Rory McIlroy beat Scott Stallings within the Opening Day WCG-Dell Applied sciences Fit Play; Protecting champion Scotty Scheffler used to be additionally victorious however John Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick and Terrell Hatton misplaced the primary fits. Watch the match live to tell the tale Sky Sports activities proper as much as Sunday’s ultimate
23:57, United Kingdom, Wednesday 22 March 2023
Rory McIlroy were given off to a profitable get started in his bid for a 2nd WGC-Dell Applied sciences Fit Play name with a three & 1 win over Scott Stallings in Texas.
McIlroy, who gained the development in 2015, used to be 3 via six holes in Austin on Wednesday sooner than being tied once more to one-to-nine by way of global No. 62.
Alternatively, the Northern Irishman birdied the eleventh over by way of 3 – an opening which staggered his opponent – to increase his lead after which took the profitable seventeenth with some other birdie.
Sky Sports activities Golfing’s Nick Dougherty explains the foundations of the WGC-Dell Applied sciences Fit Play
International quantity 3 McIlroy – making his first look since lacking the lower at The Avid gamers two weeks in the past – performs Denny McCarthy on Thursday and Keegan Bradley on Friday as he appears to complete most sensible of his four-man staff and input the knockout levels this weekend. . .
Each and every of the crowd winners will advance to the spherical of 16 on Saturday, with the quarter-finals to be held later at the similar day sooner than the semi-finals and finals on Sunday.
“Clearly this a part of the season you’ve gotten one eye on what you might be doing now and some other eye on Augusta,” mentioned McIlroy, who used to be wearing a brand new putter in his bag. [for The Masters].
“I needed to react a few occasions to what Scott did on his again 9 occasions, so it used to be more or less excellent for me to really feel a little bit little bit of drive and both I needed to hit a shot or I needed to bunt the ball.”
Scheffler begins out profitable however Ram and Fitzpatrick lose
Protecting champion and global No. 1 Scottie Scheffler edged out Davis Riley by way of one, hitting a 13-foot putt at the 18th inexperienced to compare Riley’s birdie and sealing his win after lacking a putt at the seventeenth.
International No. 2 John Rahm opened with a 2 & 1 defeat by way of Rickie Fowler.
Ram – who withdrew sooner than his 2nd spherical at The Avid gamers because of a abdomen virus – used to be two out forward after 3 holes and stayed that manner till the 8th hollow when a bogey from Spaniard Fowler allowed his result in be halved.
Fowler – who wishes to succeed in the quarterfinals in Austin to get again throughout the global’s most sensible 50 and qualify for the Masters subsequent month – tied the sport at the eleventh because the Ram scored some other bogey after which bowled the twelfth to climb again up.
The Californian rallied two times within the fifteenth because the Ram scored the overall bogey sooner than matching up with the Ram’s birdie on 16 and 17 to clinch the win.
In other places, runner-up Tyrell Hatton misplaced 3 & 1 to Ben Griffin and might be unsure for the remainder of the development after experiencing ache in his proper hand and arm when his shot hit the variety all the way through the warm-up.
A glance again at ancient moments from WGC Fit Play after the PGA Excursion introduced that this 12 months’s match can be its ultimate version
In the meantime, US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick’s struggles persisted with a 5-3 defeat to JJ Spoon.
Fitzpatrick neglected the lower in 3 of his remaining 4 begins, round completing 14th on the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Tommy Fleetwood fell 3 & 2 to GT Boston, whilst Shane Lowry misplaced 2 & 1 to Taylor Sir Bernard Law.
Jordan Spieth used to be a few of the winners, beating Mackenzie Hughes 4 and three.
How does Fit Play paintings?
The primary 3 days are dedicated to spherical fit play, with the 64-player court docket divided into 16 teams of 4, and handiest the winner of every staff advancing to the knockout levels.
If there’s a tie on the most sensible of the crowd, a play-off between the 2 members will decide who advances via to the top of the week.
The remaining 16 and quarter-finals are performed on Saturday, with the semi-finals scheduled for the early Sunday sooner than the overall later that day. Which means the winner has long past via seven rounds over the 5 days to raise the trophy.
Watch the 2023 WGC-Dell Applied sciences Fit Play live to tell the tale Sky Sports activities all week lengthy.