day wo at the matchplay

Published: 25 February 2011 Last updated: 27 June 2013

In Thursday’s 16 second-round matches at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championships, we saw the departure of two more top seeds; a couple of surprising lopsided results; and a lot of young guys making a lot of noise.

BIGGEST SURPRISE: There were plenty to choose from. Rickie Fowler handing Phil Mickelson his biggest loss in this event. Jason Day knocking off two-time finalist Paul Casey. But it’s hard to get past Ben Crane’s 8 and 7 win over Rory McIlroy. No player in this event has ever won a second-round match so decisively, and the winning margin equals the second-largest in tournament history. At this level of competition, those kinds of routs aren’t supposed to happen. But give the youngster from Northern Ireland credit for taking the loss in stride. “I find this easier to take than getting beat on the last (hole), you know,” McIlroy said. “I don’t mind this at all.”

BIGGEST SURPRISE II: Fowler beating Mickelson is a small surprise. Fowler routing Mickelson 6 and 5 is something nobody could have expected. “It was just one of those days,” said Mickelson, who has yet to win this event in 11 tries. “Certainly I got outplayed, that’s obvious.”

YOUTH IS SERVED: The defeat of the 21-year-old McIlroy not withstanding, what the youngsters are achieving at Dove Mountain is nothing short of eye-opening. Of the remaining Sweet 16, eight are under the age of 30 … and three are 23 years old or younger. The youngest is 17-year-old Italian Matteo Manassero, who knocked out South African Charl Schwartzel 1 up on Thursday. Fowler (age 22) and Jason Day (age 23) scored huge wins over Mickelson and Paul Casey, respectively. “The young guys, I guess it’s just some of us are playing pretty well this week,” Fowler said. “… I think most of the young guys are pretty fearless. We’re ready to play.”

SPEAKING OF THE KID: Should Manassero go on to win the Accenture Match Play Championship, he would be the youngest winner in tournament history … by nearly 10 years. Tiger Woods was 27 when he won in 2003, so Manassero, Fowler, Day and Kaymer would each break that record should one of them win on Sunday. But forget that record. Should Manassero win, he would be the youngest player to ever win a PGA TOUR event (since 1900). Johnny McDermott holds the record at 19 years, 10 months and 14 days old when he won the 1911 U.S. Open. Manassero will be 17 years, 10 months and 4 days old on Sunday. But he’s not allowing himself to dream about winning this week. At least not yet. “I don’t want to put myself into … the final, which I think is very difficult,” Manassero said. “But … I’ll try to go through tomorrow.”

ABOUT THOSE NO. 1s: Uh, only one is left. With Mickelson losing in the Ben Hogan bracket and Lee Westwood, the No. 1 overall seed, losing in the Bobby Jones bracket, only Martin Kaymer is left among the top four seeds starting the week. And Kaymer had to struggle to do that, surviving in 20 holes against Justin Rose.

SO MUCH FOR REVENGE: Westwood lost to Watney in the second round last year, and failed to even the score Thursday, losing 1 down. “I think we were pretty even tee to green,” Westwood said. “Nick just holed a few more putts than me.”

AND BECAUSE OF THAT: If Kaymer just reaches the finals (he doesn’t have to win), he’ll take over as No. 1 in the world. “It would be nice if it happens this week,” the reigning PGA champ said. “Hopefully I will get more opportunities in the future. But we will see. I still have three matches to win, though.”

BEST MATCHES: The Kaymer-Justin Rose match was the only one that went 20 holes, and it included five birdies and an eagle from Kaymer, and seven birdies from Rose. Two gritty performers, with Kaymer winning with a birdie. J.B. Holmes’ win over Ernie Els wasn’t as spectacular, but it was nip-and-tuck all match long, with neither player holding more than a one-hold advantage. “(It) felt like it was a pretty well-played match,” Holmes said. “I think he was under par and I was under par, too. It was fun.”

NO FALLING BEHIND: J.B. Holmes, Luke Donald, Ben Crane, Geoff Ogilvy, Bubba Watson, Nick Watney and Martin Kaymer have not trailed at any time in either of their first two rounds. Crane, in fact, has lost only one hole to his first two opponents combined through two rounds. The last player to lose only one hole through two rounds was Fredrik Jacobson in 2004 (lost one hole).

IT FELT LIKE AN UPSET: Y.E. Yang, an 11th seed, knocked out 14th-seeded Stewart Cink. But given Cink’s record in this event (22-11 coming into Thursday) and the fact he just ousted defending champ Ian Poulter in the first round, you couldn’t help thinking that Yang’s 4 and 3 win was a surprise. “His statistics were quite good,” Yang said about Cink’s match-play success, “but then again golf isn’t always about statistics. And that’s the beauty of the match play format.”

CLOSING HOLES? HAVEN’T SEEN ‘EM: Both of Jason Day’s matches have ended on the 16th hole. “I remember what the holes are like,” he said. “I’m going to try to stay away from 17 and 18. That would be the plan.” Ben Crane’s two matches ended on the 16th and 11th holes. Bubba Watson’s matches ended on the 16th and 13th holes. And Graeme McDowell’s matches have ended on the 15th and 16th holes. In fact, McDowell has won 15 holes through the first two rounds — the most in the first two rounds since Stephen Leaney won 15 holes in 2003.

FINAL WORD: “I’ve never really advanced, I think, past the Sweet 16. So I don’t think that anyone is going, ‘Wow, Ben Crane is really coming through this bracket. Look out. Gosh, sorry you’ve got to play Ben Crane. Boy, tough draw there.’ ” — Ben Crane, helping to supply a little levity when discussing how he generally flies under the radar in this event

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