Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy reach Match Play quarters

AUSTIN, Texas — Defending champion Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy survived matches that went the distance Saturday morning and advanced to the quarterfinals of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

Scheffler, who has reached the championship match in both appearances at Austin Country Club, looked to be headed home after J.T. Poston built a 3-up lead through 14 holes.

Poston botched the 15th and conceded the hole. Scheffler squared the match with a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-3 17th, and he won with a par on the 18th.

Quarterfinal matchups for the WGC-Dell Technology Match Play that are taking place Saturday afternoon:

Poston's approach to the 18th came up just short, and the gallery cheered when it began to roll off the false front into the rough. The cheer was even louder when Poston's 5-foot par putt lipped out and kept the match from going extra holes.

Scheffler played four years at Texas, so the gallery on his side was to be expected. He also is the No. 1 player in the world who defends his title in the Masters in two weeks. For now, he is three wins away from joining Tiger Woods as the only back-to-back winners in Match Play.

McIlroy won in 2015, the first year the format went away from single elimination. This is the fifth time he has reached the quarterfinals in any format, and it wasn't easy, even though he never trailed.

McIlroy was 1 up and had 7 feet for birdie on the 17th, presumably to close out the match, only for Herbert's 30-foot birdie putt to swirl more than 360 degrees around the cup and drop. That meant McIlroy had to make his putt to stay in the lead, and he poured it in.

On the final hole, McIlroy took the aggressive play with driver that set up a simple pitch to 3 feet, a putt that was