By Rahul Banerji
Justin Thomas and Jordan Speith win the seventh edition of The Match by a 3&2 margin over Tiger Woods and world number one Rory McIlroy on Saturday.
The 12-hole made-for-television event supported by Capital One was played for the first time entirely under lights.
Played for charity fund-raising at the Pelican Golf Club in Belle Air, Florida, the event was marked by constant banter, needling and some distractions by both teams.
Thomas drained a long birdie putt to win the second hole and he and Speith were never caught thereafter with Speith birdie putting the third to open a two-shot gap.
Tiger incidentally had helped halve the opening hole with a birdie when he almost drove the green but never looked to be in the race.
For his part, reigning FedExCup champ McIlroy was unable to pull the duo forward and only came close once with three holes to go.
The fourth hole of the best-ball competition was a one-club challenge which JT won again using a 5-wood.
Testing the water
It was Tiger’s first competitive outing since The Open at St Andrews in July. He withdrew from the Hero World Challenge with plantar fasciitis but said he had been playing well at home.
“I can hit the golf ball and hit whatever shot you want,” he said at Albany in the Bahamas last week. “I just can’t walk.”
Though Thomas made the early running, Speith delivered the decisive blow with a match-winning approach shot from the pine straw within five feet and a birdie putt.
“I was just trying to get on top of it and play a cut. If you end up hitting pine straw first, it could go anywhere,” the PGA Tour website quoted Spieth as saying later.
McIlroy and Woods won their first hole on the seventh but it was too little and too last and JT promptly got it back on eight to maintain the gap before Speith closed out the match.
Overall though, the 15-time major winner will be encouraged ahead of his next engagement the PNC Championship which he will play with son Charlie, also in Florida,
Also read: Tiger lines up busy comeback schedule starting with HWC
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