The Asian challenge at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play ended in the group stage with all five golfers -- Si Woo Kim, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, K.H. Lee and Hideki Matsuyama -- bowing out on the third day of the competition at the Austin Country Club here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Entering the final round-robin group matches on Friday, Si Woo Kim was the best placed to advance after garnering two impressive wins in Group 8 but he fell to a 7 and 6 defeat to American veteran star Matt Kuchar, who tied Tiger Woods' tournament record of having the most match victories at 36.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Kim, a four-time PGA Tour winner, dropped five bogeys in his first eight holes and made the turn 5-down, before Kuchar, winner of the event in 2013 and runner-up in 2019, closed out the match on the 12th green at Austin Country Club.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Sungjae Im was the day's lone victor as he earned a second win of the week following a 4 and 3 triumph over Europe's Ryder Cup star Tommy Fleetwood but the effort proved futile as American J.T. Poston safely advanced from Group 16 by securing his third victory with a 3 and 1 win over Maverick McNealy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tom Kim, making his first appearance in the event, needed to beat defending champion Scottie Scheffler to force a playoff in Group 1 but the American World No. 1 proved too good as the home favourite produced a 3 and 2 victory to advance into the Round of 16.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Making his debut, K.H. Lee endured a disappointing week in the US$20 million showpiece following a third successive defeat, going down 3 and 2 to Nick Taylor while Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama withdrew before his final group match against Max Homa due to a recurring neck injury which had limited his preparation this week, the PGA Tour informed a release on Friday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I experienced some stiffness in my neck this morning while warming up at the range, preventing me from making a full swing. As a precautionary measure, I decided to concede my match to Max and rest before moving on to the Valero Texas Open next week," Matsuyama, who had won his opening Group 5 match against Kevin Kisner, was quoted as saying in the release.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 44-year-old Kuchar, a nine-time Tour winner, was delighted to tie Woods' record at the Dell Technologies Match Play.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Certainly very cool. Getting a chance to tie any record of Tiger's is an amazing thing. That's something I still find it hard to comprehend that I'm saying that, that I tied one of his records. So I'm hugely proud, and pleased. There are 300 more records, I'm sure, to go, but it's a fun one to be able to say you've kind of got something you tied Tiger with," said Kuchar, who faces a resurgent Jason Day in the Round of 16.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Reigning FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy was amongst the top seeds to advance into the single elimination rounds this weekend and faces Australia's Lucas Herbert on Saturday morning.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Certainly very cool. Getting a chance to tie any record of Tiger's is an amazing thing. That's something I still find it hard to comprehend that I'm saying that, that I tied one of his records. So I'm hugely proud, and pleased. There are 300 more records, I'm sure, to go, but it's a fun one to be able to say you've kind of got something you tied Tiger with," said Kuchar, who faces a resurgent Jason Day in the Round of 16.<\/p>\r\n\r\n