World Match Play: Ireland’s Seamus Power to face England’s Tyrrell Hatton in last 16

Image credit: Sky Sports

Seamus Power of Ireland, Tyrrell Hatton and Richard Bland of England have qualified for the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play knockout stages.

Despite falling to Patrick Reed in group one, world number one, Jon Rahm, advanced to the last 16 and will meet Brooks Koepka.

Billy Horschel, the defending champion, rallied from two holes down with two holes to play to equal Thomas Pieters and advance.

In the knockout round on Saturday, the 16 winners of each four-man group will compete. Seamus Power of Ireland, Tyrrell Hatton and Richard Bland of England have qualified for the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play knockout stages.

Power, who will face Hatton in the last 16, was not even in the top 450 players in the world a year ago.

The 35-year-old, who finished 42nd in the Match Play in Austin, won the Barbasol Championship in July 2021 and is now in line for his first Master’s invitation.

He was defeated 2–1 by Keith Mitchell, but Patrick Cantlay defeated Sungjae Im, putting Power in first place in group four.

“My golf game has improved. That’s what’s different now. It was said by Power. On the golf course, things don’t appear to be as difficult.

In a group that included South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout, South Korea’s Kim Si-woo, and America’s world number 17 Daniel Berger, Hatton won all three of his games.

Bland, who is 49 years old, is also scheduled to make his Masters’s debut. After defeating 48-year-old Lee Westwood 2 & 1 in group nine, he will face former world number one Dustin Johnson in the last 16.

Bland, who won the British Masters last year on his 478th start on the DP World Tour, said, “I need the afternoon off.” Lee and I joked that whoever finishes first will most likely win.

Lee is someone I’ve known for a long time. He’s a sporting great, so being able to go head-to-head with him and beat him was quite special.