The beauty of match play is that you’re never completely out of a hole until your opponent has found the bottom of the cup.
Bryson DeChambeau personified that fact on Wednesday during the first match of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play against Scotland’s Russell Knox.
Having halved each of the first three holes with pars after each man has decent chances to cash in birdies, Knox looked for all the world to be headed toward a 1-up lead going to the fifth hole after DeChambeau’s tee shot on the par-3 fourth found the cabbage well short and right of the third green below a rock embankment.
What happened next was a mixture of luck and skill.
(Press the arrow on the right side of the video to see the putt)
DeChambeau improbably halved the hole to stay all square with Knox. He would lose two and win one of the next four holes before catching fire on the back nine.
The five-time PGA Tour champ won the 10th, 11th, 16th and 17th holes to win 3&1.
DeChambeau will play Kiradech Aphibarnrat on Thursday and Marc Leishman on Friday in hopes of emerging from Group 6 and into the 16-man knockout stage.
