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Austin, Texas, March 30: China’s Haotong Li ran out of gas at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play as he lost six and five to last year’s runner-up Kevin Kisner of the United States in the Round of 16 on Saturday morning.

The 23-year-old’s brave run at Austin Country Club ended in a disappointing note as Kisner made light work of Li, who was his own worst enemy. Kisner was three-up after an eight-foot birdie putt at the first and pars on the next two holes.

Another birdie for Kisner at the fifth from nine feet extended the lead. Li, reaching the Round of 16 for the first time in his second Match Play start, bogeyed three of his last six holes and hit just four of 10 fairways while Kisner hit 9 of 10 as the match ended on the 13^th green.

Li conceded he was running on fumes after beating Ryder Cup star Alex Noren and world number three Brooks Koepka in the group matches, before playing 19 holes on Friday following his one-up loss to Tom Lewis which required Li to play in a sudden-death playoff against Noren which he prevailed after one hole to get through to the Round of 16.

“I just couldn’t focus today. I had a couple of bad mistakes. I mean, you can’t do that in match play,” said Li.  “Like I said, ran out of energy. It’s very good experience, especially through yesterday, it’s pretty good. If I play my best golf, I can compete with everyone. So I just have to work hard and get my game going.”

The Chinese rising star, who is hoping to become the first golfer from his country to play in the Presidents Cup in Melbourne, Australia in December, is looking forward to returning to Austin for another crack at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

“It’s a lot going on. You need to go through it and focus. It’s hard to focus. Just need to do better job next time,” said Li, who was a member of Team Asia at the EurAsia Cup in 2018.

As one in a series of four World Golf Championships events sanctioned and organized by the operational committee of the International Federation of PGA Tours, which includes the Asian Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play is one of the most exciting and biggest events on golf’s calendar.

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Julian Suri (Usa) Third round 71 (-1), Total 205 (-11)

I think a couple of the mistakes I made today where after long waits on the tee box and that was quite a long wait on 18. No excuses, totally my fault and I need to compose myself better and I think that is a bit of a learning curve for me after being out of tournament golf for a while now.

You have to be on your game at all times. Any slip up or anything can be pretty penal. I am feeling good with my overall game despite 18 there, the game feels good. I know Callum played well today. I knew that the putt on 18 was to keep a share of the lead which was big for me to make that and I will hopefully take some of that momentum into tomorrow.

It would be great to win. It would be awesome with my family history, but you know, it’s going to be a grind out there, there are a lot of people in it, and I need to go and do what I am capable of.

Callum Shinkwin (Eng) Third round 68 (-4), Total 205 (-11)

My game plan was to just stay away from the bushes. It’s so tight out there so when I do have a chance to hit driver I’ll hit it.

There were a few tricky pins out there today and I just stuck to my game plan and took the driver out when I needed to, or a two-iron if I needed to as well. It was a great ball-striking round which I am very happy about that too, just need more putts to drop. I just want to play as well as I can, if I do win that’s great, if I don’t then I know my time will come soon.

Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) Third round 68 (-4), Total 207 (-9)

I am very happy to have come back with another good round especially with how hard conditions were today.

I had a good comeback and shot five-under-par in the back nine. Especially after the eight on hole eight. I came into this week feeling confident because I have been hitting it well. So I was pretty aggressive today and using a lot of drivers off the tee. There were some big mistakes today but there were still a lot of good recovery shots.

On hole eight I hit a good tee shot, then I hit my first shot into the water. And hit another one into the water again. It was just two bad shots in a row and I had to force myself to forget about it pretty quick. I made a good up and down to save myself.

On hole 11 and hole 18 I made two good birdies because I used my driver off the tee and had two-putt birdies. Overall I am happy with my position and tomorrow I will be attacking the pins again.

S. Chikkarangappa (Ind) Third round 66 (-6), Total 210 (-6)

Started with two birdies which gave me a good momentum. Overall, I was hitting the ball great and hit almost every fairway and made a lot of green-in-regulations today. I am very happy with the round. Seven birdies and one bogey, I’ll take that score on this course.

I’ve been having a good stretch since I won the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational, I think that was where it all started for me and it’s been going great. I am feeling good about my game and all parts of my game is going good.

I am in a good position right now and I just need to go out there and enjoy myself like how I have been doing for the past couple of months, just no expectations and play happy golf.

I started working with Lawrence from the David Leadbetter Academy and changed a couple of things in my swing and they have been working very well for me as you can see. Every week I am getting stronger and stronger and I am really happy about it.

Sihwan Kim (Usa) Third round 67 (-5), Total 211 (-5)

It was good, I had a slow start but I just kept it on the greens and made some putts. First three holes were quite bad for me since I missed all three greens. But then I got the momentum going and just started hitting it a lot better.

On hole four I made a 15-footer for birdie to kick things off, and from there I had no bogeys so that was the hole that gave me the boost I needed. The greens are a lot softer this year so I could attack the pins more and it’s a lot less windy today and way hotter so the ball is going far. Really happy with where I am, I could have made a lot more putts out there but five-under-par on this course is good.

Austin, Texas, March 29: Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand bowed out of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play on Friday, losing two-up to Scotsman Russell Knox in a match which proved inconsequential.

With Australia’s Marc Leishman easily securing a third straight win against American Bryson DeChambeau in the group to progress into the Round of 16 at Austin Country Club, Kiradech was left to pick up the pieces of a campaign which gave him plenty to think about as he prepares to head into the year’s first major, the Master Tournament in two weeks’ time.

“My short game is so bad. I can’t get up-and-down from any par-five. It’s quite disappointing this week. No birdies and then chipped in the water on 12 and make a seven to lose the hole. It’s a turnaround. And I didn’t have any confidence around the greens. I have a lot of work to do,” said Kiradech, who made it into the quarterfinals here last year.

He will take the next two weeks off to sharpen his game which has proven to be inconsistent in his first full season on the PGA TOUR. Last month, he finished tied-third at the WGC-Mexico Championship but the Thai star has missed numerous cuts as well which has left a bitter taste in his mouth.

“I still have to work on my game a little bit. I’m not far off,” he said. “It’s some technique which is not right. I’ve been struggling for last two or three years. Not chipping as well as I used to do. I still have to work.

“It’s been up-and-down. I mean, I miss a lot of cuts this year. I hope I can do better but first year on the TOUR is always a struggle I guess. I just want to go again and try to get my best form back. Doing the same thing – practicing hard and playing well and hopefully I just get what I used to do,” he said.

China’s Haotong Li admitted he got ‘lucky’ as he progressed into the Round of 16 after prevailing with a three-foot birdie on the first extra hole against Sweden’s Alex Noren to emerge as the lone Asian to advance into the weekend play.

“The whole day was just like a roller coaster,” said a relieved Li.

“And I didn’t play solid. I was a little bit off with my tee shots and I think that was it. And on my final hole on 18, I was just a little bit nervous and hit it a little soft and it didn’t get enough break. Hands were a little bit tight. I felt like if it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, just play good the next time.”

Li split the fairway with a solid drive in the playoff hole against Noren, whom he had beaten five and four on Wednesday, and then fired a superb wedge approach shot to three feet of the pin to secure his place in the last 16 against last year’s runner-up Kevin Kisner, who edged out Ian Poulter in another play-off to advance.

“I got lucky here (in the playoff) … honestly. I hit it a little thin and as soon as I saw that bounce, I was like, ‘God! Thanks’. I am so thankful for everything,” said Li, who lost his three group matches in his debut last year.

With a knock-out Round of 16 match against Kisner on Saturday morning, the Chinese rising star, who is a two-time European Tour winner and Presidents Cup International Team hopeful, knows he must power-up again overnight to have a chance of extending his magical run at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

“I felt like I ran out of all the energy already. I need to get something, recover and let’s see what we can do tomorrow. Hopefully I can win a few more matches,” he said.

As one in a series of four World Golf Championships events sanctioned and organized by the operational committee of the International Federation of PGA Tours, which includes the Asian Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play is one of the most exciting and biggest events on golf’s calendar.

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Player’s Quotes:

Julian Suri (Usa) Second round 67 (-5), Total 134 (-10)

I put the foot down, but I had the same mindset I had on the first nine. I hit it really well the whole day and I just tried to free it up a little bit on the second nine with my putting. I hit a lot of good shots and gave myself a ton of chances on the first nine but nothing dropped. So I just putted more freely on the second nine, with feel, like how I normally do.

I am hitting quite a few drivers. Driver is probably the most comfortable club in the bag for me so I am being pretty aggressive and with the greens being somewhat softer than what they were last year, I am coming into the greens with a lot of wedges and pitch shots and stuff, so you can score when you are in a good spot.

I’ve been playing well, and I knew I was playing well even though the score didn’t show it after the first nine, so just had to keep plugging away and staying patient.

Callum Shinkwin (Eng) Second round 65 (-7), Total 138 (-7)

It is a brutal golf course, it really is tough. It doesn’t let up from tee to green, basically from the first tee to the 18th green, you have your work cut out. Today I managed to succeed today let’s say, and sort of beat the golf course.

It’s not easy. You have to give the golf course a lot of respect everywhere. Off the tee, into the green and on the greens. Even today, it wasn’t that easy. I had one three putt for par and I don’t think I missed a green today which helps.

Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) Second Round 69 (-3) total 138 (-6)

I didn’t do too good on putting but was driving it well. The course is very hard because there are a lot of slopes so you really have to be careful on where you place your shots.69 has been my best score here so I’m quite happy with it. Teeing off in the afternoon, the conditions were different. Greens were much harder compared to yesterday.

I won’t be too aggressive during the weekend rounds, I just want to try and get from fairway to the green.
My goal is to just finish in the top-10 I haven’t been playing very well especially coming from last week. So this week I hope to stay consistent and keep up this pace.

Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) Second Round 70 (-2), Total 139 (-5)

The conditions were pretty much same as yesterday, there wasn’t any wind but just a little bit hotter. My tee shots were good again today. I struggled to get on the greens in regulation in the back nine but my short game helped me. I think I had about two up-and-downs from the bunker. The back nine felt a little more difficult.

I’m happy to have made the cut especially on this course. I think my biggest thing to focus on is my putting. Hopefully I can get the speed and rhythm figured out and maybe I can put up some good rounds.

Prom Meesawat (Tha) Second round 74 (+2), Total 144 (-2)

It is really tough out there, I didn’t play too well on the front nine and only hit four greens but I still had a good come back in the back nine. The pin is tougher than yesterday. Playing in the morning is different too I had to adjust my shots because it wasn’t going as far as yesterday when I teed off in the morning.

Two more rounds to go and I am happy to have made it especially on a course like this. I have been playing good and I just want to finish this event well.

I tried to commit on my shots a little more today but I still get intimidated on holes 14 and six. I’ll try again tomorrow and be more committed off the tee and maybe I can get over that feeling.

Berry Henson (Usa) Second Round 72 (E), Total 144 (-2)

It is a battle every day on this golf course so I am glad I got through it. I will probably be in a decent position after today and make a move over the weekend.

It was playing quite similar to yesterday and the more you play on this course the more comfortable you get. But its hard to attack on this course, and it seems like you have to always be defensive to not make a big number.

I’ve only hit one driver over the past two rounds. I hope to take a bit more of a risk over the weekend and try and get in better positions to score. Today I just hit my three-wood off the tee just to keep my ball in play. That was my game plan, to keep my ball in play and stay away from the big numbers.

I haven’t been able to attack with my iron-play so hopefully I’ll get that sorted.

Ends.