Korea’s Sungjae Im and Japanese debutant Takumi Kanaya notched impressive victories over Keith Mitchell and Tony Finau respectively on Thursday to keep alive their hopes of advancing into the next round of the $12 million World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play.
After an opening day win over Daniel Berger, Si Woo Kim however suffered a 1-up defeat at the hands of England’s Tyrrell Hatton following a bogey on the last hole at Austin Country Club. Like Im and Kanaya, Kim is still in the chase for a place in the last 16 this weekend.
Straight-shooting Im, who is a two-time PGA TOUR winner, thumped Mitchell 5 and 3, thanks five birdies through 15 holes which made up for his disappointing opening day defeat to Seamus Power in Group 4. The Korean, who has topped the TOUR’s total birdies count for the past three seasons, must now beat reigning FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay in the final group match on Friday and hope for Mitchell, who is already out of the running, to defeat Power. This will then result in a playoff between Im and Power for a place in the weekend elimination rounds.
“When I played against Seamus yesterday, he hit great shots and made no mistakes where as I made some mistakes. So after the match, I went straight to the driving range to check my shots and routine. I was happy I could play a good match against Keith and hit a lot of good tee shots and made few mistakes,” said Im, who registered his second career win in the event.
Birdies on the first and third holes from inside of 12 feet gave the Korean an early lead and he took full control of the match by making the turn 3-up before closing Mitchell out with birdie conversions on the 12th and 15th holes from three and five feet respectively.
“The key to my good play was on the front nine. I think for match play, the early holes are very important to get momentum. Made birdie on one which helped. I will do my best against Patrick and try to get a good result. He is a great player,” said Im, 23.
Kanaya, a former World Amateur No. 1, was given very little chance to beat the 18th seed, Finau but the slightly built Japanese golfer produced some spectacular shots down the stretch to create one of the upsets of the day with a 1-up victory. He was 2-down with four to play but chipped in for birdie from the greenside rough on 15, holed a six-foot birdie to tie the match on 16 and rolled in a 36-footer on 17 to go 1-up and hung on for a memorable win with a closing par.
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He must now beat Australia’s Lucas Herbert, who claimed his second win of the week with a 1-up triumph over Xander Schauffele, to force a playoff with the Aussie. Schauffele can make it a three-way playoff with a victory over Finau in his final Group 7 match.
“Tony and I played well but I happened to find a little bit of luck in the end which was the difference,” said a delighted Kanaya, who is a three time winner on the Japan Golf Tour. “It was a tight match all the way to the end but I never gave up. Coming out on top gives me more confidence and hopefully I can continue playing well and carry that momentum into my match tomorrow.”
Kim, whose best finish in the tournament was a round of 16 appearance in 2018, fought tooth-and-nail with Ryder Cup star Hatton before losing 1-up where he made bogey on the 18th hole following a wayward drive. The three-time PGA TOUR winner must now beat South African Christian Beizuidenhout in his final group match and hope for Daniel Berger to beat Hatton in the other Group 13 match which will then ensure a three-way playoff for a place in the round of 16.
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