Billy Horschel is more than halfway to catching Tiger Woods.
With a 3-and-2 victory over Tom Hoge on Thursday at windy Austin Country Club in Texas in the second round of pool play in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Horschel has won seven consecutive matches in the event.
The defending champion last lost, 4 and 2 to J.T. Poston, in last year’s second round of pool play. He won his last five matches last year to win the title and the first two this year.
That leaves him six short of matching Woods, who holds the record with 13 consecutive wins in the Match Play from 2003-05. Woods also is the only player to win back-to-back Match Play titles.
“There are stats that Tiger has accomplished and that he has that are just mind blowing. Things that you just can’t imagine and when you think about 13 straight matches won, you don’t think that’s a big deal, but when you realize it, it’s two years of match play and not losing almost,” Horschel said. “There’s nothing I can say that someone hasn’t already said about him, so if somehow I was able to continue on a great streak and win the next five matches and then come back and win one match next year, it would be really cool to have my name next to him.”
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Horschel will play Thomas Pieters in the final round of pool play; Pieters moved to 1-1-0 with a 1-up win over Min Woo Lee. Horschel made a 50-footer for birdie on the first hole to grab a lead he never relinquished.
“I think I don’t toot my own horn. I’m not one of those guys to tell you how great I am at what I do,” said Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion. “I’m a grinder. Yes, I can make it look pretty sometimes but I’m OK playing in the mud and grinding it out and I’m a really good putter inside 10 feet, which is crucial in match play. I love the format and right now obviously I’m having a lot of success.
“I’ve been lucky that the two guys I’ve played have made some mistakes. So it’s allowed me not to have to really do anything special.”
Among others to move to 2-0-0 were Alex Noren, who won when Paul Casey conceded due to back spasms for the second consecutive day. Noren will face Corey Connors, who beat Louis Oosthuizen, 2 and 1, to move to 2-0-0, in the final round of pool play.
Also improving to 2-0-0 was Lucas Herbert, who beat Xander Schauffele, 1 up.
“I played a lot of amateur golf with Xander and I feel like he’s obviously had a quicker rise than I did to the PGA Tour and to that top 10 in the world, but I felt like back seven or eight years ago we probably had similar games and I feel like I’m getting somewhere near where he is,” Herbert said. “So I didn’t feel super out of place playing against him, I felt like I knew him and had spent a bit of time with him out at events and practicing and that kind of thing with him before.
“So I think that was a big benefit to me versus playing against someone I had not really met before and not played any golf against.”
Matt Fitzpatrick, who beat Ian Poulter, 4 and 2, also moved to 2-0-0, and Seamus Power won his second consecutive match with a 5-and-4 romp over Patrick Cantlay.
“This is a miracle. This is the closest I’ve gotten to getting out of the group,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m happy with the start. The good thing is it’s in my hands, so if I go out and win tomorrow, I’ll go through.”
The third round of pool play continues Friday. After Friday’s action, the field will be trimmed to 16 players and single elimination will begin Saturday.
