subject: Day Two Full Of More Surprises [print this page] Day Two Full Of More Surprises Day Two Full Of More Surprises
In a Match Play Championship having a youthful complexion, Rickie Fowler was dressed in matching pink shoes and shirt when he walked onto the driving range with cheap golf clubs and past his opponent, Phil Mickelson, who looked him up and down and smiled.
"Sophia has some shoes like that," Mickelson said, referring to his 9-year-old daughter. "She wears them to her dance class."
Mickelson has become somewhat of a mentor to Fowler, so the kid knew what was coming.
As soon as they got onto the course, Fowler was hotter than his choice of color at Dove Mountain.
Fowler was 8-under par when their match ended on the 13th hole, a 6-and-5 win that sent Mickelson to his worst loss ever in this fickle tournament.
"I adore guys like Phil. In a way, he's taken me under his wing a bit," Fowler said. "I love watching him play callaway x-24 hot irons. I love playing with him. And clearly, it was huge for me going available and obtaining the job carried out these days."
Fowler was 5 under over the last four holes, which included a chip-in for birdie from behind the 10th green along with a pair of eagles, the last one having a 4-iron from 232 yards that landed just beyond a ridge and rolled so close that Mickelson conceded the putt.
"He does not really have a weakness," Mickelson said. "He truly is a total player, and he put it together today."
Fowler had lots of company.
Equally impressive was Italy's teen sensation, 17-year-old Matteo Manassero, who hit a 6-iron to four feet on the 17th hole and closed out Charl Schwartzel of South Africa to advance. Jason Day, a 23-year-old Australian, played like a veteran of match play the way he toyed with Paul Casey in a 4-and-2 victory.
Of the final 16 players left at the Accenture Match Play Championship, eight are under 30.
That includes Nick Watney, who steadied his emotions over the last 3 holes to knock out top-ranked Lee Westwood the third straight year the No. 1 seed did not make it out of the second round. The highest seed remaining following two wild days was PGA champion Martin Kaymer, the 25-year-old "Germanator" who had to go 20 holes to beat Justin Rose.
It hasn't been a bad week for the Americans at this World Golf Championship. They've eight players within the round of 16, probably the most in five years. The surprise is the list of players.
Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk had been gone after the first round. Mickelson joined them on Thursday.
Leading the way is a new cast of emerging stars, from Fowler and Watney, to Hunter Mahan, who won 3 of the last five holes to rally against Robert Karlsson.
But this youth movement is not about the Americans.
Manassero keeps setting age records wherever he goes the youngest to win the British Amateur with best golf clubs, the youngest to be low amateur at the British Open and the Masters, the youngest to win on the European Tour.
