It will be Johnson vs. Johnson as world No. 1 Dustin takes on double major champion Zach in a round-of-16 clash at the WGC-Dell Match Play here Saturday. And five-time major champion Phil Mickelson will meet in-form Australian Marc Leishman as the World golf Championships event enters the knockout phase after completing the round-robin phase at Austin Country Club in Texas. Big-hitting Dustin Johnson emerged with a perfect 3-0-0 record, wrapping up the group phase with a 5&3 shellacking of fellow American Jimmy Walker Friday. Mickelson finished group play in style at 3-0-0 with a 6&5 thumping of fellow American J.B. Holmes. Leishman was given a scare before winning his group in a three-way playoff with Englishman Lee Westwood and American Pat Perez after they all finished with the same 2-1-0 record in their group. Among other round-of-16 match-ups will be Spaniard Jon Rahm versus American Charles Howell III, Englishman Paul Casey against Japan's Hideto Tanihara and American Bubba Watson against Englishman Ross Fisher. Rahm won his group by beating countryman Sergio Garcia 6&4. Howell topped his group after an eventful three-way playoff with Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and Spain's Rafa Cabrera-Bello. Hatton was eliminated at the first extra hole after incurring a two-stroke penalty for putting without replacing his ball after he had caused it to move fractionally. Howell finally emerged victorious four holes later. Ko misses cut as Kerr seizes solo lead World No. 1 Lydia Ko missed the cut for only the second time in her career as veteran Cristie Kerr opened a one-shot lead at the Kia Classic Friday. New Zealand's Ko, 19, fired a level-par 72 at the Aviara golf Club in Carlsbad, California, but it was not enough to advance her to the weekend following her two-over-par opening round 74 Thursday. Kerr held a share of the first round lead with Mo Martin and South Korea's Chun In-gee, but she pulled away from the pack. Kerr made two bogeys in her last four holes as her lead dwindled to one. Her three-under 69 put her at nine-under 135, one stroke in front of Martin, who carded a 70, and South Korea's Lee Mi-rim, who shot her second straight 68 for 136. It was a further two strokes back to South Korea's Hur Mi-jung, France's Karine Icher and Americans Austin Ernst and Jackie Stoelting on 138. Three tie for lead Bryson DeChambeau, D.A. Points and Bill Lunde were locked in a three-way tie for the lead when darkness suspended second-round play Friday at the Puerto Rico Open. The three Americans were knotted at 11-under par on the rain-softened Coco Beach course, with Lunde having three holes to complete as one of 45 players returning early Saturday to finish the round in Rio Grande. DeChambeau fired a seven-under-par 65, Points a 69, and Lunde was four-under for the day after an opening 65. New Zealand left-hander Tim Wilkinson joined a large group one off the lead with a sizzling 63, playing his last eight holes in seven-under par. — Agencies
