WGC Match Play Championship Semifinals: The semifinal cast of the WGC Match Play Championship is complete with Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy joining Sam Burns and Cam Young in the final four after they annexed heart-pounding wins on Saturday at the Austin Country Club in Texas. World number three McIlroy defeated Tokyo Olympic champion Xander Schauffele 1 up while top-ranked defending champion Scheffler beat Jason Day of Australia 2&1. Americans Burns and Young outclassed respective opponents to made it to the final four. Burns beat Mackenzie Hughes of Canada 3&2 while Young edged Kurt Kitayama 1 up. Scheffler and Burns arranged a semifinal showdown following their wins and the victor will face the winner of the other last-four match between McIlroy and Young. PGA golf betting sites favor McIlroy and Scheffler to meet in a star-studded final but Young and Burns are ready to create a big-time upset.
WGC Match Play Championship Semifinals: Scheffler Birdie Blitz Beats Day
Scheffler buried five birdies in the last six holes to beat Day. Hours after winning three of the last four holes to overcome J.T. Poston 1 up, the American made another comeback to outclass two-time Match Play winner Day. The Australian buried two birdies in the fourth and fifth holes and an eagle in the sixth to go 3 up. Scheffler leveled the match by winning the eighth, ninth and 12th holes. He took the lead in the next hole after tapping in for birdie. The reigning Masters champion increased the lead to 2 up after Day made a bogey in the 14th. Scheffler sealed his semifinal clash with Burns when his tee shot at the par-3 17th ended two inches from the hole. Burns, meanwhile, fell early, losing the first two holes to Hughes. But he bounced back with birdies in the fourth and fifth holes and took the lead in the seventh hole with a 51-foot birdie putt. Hughes tried to make a comeback but failed.
McIlroy Gains a Semifinal Date with Young
McIlroy, the 2015 WGC Match Play winner, was one down in the first hole after Schauffele sank an 18-foot birdie putt. Both golfers won two holes each on the front nine after burying two birdies each. The Northern Irishman, who won over Australian Lucas Herbert 2 up in the round of 16, made a nine-foot birdie putt to win the 10th and leveled the match in the next hole on a par putt from nearly eight feet. The American birdied to win the 12th but dropped the 13th after plunking his tee shot into the water. The score stayed until the 18th hole when McIlroy buried a 12-foot birdie to win the clash and secured a final four date against Young, who seized an early 3 up lead after burying a 40-foot birdie putt in the ninth. Kitayama would make a comeback in the back nine. He made birdies in the 13th and 14th holes to pull closer but Young held his own in the last four holes to secure the victory.
The victories by Scheffler, McIlroy, Burns and Young secured them of the semifinal tickets in the World Golf Championships. Sports picks and parlays are already updated as we await for the big-time showdown between Scheffler and Burns in the first match and McIlroy-Young clash in the other semifinal.
