Mickelson advances in Austin

Bruced

Phil Mickelson dominated his group opponents over the first three days of the World Golf Championships Dell Technologies Match Play and so is one of 16 players to progress to the knock-out stages.

On Friday at Austin Country Club Mickelson dismantled JB Holmes six and five to back-up strong performances against Si Woo Kim and Daniel Berger earlier in the week.

Three wins from free matches were more than enough to earn Mickelson a spot in the knock-out stages of this unique tournament. He faces Australia’s Marc Leishman next.

Mickelson has held the lead for 41 of the 42 holes he’s played but hasn’t had to play past the 15th hole.

When speaking about his chances on the weekend, he explained that his emphatic path to the knock-out stages had it’s pros and cons.

“There's a good and a bad,” Mickelson said.

“I'm nervous that I haven't been in a match that has gone the last hole or two and feel that clutch pressure.

“But also the good is that I have been able to conserve energy heading into this weekend.

“That is going to be a real key with four potential matches.

“If you keep playing well four potential matches, energy could be an issue.”

Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Matt Kuchar were some of the notables to not make it out of the group stages.

All the advancing players can be seen below:

Soren Kjeldsen

Alex Noren

Marc Leishman

Phil Mickelson

Brooks Koepka

Dustin Johnson

Jon Rahm

Kevin Na

Paul Casey

Ross Fisher

Bill Haas

Hideto Tanihara

Bubba Watson

William McGirt

Zach Johnson

Charles Howell III