Collin Morikawa helped by 'luck' in WGC Match Play win over Bob MacIntyre

Bob MacIntyre, a group winner 12 months ago, faces a tough test to emulate the feat in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play after losing his opening game to Open champion Collin Morikawa in Texas.

In a match that saw the opening six holes being exchanged at Austin Country Club, Morikawa always looked to be in control and, despite chipping into the water on the back nine after MacIntyre had already been wet off the tee, the two-time major winner registered a 2&1 victory.

It was MacIntyre’s first defeat in the round-robin stage of the event, having opened with a win over Kevin Na on his debut last year before then halving with both Dustin Johnson, who was the world No 1 at the time, and Adam Long.

His start on this occasion left the Scot needing to win both of his remaining matches against American Jason Kokrak and Spaniard Sergio Garcia to have any chance of progressing to the knockout stage again.

Having hit just four of the opening 10 greens in regulation, MacIntyre found himself two down to world No 2 Morikawa before the hole he was in became deeper as a wayward tee shot allowed his opponent to win the 12th through a concession.

The left-hander from Oban was then left off the hook as Morikawa sent that chip racing past the hole and into the water at the 13th, which was halved in bogey-5s.

After hitting one of his best shots of the day, MacIntyre was unable to convert a golden birdie chance at the par-4 14th before making amends by rolling in a 22-footer for a birdie at the next.

But, unlike Long in his match against him last year, Morikawa wasn’t going to let MacIntyre reel him in, closing the door with two straightforward pars in a match involving players who were on opposite sides in the 2017 Walker Cup in Los