Masters in two weeks since the start of the season. He added two tournaments to his schedule to get ready for the first season's major. And he feels he’s trending in the right direction.
“Even if tomorrow doesn't quite go the way I want it to, I feel like I've still made a lot of great strides forward this week,” McIlroy said. “I've kept saying I want to go to Augusta with a win under my belt and this is my last chance. I've obviously got a great chance to do that tomorrow.
“But I think even if it doesn't quite go that way, I'll still walk away from here very confident going to Augusta, knowing where my game is and knowing that I'm right where I need to be with a week to go.”