PHIL Mickelson remains firmly in contention for his first victory since the 2013 Open after storming into the last 16 of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Mickelson thrashed Ryder Cup team-mate JB Holmes 6&5 at Austin Country Club on Friday to join Soren Kjeldsen and Alex Noren in the knockout stages of the £7.8million event.
The five-time major winner had previously beaten Si Woo Kim 5&3 and Daniel Berger 5&4 in group 14, meaning he has yet to play any of the last three holes in competition this week.
But the 46-year-old has the advantage of having conserved plenty of energy ahead of a possible four more matches, with the last 16 and quarter-finals scheduled for Saturday and the semi-finals and final on Sunday.
After winning the first three holes against an out-of-form Holmes, Mickelson moved further ahead when a par was good enough to win the eighth and it was only a matter of time before he sealed a comprehensive win.
Masters champion Danny Willett received a welcome boost ahead of the defence of his title at Augusta by beating Scotland's Russell Knox 4&2, although Willett had already been eliminated.
Knox's defeat and a victory for Bill Haas over KT Kim ensured Haas and Kim would contest a sudden-death play-off to decide the winner of group 11.
Another play-off was required in group six between England's Matt Fitzpatrick and Kevin Na after remarkable turnarounds in both of their matches.
Fitzpatrick was two down with five to play against Justin Thomas, but birdied the next four holes to win 2&1, while Ryder Cup team-mate Chris Wood overturned a bigger deficit against Na.
Na looked set to complete a 100 per cent record when he was four up after seven holes, only to lose seven of the next eight as Wood recorded four birdies and an eagle thanks to some brilliant approach play.
Victory for Lee Westwood over Pat Perez set up the first three-man play-off of the week in group three, which had been headed by defending champion Jason Day until his withdrawal on Wednesday.
Westwood, Perez and Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Marc Leishman all finished with a 2-1 record, Leishman receiving a walkover having been scheduled to face Day on Friday.
There was no doubt about the result in group seven however, Jon Rahm beating Sergio Garcia 6&4 in an all-Spanish clash to claim his third-straight win.
Garcia won just one hole in the match and Rahm closed out victory in style by almost holing his approach to the 14th for an eagle.
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