Spieth & Thomas beat Woods & McIlroy in The Match

3 years ago 54
ARTICLE AD BOX
Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas celebrate on the fourth hole as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy look onThe Match is a made-for-TV event where players wear microphones

Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas cruised to a 3&2 win over Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in The Match at Florida's Pelican Golf Club.

The American duo combined for seven birdies - compared to Woods and McIlroy's one - to wrap up the charity event in 10 holes.

The Match raised money to support relief efforts in Florida after Hurricane Ian hit in October.

"Hey Tiger and Rory, what happened?" Spieth and Thomas joked on Twitterexternal-link.

"How do you lose to us two? It's alright, everybody does."

Spieth and Thomas - who combined have five major titles - dominated from the start of the contest, claiming holes two, three and four before American Woods and Northern Ireland's world number one McIlroy pulled one back on the seventh.

Spieth and Thomas quickly restored their advantage, and matched their opponents' 10th hole birdie to complete the win.

Fifteen-time major champion Woods, 46, is still recovering from the injuries he suffered in a car accident in February 2021, and said he had not hit a ball in more than two weeks before The Match because of plantar fasciitis.

He withdrew from the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas - won by Viktor Hovland - earlier this month.

Making his first televised appearance since missing the cut at the Open in July, it was his third time playing in The Match, while Spieth, Thomas and McIlroy were all making their debuts.

Woods lost to Phil Mickelson at the inaugural event in 2018, while he and former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning then beat Mickelson and current NFL player Tom Brady in 2020.

Across the BBC banner

Across the BBC footer

Read Entire Article