Big hitters rule at Match Play

Associated Press

MARANA, Ariz.

J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson are in the quarterfinals of the Match Play Championship, and it’s not hard to figure out how they got there.

In fact, you could say it’s elementary.

Holmes has five of the longest drives this week at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, including a 400-yard shot in the opening round. He wasn’t always straight, but he was long enough to keep himself in the game and win the last two holes against Jason Day on Friday.

Watson didn’t win his match against Geoff Ogilvy on the par-5 11th hole, but it sure felt that way. Already 2 up in his match, Watson was 290 from the hole when he ripped a 3-iron with a tight draw that bounded onto the green and settled about 15 feet away.

“I knew if I hit a bullet 3-iron, it could roll up close,” Watson said. “We were just thinking about getting it on the green. We were thinking about missing it left, so we’d have an easy chip up on the slope. I knew it was good. I saw where it was running and it worked out in my favor again. I swung as hard as I could at a low, bullet 3-iron.”

Three holes later, the match was over, 6 and 4.

“It’s never fun to lose,” said Ogilvy, a two-time champion of this fickle event. “But it’s the first time I’ve played OK and lost. He played well. He hit great shots. I didn’t play that bad. I didn’t play ‘6-and-4’ bad.”

That set up more fireworks for today — Holmes vs. Watson, two of the longest hitters on the PGA Tour, head-to-head on a course nearly 7,800 yards long in the high desert with wind expected to top 20 mph.

“It should be fun,” Holmes said. “Me and Bubba move it out there pretty good.”

Their explosive play shifted the focus from youth to power in the third round, as the kids got sent home — 17-year-old Matteo Manassero, 22-year-old Rickie Fowler and the 23-year-old Day all lost their matches.

The youngest player still around also is the best — Martin Kaymer, the highest seed left at No. 2.