AUSTIN, Texas — Australian Jason Day will replace Jordan Spieth as world No. 1 Sunday after advancing to a mouth-watering WGC-Dell Match Play semifinal against Rory McIlroy, while the Texan was beaten in the last 16 by Louis Oosthuizen.
Day, who has been bothered by a back problem, beat Brandt Snedeker 3&2 in the last 16 and then Brooks Koepka in the quarterfinal by the same score Saturday at Austin Country Club.
Northern Irishman McIlroy, the defending champion, followed a one-up win over British Open winner Zach Johnson by defeating Chris Kirk 4&3 to set up the first ever match play encounter between the pair.
South African Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open winner, will face Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello in the other semifinal.
Day said his return to world number one — he occupied top spot for four weeks late last year — was reward for all the hard work he has been putting in.
“It’s not so much the No. 1 ranking that gets me excited, it’s more the journey and the process,” he said.
Four-time major winner McIlroy is bidding to become the second player to retain the Match Play title after Tiger Woods won it in 2003 and 2004.
“My record in match play as a pro is pretty good and it was pretty good as an amateur as well,” he said. “To get to the last day for the second year in a row is great for your confidence.
“Especially with the US Masters only a couple of weeks away, to get a good run in this tournament, which is my last competitive start before Augusta, is really pleasing.”
An out-of-sorts Spieth, who will be defending champion at Augusta, battled his swing from the moment he stepped on to the range to warm up and lost 4&2 to Oosthuizen.
“I had great ball control the last three days, played very, very solid rounds, and I got to the range this morning and I was hitting some slices with my irons, which is bizarre,” the 22-year-old told Golf Channel.
After taking out Spieth, Oosthuizen beat Dustin Johnson 2&1 in the last eight and said a reprieve at the par-five 12th had been the key to his win over the long-hitting American.
Spaniard Cabrera-Bello, who came into the tournament on the back of two runner-up finishes on the European Tour in the Middle East, beat Ryan Moore 2&1 to reach the semis.
Ko seizes Kia Classic lead
Lydia Ko took sole possession of the lead after shooting a bogey-free 67 and Lee Min-jee aced a 275-yard par four in the third round of the Kia Classic.
World No. 1 Ko, of New Zealand, is at 14-under overall and has a three shot lead over Park Sung-hyun (68), Brittany Lang (70), and Jenny Shin (71) in the LPGA Tour event.
The day was special for Australia’s Lee as she made a hole-in-one on the 16th at the Carlsbad course. Lee becomes just the second in history to hit a hole-in-one at a par-four on the LPGA Tour, following Jang Ha-Na’s albatross earlier this year in the Bahamas.
Park carded five birdies in a row before a stumble on the par-five 17th hole with a double bogey. Park rebounded and finished her round with a birdie on the 18th, putting her in a tie for second place.
Ko holds the 54-hole lead for the 10th time in her career. She has won four of those tournaments.
World number two Park In-Bee shot a 70 and is in sole possession of fifth at 10-under, four shots adrift of Ko.
Norway’s Suzann Pettersen climbed up the leaderboard with a 66. She is tied for seventh place and Candie Kung shot the low round of the day with a 65. Kung is in a tie for 10th place. — Agencies
