ON THE LINKS | Thursday’s professional golf results

PGA TOUR

Match Play Championship

SAN FRANCISCO

Rickie Fowler escaped with three big putts and beat Shane Lowry of Ireland to secure his spot in the round of 16 at the Match Play Championship. Fowler still has one more match to play on Friday, which effectively is a practice round in the middle of a tournament. He already has won two matches in round-robin play and is assured of having the best record to advance from his four-man group. The second day at TPC Harding Park brought out a strange element for match play — scoreboard watching. J.B. Holmes went 19 holes to beat Russell Henley and then stayed on the course to watch the match behind him. He knew Brooks Koepka had to win or else Holmes would be eliminated. Koepka won the last three holes and wound up beating Marc Warren of Scotland. Fowler knew he would win his group provided Harris English beat Graeme McDowell, because Fowler had already defeated English. McDowell had a 3-up lead until English rallied to win five out of six holes for a 2-and-1 victory.

LPGA TOUR

North Texas Shootout

IRVING, TEXAS

Lydia Ko had a triple bogey after losing a ball in a pine tree and dropped three more strokes on the next two holes to put her career-long LPGA Tour cuts streak in jeopardy in the North Texas Shootout. Ko finished with a 4-over 75 at Las Colinas, leaving the top-ranked New Zealander nine strokes behind leaders Juli Inkster, Cristie Kerr and Sydnee Michaels. Coming off a victory Sunday in California, the 18-year-old Ko had the triple bogey on the par-4 14th, followed with a double bogey on the par-4 15th and a bogey on the par-4 16th. She was tied for 117th in the 114-player field that will be cut to the top 70 and ties after the second round and to the top 50 and ties after the third. Ko has made the 36-hole cuts in all 50 of her LPGA Tour starts. Ko said Wednesday that she will donate her earnings this week to the earthquake relief effort in Nepal. The 54-year-old Inkster also shared the first-round lead last week in California and ended up tying for 15th. She won the last of her 31 tour titles in 2006. Kerr won the Kia Classic in late March for her 17th tour victory.

Associated Press