In Round of 16 action at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, 39-seed Sergio Garcia outlasted debutant and 48-seed Mackenzie Hughes 2-and-1 and advances to the quarterfinals against first-timer and 31-seed Victor Perez, who trounced first-timer and 41-seed Robert MacIntyre 5-and-4. UPDATE: Garcia got thumped in the quarters by Perez 4-and-3 and finishes T5 (3-2-0) for a second consecutive time.
Garcia, now 3-1-0, has reached the quarters for a second straight time, joining a T5 in the last edition in 2019, where he won Group 16 as a 26-seed (2-1-0) but got bounced by eventual runner-up and 23-seed Matt Kuchar in the quarters. Hughes exits with a T9 and a 2-1-1 mark as the winner of Group 9. Garcia, who won Group 8 yesterday with a walk-off ace in a playoff over 18-seed Lee Westwood, was 1 UP early on with a birdie-win at 1, but the Canadian flipped the script to go 1 UP after birdie wins at 5 and 6 from 6'2 and 7'6, respectively. Garcia quickly tied with birdie-2 at 7, and then went 1 UP with a par-win at 9, and 2 UP with another par-win at 10. Hughes got back to 1 DOWN with birdie-2 at 11 (18'10") but the Spaniard took control with back-to-back wins at 13 and 14, now 3 UP. Hughes still had some fight left in him, winning the 16th, now 2 DOWN with two-to-play, but the contest would end with pars at the 17th.