Three surviving top seeds advance to Friday’s third round

One day after the WGC-Accenture Match Play produced 15 upsets, Thursday’s second round was fairly straightforward, as the three surviving top seeds advanced to the third round. Here’s a rundown of five key matches from Marana, Ariz.

No. 1 Lee Westwood def. No. 8 Robert Karlsson (3 and 2) — For the first time in 12 Accenture Match Play starts, Westwood will be around on Friday. After taking a 5-up lead after 10 holes, Westwood stumbled coming home before closing the match out with a birdie on the 16th hole. Despite the hiccup, the Englishman hasn’t trailed in the 33 holes he’s played this week, which is pretty impressive.

No. 3 Dustin Johnson def. No. 11 Francesco Molinari (7 and 5) — Johnson could be the hottest player left in the bracket after he disposed of the Italian, 7 and 5, in the biggest blowout of the day. One day after he had to go 20 holes to beat Jim Furyk, Johnson roared out of the gates, going 5-up after only 8 holes. Despite losing the 10th, he birdied two of his next three holes to close out the match. He advances to the third round for the first time in his career.

No. 1 Rory McIlroy def. No. 9 Anders Hansen (3 and 2) — McIlroy moved a step closer to taking over the top spot in the World Golf Rankings on Thursday after he defeated Anders Hansen, 3 and 2. The 22-year-old wasn’t on his game for much of the match, but a chip-in on the 14th gave him an almost insurmountable 3-up lead. He’ll face Miguel Angel Jimenez in Friday’s third round.

No. 1 Martin Kaymer def. No. 8 David Toms (2-up) — There’s something about this event that brings out the best in Kaymer. One year after he made it to the Accenture Match Play final, the German moved a step closer to replicating the feat with a 2-up win over David Toms. The match was tight for most of the day, as Kaymer birdied the 11th hole to take a 1-up lead and then held on for dear life. Like Westwood, he hasn’t trailed in the 34 holes he’s played.

No. 6 Hunter Mahan def. No. 14 Y.E. Yang (5 and 3) — Five straight weeks of golf apparently hasn’t taken a toll on Hunter Mahan’s game. After taking out Zach Johnson in 19 holes, Mahan came to play on Thursday, hitting fairways in greens in one of the most dominating performances of the second round. He birdied six of his first eight holes and never looked back, building a 4-up lead after 8; Yang conceded the final two holes to end the match.

Devil Ball Golf – Golf – Yahoo! Sports