Plenty of upsets on first day of 2021 World Match Play Golf Championships

Antoine Rozner (Google Images)

In a rare week in the golf schedule, the World Match Play Golf Championship takes place over a span of five days, rather than the traditional four. So far, you can basically throw the rankings out the window, because the bottom line is they do not mean much.

On Wednesday in Austin, Texas, we saw several favourites lose. They included major champions Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, and Rory McIlroy. Meanwhile, 12th-ranked Tony Finau lost 6 and 5 to 64th-ranked Dylan Fritelli, and 13th-ranked Viktor Hovland lost 4 and 2 to 53rd-ranked Kevin Streelman.

The most notable upset came in the DeChambeau match, as Antoine Rozner had the biggest performance of his life in beating the powerful American 2-up. Rozner, who is seeded 58th in the tournament, has won twice on the European Tour (Dubai in 2020 and Qatar in 2021), but has not had any notable results as a professional in the United States, and has not competed in a single major tournament. He did however win six times as an amateur at the National Collegiate Athletic Association level with the University of Missouri-Kansas City from 2012 to 2016.

Thomas lost to PGA veteran Matt Kuchar 3 and 2. Thomas was entering the World Match Play Golf Championship with a ton of momentum, as he won the Players Championship earlier this month.

McIlroy, meanwhile was completely hammered on the course by Ian Poulter, who won 6 & 5. Poulter had eight birdies compared to McIlroy’s two.

However just because you lost on Wednesday does not mean you are eliminated from the championships. There are 16 groups of four players each, and the winners of each pool advance to the knockout stage.

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