Lee Westwood knocks Jordan Spieth out of WGC Match Play

Lee Westwood claimed experience was the key as he sent Masters champion Jordan Spieth home from the WGC-Cadillac Match Play to book a place in the knock out stages.

Rory McIlroy also produced some late heroics to beat former Walker Cup foe Billy Horschel.

Spieth, Westwood, McIlroy and Horschel had all won their first two group matches at TPC Harding Park, meaning Friday’s contests would decide which players advanced.

And after Westwood recovered from losing the first two holes to beat Spieth on the 18th, McIlroy came from two down after 16 to beat Horschel on the 20th hole.

McIlroy will face Hideki Matsuyama and Westwood takes on fellow Englishman and stable mate Danny Willett in the last 16.

“Experience plays a role on any day, really,” Westwood said.

“But I’ve had a lot of match play experience, obviously nine Ryder Cups and many world match plays.  

“I played a lot of match play golf as an amateur, so I know how quickly things can change and what to do at certain times, when to be aggressive, when not to be aggressive.  

“Yeah, certainly the experience is one of the advantages of being 42, I guess.  Not that there are many! 

“Jordan is arguably the best player in the world, in my opinion he is the best player in the world at the moment.  

“But you have to obviously respect that Rory is at the top of the World Rankings.  But he’s certainly the hottest player in the world. It was nice being the underdog for a change.  

“It’s nice to sort of come into the match play and be the underdog, but well and truly today. 

“And just went out and tried to play with a bit of freedom and roll positively on the greens and make some nice putts.  We both did.  It was a good match to be involved in.  It could have gone either way, really.”

South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen defeated Bubba Watson on the 19th to set up a clash with Rickie Fowler, but Justin Rose bowed out despite beating Ryan Palmer to claim his second consecutive victory, first-day conqueror Marc Leishman rendering the former US Open champion’s result meaningless by beating India’s Anirban Lahiri on the 18th to advance with a perfect 3-0 record.

Leishman will face Gary Woodland next after Woodland defeated Webb Simpson on the 18th. 

Former champion Hunter Mahan also advanced to the knockout stages with his third win, the American defeating compatriot Matt Kuchar 5 and 4 in Group 14.

Mahan will face Australian John Senden after Senden and Fowler had already booked their places in the last 16 with a game to spare thanks to victories on the opening two days against the two players who could possibly match their overall record.

Head-to-head results would decide the group winner in the event of two players finishing tied, with the only play-off seeing Branden Grace defeat Zach Johnson and Charley Hoffman with a birdie at the third extra hole to set up a last-16 clash with England’s Tommy Fleetwood.

Fleetwood defeated Bernd Wiesberger on the 19th and advanced courtesy of his better head-to-head record with Jamie Donaldson, who had beaten Sergio Garcia.

Elsewhere, Paul Casey had recovered from four down with nine to play to beat Francesco Molinari and set up a meeting with former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, with Jim Furyk winning Group 5 after beating Martin Kaymer on the 20th hole.

Furyk will take on JB Holmes on Saturday after Holmes defeated Brooks Koepka and Russell Henley defeated Scotland’s Marc Warren.

To see the results and draw in full visit http://www.worldgolfchampionships.com/cadillac-match-play/livescoring.html