Thomas, Watson to face off in WGC match play semifinals

The final four of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play is set, with Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson, Alex Noren and Kevin Kisner each advancing on Saturday in Austin, Texas.

Thomas will take on Watson on Sunday with a chance to wrestle the world’s top ranking from Dustin Johnson, with Noren and Kisner facing off in the other semifinal.

Currently ranked No. 2 in the world, Thomas cruised to a 6-and-5 win over South Korea’s Si Woo Kim in the Round of 16 and came from behind to beat Kyle Stanley 2 and 1 in the quarterfinals on Saturday. After bogeying at the second, Thomas picked up birdies at the sixth and eighth and then claimed three straight holes to take a 3-up lead on Stanley with five to play.

“Played well today, but just didn’t get off to the same start that I have been,” Thomas said after beating Stanley. “I missed a couple of short putts, but also made my fair share as well.”

Watson dispatched Brian Harman, 2 and 1, in the morning with the help of a pair of eagles, and then finished strong in a 5-and-3 win over Thailand’s Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

“It was one of those things, it could have went either way,” Watson said of his quarterfinal round, in which he and Aphibarnrat each chunked shots into a hazard in a two-hole span at the ninth and 10th. “Today I made putts and I got the breaks going my way. I didn’t three-putt when I needed a two-putt.”

Thomas and Watson will tee off at 9 a.m. ET on Sunday with the winner moving to the finals Sunday afternoon. If Thomas — who reached the No. 2 ranking for the first time in his career earlier this month — advances to the finals, he will claim the world’s top ranking.

The 24-year-old has seven PGA wins in the last 18 months, but he knows match play creates a different dynamic than a typical stroke-play tournament.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen with the opponent you’re playing,” Thomas said. “If you’re three down (in stroke play) you can make it up in one hole. If you’re three down in match play, that’s pretty hard to come back from. (Bubba) is a heck of a player, he’s really impressive, so I just have to partially hope that I don’t get a hot day from him and just go play the best that we can.

“Maybe I’ll mess with him a little bit. Maybe I’ll try to get in his head,” Thomas said with a smile. “I guess it will be fun … it will be more fun for whoever the victorious person is, but everyone is staying in their own lane for the most part, and I’ve been trying to play my own game.”

Noren claimed a spot in the other semifinal by dispatching Patrick Reed, 5 and 3, and Australia’s Cameron Smith, 4 and 2 on Saturday. The Swede, who is ranked 13th in the world, has made just four bogeys all week, including back-to-back bogeys that temporarily shrunk his lead in the quarterfinals.

“I felt like it could have gone either way,” Noren said of his match with Smith. “And then I stepped it up a little bit in the end and hit better shots. I think that’s the key in match play, to always keep your ball in play and keep putting pressure on him. If you don’t, on this level, they’ll play good.”

The 35-year-old will tee off against Kisner at 9:15 a.m. ET on Sunday in the semifinals. Kisner survived the Round of 16 with a 1-up win over Matt Kuchar before coasting to an 8-and-6 win over Ian Poulter in the quarterfinals.

Still looking for his first PGA Tour victory, Noren expects the Sunday experience to be a bit different than the final day of a stroke-play tournament.

“It’s maybe a little more calming,” Noren said. “Because you know you’ve had a good tournament so far, you can be fourth going into the last round, have a bad round and finish 20th. Here, at least you know you’re in a good position. Maybe that calms you down a little bit, and you can go for the win.”

—Field Level Media