Twice in the final two holes, Sergio Garcia seemed to be in control of his match against Ryan Moore. And twice in those final two holes, Moore delivered a dagger. Ah, the vagaries of match play.
With the match tied on No. 18, Garcia played aggressively, and hit a perfect, 331-yard drive that left him a pitch shot from the short par 4. Moore laid back nearly 100 yards behind Garcia with his tee shot. But then, he did this:
Garcia responded with a poor second shot and only made par on Austin Country Club's gettable finishing hole. Meanwhile, the kick-in birdie gave Moore a win in Thursday's first match and moved his record to 1-0-1 through two days. Garcia got saddled with a loss, something that usually spells an early exit from this event, even with the addition of the round-robin stage.
On the par-3 17th, Garcia hit a splendid shot to six feet. But Moore, looking like he'd go 1 down, responded by chipping in for birdie to stay all square. Moore now controls his own destiny in advancing from his group. A win against Lee Westwood on Friday will put him in the round of 16.
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