PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (March 28, 2017) – The PGA TOUR has announced that it will begin testing the use of distance measuring devices during competition at select tournaments this year on the Web.com Tour, Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada and PGA TOUR Latinoamérica.

Each of the three Tours will allow use of the devices by players and caddies at four consecutive tournaments, including Monday qualifiers. For these events, the PGA TOUR will temporarily enact a Local Rule in accordance with Decision 14-3/0.5 of The R&A/USGA Rules of Golf, which stipulates the device can be used to measure distance only (use of functions to measure slope, elevation or wind will not be allowed).

The Web.com Tour tournaments are: the BMW Charity Pro Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation, May 15-21 in Greenville, S.C.; the Rex Hospital Open, May 29-June 4 in Raleigh, N.C.; the Rust-Oleum Championship, June 5-11 in Ivanhoe, Ill.; and the Air Capital Classic, June 12-18 in Wichita, Kan.

PGA TOUR Latinoamérica will do its testing at the last four tournaments of the schedule’s first segment: the Essential Costa Rica Classic, April 20-23; the Quito Open, June 1-4 in Ecuador; the Puerto Plata DR Open, June 8-11 in the Dominican Republic; and the Jamaica Classic, June 15-18.

The Mackenzie Tour-PGA TOUR Canada will test at: the GolfBC Championship, June 15-18 in Kelowna, British Columbia; the Players Cup, July 6 – 9 in Winnipeg, Manitoba; the Staal Foundation Open presented by Tbaytel, July 13 – 16 in Thunder Bay, Ontario; and the Mackenzie Investments Open presented by Jaguar Laval, July 20 – 23 in Mirabel, Quebec.

“For years there has been significant discussion and debate about whether distance measuring devices would have a positive or negative impact on competition at the highest levels of professional golf,” said Andy Pazder, Chief Tournaments and Competitions Officer of the PGA TOUR. “The only way we can accurately assess their impact is to conduct an actual test during official competition on one or more of our Tours. We look forward to seeing how these tests go and carefully evaluating the use of the devices over those weeks. Our evaluation will consider the impact on pace of play, optics and any other effects they might have on the competition.”

Once the test and comprehensive evaluation is completed, the PGA TOUR will share the results with its Player Advisory Council on all of its Tours for additional review and discussion.

AVONDALE, La. – PGA Tour star Jason Day expects to arrive in Augusta, Georgia, on Friday to start practicing for the Masters, but said he could pull still out of the season’s first major, depending on his mother’s prognosis following surgery for lung cancer last week.

“Obviously, I’m still nervous because we’re still waiting to see … if it has spread or not,” said Day, who spoke Monday on a video conference set up by organizers of the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic in late April. “From there, we have to kind of come up with a game plan whether to go chemo – a form of chemo radiation – or something else.

“It’s still kind of a bit of an emotional time for me,” added Day, whose father, Alvin, died of cancer when he was 12. “Obviously, I’ve been hanging out with my mom a bit and seeing her and she’s recovering well. She’s a tough lady, but it’s hard because I look at her and she’s on the pain killers and all that stuff, what she needs to do to recover … but I can’t help but think of my dad when I see her in that situation.”

The world’s third-ranked golfer revealed that his mother, Dening, has cancer after withdrawing from the Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas, last Wednesday. Day has said the initial diagnosis came in Australia at the beginning of this year and that she had scheduled surgery in Columbus, Ohio, late last week.

Day said Monday that doctors deemed the surgery successful, and now the family awaits results of tests to see if cancer is present in Dening Day’s lymph nodes.

“My mom told me not to worry about it,” Day said. “It’s hard to do that. It’s easy to say … but it’s really, really difficult. So currently I’m scheduled to play Augusta … but if things don’t come back the way we want them, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Day said he “hasn’t touched a golf club at all” in the days since joining his joining his mother in Ohio last week.

“It’s very, very difficult to even think about playing golf when a loved one is going through such a traumatic experience,” Day said. “Once I get past this initial stage, hopefully I’ll find some balance and I’ll be able to kind of move on and really focus on getting my game back.

“Unfortunately, I’m human. I like to feel like I’m always on it, I’m always … ready to go and trying to compete and I want to get back to that stage, but sometimes it’s very, very difficult.”

Day also is scheduled to participate in the Zurich Classic, which runs from April 27-30 and has changed to an unusual format featuring 80 two-player teams, with player picking their own partners. Teams will alternate shots in the first and third rounds and play best ball in the second and final rounds.

Day joked that he was enthusiastic about the new format as soon as Rickie Fowler agreed to be his teammate. He added that, as much as he respects tradition, golf needs to do a better job capturing younger viewers.

“Golf is kind of in a limbo stage right now. We’ve got to somehow be able to keep it traditional but also add some format play that makes it interesting and makes people want to watch the PGA Tour on a regular basis,” Day said. “This is kind of the first step in a direction that potentially could change the way we look at traditional stroke-play events.”

The pairing of Day and Fowler will make them favourites at the par-72 TPC Louisiana outside New Orleans. Other teams of note include Justin Rose with Henrik Stenson; Branden Grace with fellow South African Louis Oosthuizen; Bubba Watson with J.B. Holmes; Justin Thomas with Bud Cauley, who both played golf for Alabama; and Jason Dufner and Patton Kizzire, who played for Auburn.

Defending Zurich Classic champion Brian Stuard is paired with Chris Stroud.

The last time a PGA Tour event featured team play was the 1981 Disney Classic.

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – D.A. Points was never better at the start, and good enough at the end.

Points opened the final round of the Puerto Rico Open with five straight birdies, and then overcame a rugged stretch by saving pars and piling up enough birdies for a 6-under 66 on Sunday and a two-shot victory.

It was the third PGA Tour victory of his career, and felt just as sweet as when he won at Pebble Beach with Bill Murray as his partner, and four years ago at the Houston Open to get to the Masters.

This won’t send him to Augusta National because it was played opposite a World Golf Championship. It was no less important for Points, who lost his card a year ago and now has a full two-year exemption.

“I was just really proud of myself for finding some way – hitting about as low as I’ve ever been golf-wise and finding my out – and then to be able to hang in there and win today is something that I wasn’t sure if I had in me,” he said. “And I’m really proud of myself.”

Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen (64), Bill Lunde (68) and former U.S. Amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau (67) tied for second at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club.

Sam Saunders, one week after missing the cut at the first Arnold Palmer Invitational without his grandfather there as the host, closed with a 65 and tied for fifth. Also tying for fifth was former U.S. Amateur champion Peter Uihlein, who plays the European Tour and was in Puerto Rico on a sponsor’s exemption.

That sends both of them to the Houston Open next week for finishing in the top 10. Six others in the top 10 were eligible for the Houston Open, where the winner gets an invitation to the Masters.

Chris Stroud, with his first 54-hole lead as he tried to win his first PGA Tour event in 277 starts, closed with a 71 and finished four shots behind. David Hearn (68) of Brantford, Ont., tied for 17th at 14 under and Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch (67) tied for 44th at 9 under.

Points closed with a birdie to finish at 20-under 268.

“I’ve never, that I can think of, just started out with five straight birdies,” Points said. “It was just like, ‘Wow!’ I just hit in the fairway and I hit it right at the flag and tapped it in. It was pretty fun.”

And then it became a grind.

He dropped a shot at the sixth, another at the eighth and then a third bogey at No. 10 when he three-putted. But he saved par at No. 11 and faced another 5-footer for par at No. 12.

“I said, ‘If I can just make this putt, I’ve got a chance to kind of get the momentum going back the other way.’ And then I holed a nice putt on 13 and then I settled my swing down and started hitting it close again,” he said. “Golf is like that, right? You have highs and lows and rarely do you just play every hole perfect. To bounce back after kind of a rough stretch there, I’m really proud.”

Even though the victory doesn’t get him into the Masters, Points will be at The Players Championship in May and the PGA Championship in August, along with access to smaller fields like Colonial and the Memorial. And he starts out next year on Maui at the Tournament of Champions.

AUSTIN, Texas – Dustin Johnson won the Dell Technologies Match Play with more drama than he needed to cap off an otherwise dominant week that made him the first player to sweep the four World GolfChampionships.

The scorecard will show Johnson never trailed in any of his seven matches over 112 holes, ending with a 1-up victory over Jon Rahm for his third straight victory that left no doubt who was No. 1 in the world.

The look of concern, especially as Rahm made a bold charge in the final hour Sunday, spoke to a long day.

Johnson was 4 up with six holes to play when the Spanish rookie with a big game and no fear hit driver over the water and onto the 13th green to win the hole with a birdie. He stuck a wedge close on the 15th for another birdie. Rahm hit a shot through the trees on the 16th and won the hole with a 30-foot birdie.

The rematch Rahm wanted against Johnson, who held him off in Mexico City three weeks ago, ended the same way.

His big rally was a little short.

Playing the 356-yard 18th hole for the first time in competition all week, and needing a birdie to send this heavyweight bout to overtime, Rahm smashed driver over the back of the green. But his chip down the slope checked up and stayed short of the ridge, and he had to settle for par.

Johnson came up just short of the green, chipped to 30 inches and rolled in it to complete another big week.

“That was a tough day, a long day,” Johnson said. “I’m proud of the way I played, the way I hung in there.”

None of his first five matches went longer than 16 holes until Sunday, when Johnson faced the first threat of the week. Hideto Tanihara caught him with two birdies on the back nine, and Johnson needed a pitching wedge to 6 feet on the short but troublesome par-3 17th to take the lead again. Then, he had to make an 8-foot par putt to beat Tanihara and avoid extra holes.

Rahm, who dispatched of Bill Haas in the semifinals, 3 and 2, wanted to face the hottest player in golf in the championship. And for the longest time, it looked as though the 22-year-old Spaniard regretted it.

Rahm gave away three straight holes by missing par putts from 6 feet and 8 feet, and missing a birdie putt from 4 feet. Johnson stretched his lead to 5 up with yet another bogey by Rahm, and it looked as though this match might be over early.

Not so fast.

Rahm, who already is No. 14 in the world in just his 15th tournament as a pro, began chipping away. Johnson three-putted the 10th hole for the third straight match, regained momentum with a two-putt birdie on the 12th hole – Rahm hit his tee shot downhill and downwind at 438 yards, Johnson at 424 yards – and then the Spaniard began his remarkable rally that came up short.

The result was another victory for Johnson, the 15th of his career, and makes him the clear-cut favourite at the Masters in two weeks. The next stop is the Houston Open, where another victory would make him the first player since Tiger Woods in 2008 to win four straight tournaments.

? That’s a winner ?

Dustin Johnson defeats Jon Rahm 1UP to win the @DellMatchPlay for his third consecutive victory. pic.twitter.com/at1GgFeqkA

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 26, 2017

Johnson became just the second player in the 19-year history of this event to never trail the entire week. Luke Donald did it in 2001, but that was before round-robin play and so Donald played only six 18-hole matches that week.

Not only did Johnson never trail, he led in 94 per cent of the holes he played. Donald was ahead in 91 per cent of his matches.

Johnson previously won the Mexico Championship earlier this month (and Cadillac Championship at Doral in 2015), the HSBC Champions in Shanghai in 2013 and the Bridgestone Invitational last summer at Firestone.

That gives him five World Golf Championships, well short of the 18 that Woods won. Woods only played the HSBC Champions twice after it became a WGC event in 2009.

AUSTIN, Texas – Dustin Johnson finally held up his end of the bargain Sunday morning, setting up a powerful title bout in the Dell Technologies Match Play against Jon Rahm.

Johnson was forced beyond the 16th hole for the first time all week in an error-filled finish against Hideto Tanihara of Japan, and the world’s No. 1 played didn’t escape until he holed an 8-foot par putt on the 18th to preserve a 1-up victory.

Johnson headed to the championship match Sunday afternoon with a chance to become the first player to sweep the four World Golf Championships.

In his way was Rahm, the rising star from Spain who faced a tough semifinal of his own against Bill Haas before pulling away with three birdies over his last four holes for a 3-and-2 victory. Rahm has yet to play the 18th hole at Austin Country Club in competition.

Even as Johnson was locked in an unexpected battle with Tanihara, the 22-year-old Spanish rookie said he was hopeful to see Johnson in the final for what he referred to as a rematch from Mexico. Johnson won the Mexico Championship three weeks ago, but not before Rahm made a bold charge in the final round until two bogeys at the end.

A victory for Rahm would make him the youngest player to win a World Golf Championship and put him in the top 10 in the world.

Johnson hasn’t trailed in a match all week, and he has led after 89 of the 94 holes he has played.

But he finally looked beatable against Tanihara.

Johnson was 2 up at the turn when he three-putted the 10th for the second straight round. He looked as if he would lose the par-5 12th when he couldn’t reach the green from a fairway bunker and Tanihara had 18 feet for eagle. In a shocking swing, Tanihara ran it 6 feet by and three-putted for par, and Johnson pitched to 8 feet and won the hole with a birdie.

But it wasn’t a swing in momentum.

Tanihara hit two great shots, a flip wedge to a dangerous pin over the water on the 13th to 4 feet, and a long iron into the wind on the 14th to 6 feet, to win both holes and square the match. From there, Johnson appeared to be playing not to lose.

With Tanihara in trouble on the 15th, Johnson came up well short of the green with a wedge and missed a 5-foot par putt to win the hole. On the par-5 16th, Johnson missed an 8-foot birdie putt to win the hole. He finally regained the lead with a pitching wedge to 6 feet for birdie on the 17th. Even so, he made it tough on himself by leaving yet another wedge short on the 18th and having to save par for the victory.

Rahm had only trailed on one hole this week – the first he played – until Haas rolled in a 40-foot birdie putt on the third hole. Rahm used his power to make birdie on the fifth and sixth to take the lead, only for Haas to answer with a birdie on the seventh to square the match.

Haas had three straight birdie putts from the 15- to 20-foot range starting at No. 9 and couldn’t convert.

Rahm hit a bolder tee shot on the 13th that left him a short wedge that he hit to 10 feet for birdie and a 1-up lead. Haas squandered a great chance to halve the match when Rahm missed the 14th green long, hit a flop shot about 20 feet by and made bogey. From a swale short of the green, Haas chipped weakly to 15 feet and missed the putt to stay 1 down. Rahm took it from there.

Haas and Tanihara played a consolation match with $678,000 going to the winner and $545,000 for fourth place.

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – Chris Stroud has gone 276 tournaments over the better part of a decade trying to win on the PGA Tour. A birdie on the final hole Saturday in the Puerto Rico Open gave him his first 54-hole lead, and he hopes his experience will keep him calm.

Looking over his shoulder could make that very difficult.

Stroud kept a clean card at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club for a 5-under 67, giving him a one-shot lead over Bill Lunde and D.A. Points. What makes the final round more challenging is 10 players were within three shots.

“I feel like at this point in my career _ it’s my 11th year on tour _ I’ve got experience on my side,” Stroud said. “I was very calm today. Nothing really freaks me out. Middle of the round, I got a little loose, but I’m going to draw from that. I feel like I’m way overdue.”

Stroud was at 15-under 201. David Hearn (71) of Brantford, Ont., was tied for 15th at 10 under and Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch (71) was tied for 65th at 4 under.

Points is a two-time PGA Tour winner, most recently in 2013 at the Houston Open. Lunde won the Turning Stone Resort Championship in 2010, and only got into the Puerto Rico Open as a past champion. This is his first event in five months, so winning could not come at a better time.

The Puerto Rico Open is opposite a World Golf Championship, so it does not include an automatic invitation to the Masters. But it offers a two-year exemption, and that would mean everything to Stroud and to Lunde, who do not have full status. Stroud is a conditional member from finishing out of the top 125 last year.

“That would be the biggest change, versus kind of waiting around to play my five, six events a year,” Lunde said. “It would give me somewhere to play all the time. That would be the greatest thing that would come with a win tomorrow.”

Wesley Bryan, who needed a victory for any hope of moving into the top 50 and getting into the Masters, shot 73 to fall out of contention. That no longer is an issue, anyway, because with Hideto Tanihara (semifinals) and Ross Fisher (quarter-finals) advancing in the Match Play, Bryan could not crack the top 50.

Stroud simply wants a victory. He twice shared the 54-hole lead. The closest he came to winning was losing in a playoff to Ken Duke in 2013 at the Travelers Championship.

Andrew “Beef” Johnston of England shot a 66 and was two shots behind. Also two shots back was the local favourite, San Juan native Rafael Campos, who shot a 69 and was warmed by the loud ovation as he approached the 18th green. Campos has as much pride in his local event as anyone on the PGA Tour.

“I don’t really mind me playing good or bad, I just want to make golf visible here,” he said. “And seeing that many people following me and all that, I think to myself, ‘OK, I’m pretty sure after the week at least two or three guys will want to start picking up golf here.’ That’s my main goal right now, try to promote the game. Yeah, obviously it’s great when I’m playing good.”

Former U.S. Amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau also was two shots behind after a 70, while former Puerto Rico Open champion Scott Brown and Peter Uihlein, a former U.S. Amateur champion who plays the European Tour, were three shots back.

Sam Saunders, the grandson of Arnold Palmer, shot 67 and was five behind.

AUSTIN, Texas – Dustin Johnson had reason to be rattled.

As he walked off the 12th green Saturday afternoon, the match referee said five words that Johnson heard for the first time all week in the Dell Technologies Match Play.

“The match is all square.”

Until then, Johnson had led after each of the 71 holes he had played at Austin Country Club.

He wasted little time responding to a rare challenge. Johnson birdied three of the next four holes for a 3-and-2 victory over Alex Noren to advance to the semifinals and stay on track for a potential showdown between No. 1 in the world and Jon Rahm, golf’s brightest young star.

“I wasn’t frustrated that I was all square. I was frustrated that I kind of gave 10 and 11 away,” Johnson said. “Came back strong after losing three holes in a row.”

Rahm was so dominant he played only 27 holes in two matches Saturday. He hasn’t had a match go longer than 14 holes since Thursday. And the 22-year-old rookie from Spain still hasn’t played the 18th hole since a practice round Tuesday.

“The golf I’ve played the last three matches really has been very impressive, even to myself,” he said. “And it seemed to get better as I played, which is something that doesn’t happen often.”

Rahm lost only one of the 27 holes he played in his 6-and-4 victory over Charles Howell III and his 7-and-5 victory over Soren Kjeldsen in the quarterfinals.

Rahm faces a semifinal match Sunday morning against Bill Haas, who ended Phil Mickelson’s hopes with a 2-and-1 victory. Mickelson had advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in 13 years with a victory against Marc Leishman.

Mickelson never trailed in any match until he fell behind on the first hole to Haas, and he had never led when the match ended on the 17th hole.

“I struggled making the putts that I have been making all week,” Mickelson said. “That seemed to me to be the difference.”

Johnson, going after a third straight PGA Tour title, faces one of this tournament’s biggest surprises in Hideko Tanihara of Japan.

“He looks unbeatable,” Tanihara said. “I hope he doesn’t feel good tomorrow, so maybe I have a chance.”

Tanihara began the week by beating Jordan Spieth. On Saturday, he took down Paul Casey with two late birdies in the morning fourth round, and then he beat Ross Fisher, 4 and 2, to reach the semifinals.

Johnson has looked unstoppable all month.

He went to No. 1 in the world with a five-shot victory at Riviera. In his next start, he won the Mexico Championship after holding off a late rally from Rahm. Now he’s two victories away from becoming the first player to sweep the four World Golf Championships.

None of Johnson’s five matches has gone beyond the 16th hole. In the fourth round, he beat Zach Johnson, 5 and 4. Noren is the only player to really make him sweat, and that was Johnson’s doing.

Johnson went 3 up at the turn, and then it was gone. He three-putted from 30 feet to lose the 10th hole. His tee shot on the par-3 11th hit the rocks and went into the water. And then he had to settle for par after leaving himself in an awkward spot, only to watch Noren hole a 40-footer to tie the match.

Johnson made a 10-foot birdie putt on the 13th _ Noren missed from 8 feet _ and then began to pull away with another 10-foot birdie on the 15th.

“That putt on 13 I think was a big one,” Johnson said. “That was just outside of him, and to hole that putt, put a little pressure on him, and then he missed it, I think that was a pretty important shot there.”

Haas is still amazed to even be playing. On Friday, he was on the verge of being eliminated when he hit into a hazard in a sudden-death playoff against K.T. Kim to decide their group. Haas took a penalty drop, chipped in from 120 feet for par to halve the hole and won on the sixth extra hole. Then he had to go 18 holes to beat Kevin Na in the fourth round before taking on Mickelson.

Haas made seven birdies in his match. He figured he will need something close to that number for his semifinal match against Rahm.

“I don’t think a single player out here would argue that he’s one of the top five, top 10 players in the world,” Haas said. “He’s hungry. He wants more. You can just see it in him. He’s got that thing about him that’s going to make him a big-time winner out here, and hopefully I can hang with him.”

Fisher left with a consolation prize. By beating Bubba Watson in the fourth round, Fisher will move into the top 50 in the world and qualify for the Masters. Tanihara also was assured of being in the top 50 to get into Augusta National for the first time in 10 years.

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – Former U.S. Amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau ran off four straight birdies in a stop-and-start round Friday and finished with a 7-under 65 to share the lead with D.A. Points in the rain-delayed Puerto Rico Open.

Points hit all 18 greens in regulation at Coco Beach Golf and Country Club, though he didn’t have as many reasonable looks at birdie as he would have liked. Points also had a three-putt bogey to go with four birdies in his round of 69.

They were at 11-under 133 when the second round was suspended by darkness.

Heavy rain kept the opening round from finishing, and there was another two-hour rain delay on Friday.

Bill Lunde, the former Las Vegas winner who is playing his first PGA Tour event in five months, was at 11 under with three holes to play. David Hearn (69) of Brantford, Ont., was the low Canadian in a tie for 10th at 9 under. Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch (70) was at 3 under, while Graham DeLaet (70) of Weyburn, Sask., and Nick Taylor (72) of Abbotsford, B.C., finished the day at 1 under.

DeChambeau has shown spells of good golf since turning pro, starting with a tie for fourth at Hilton Head in his pro debut. He earned his PGA Tour card last year and has struggled at time, including a dispute with the USGA that disallowed his side-saddle manner of putting.

After making only one cut in his last seven tournaments, he tied for 27th two weeks ago in the Valspar Championship and thought that could have been better.

“A couple of weeks ago at Innisbrook I three-putted a couple times – six times, in fact – and just cut the momentum out of me and that was kind of a disappointment. I never really got a low round there and I could have pretty easily. So I took the three-putts out this week.”

Tim’ Wilkinson shot a 63 and was in the group at 10-under 134 that included J.J. Henry, San Juan native Rafael Campos and J.J. Spaun, a PGA Tour rookie who had a pair of top 10s during the West Coast Swing.

When play was suspended, there were 80 players at 3 under, meaning the cut was likely to be no worse than 3-under 141. Among those likely to miss the cut were Graeme McDowell and Ian Poulter, who is running out of time to keep full status under his major medical extension from a foot injury last year.

He has five starts remaining to earn 117 FedEx Cup points or $177,729.

Points is a two-time PGA Tour winner, most recently at the Houston Open in 2013, who has a low priority ranking and had a tough time getting into tournaments after the first month of the year.

The Puerto Rico Open is opposite the World Golf Championships event in Texas, meaning it gets reduced FedEx Cup points and the winner is not automatically invited to the Masters. But it still comes with an exemption, and other perks like the PGA Championship and The Players Championship.

That would mean plenty to Points and other players in the field. Lunde is playing out of the past champion’s status.

Points ended the opening round by holing a 9-iron from the fairway. On Friday, his 40-foot birdie putt on the opening hole hit the middle of the cup and came back out

“All the guys in the group just kind of laughed at me,” Points said. “They were like, ‘That hole knew you holed out yesterday to finish the round.’ That was kind of how the day started. But I stayed patient and really didn’t play poorly, hit a lot of fairways, hit a lot of greens and then finally holed a couple putts coming in.”

Wesley Bryan was at 6 under with three holes remaining. He has to win this week to have any chance of moving into the top 50 and earn a spot in the Masters.

Another former U.S. Amateur champion, Peter Uihlein, was at 8 under through 13 holes. Uihlein primary plays on the European Tour and received a sponsor’s exemption.

AUSTIN, Texas – Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson showed the simple side to the Dell Technologies Match Play. For three straight days in warmth, wind or rain, they built early leads and never let anyone get close to them in advancing out of their groups to the knockout stage.

For just about everyone else, it was a matter of surviving.

Bill Haas delivered another amazing escape when he chipped in from 120 feet to save par and extend a sudden-death playoff that he eventually won in six holes.

Marc Leishman made it to the round of 16 by playing two holes on Friday. He was awarded a victory because Jason Day withdrew on Wednesday, got a reprieve when Lee Westwood beat Pat Perez to force a three-man playoff, and beat Westwood on the second hole with a 12-foot birdie.

“Pat was either going to beat Lee and I was flying home tomorrow morning, or I was going to get to play golf and try to advance,” Leishman said. “I got the latter and advance. So it was a great day.”

It was an easy day for Johnson and Mickelson.

Johnson, the No. 1 seed going for his third straight PGA Tour victory, again won the opening hole and showed why he might be the most feared player in golf at the moment. He shot 30 on the front nine, and all PGA champion Jimmy Walker could do was make the match last as long as he could.

Johnson won, 5 and 3, and goes into the weekend having led after all 46 holes he has played this week.

Mickelson only made two birdies, but he had no mistakes and no trouble in a 6-and-5 victory over J.B. Holmes. Mickelson has led 41 of his 42 holes this week, and he has played so well from tee to green – and especially on the greens – that he has yet to see the 16th, 17th or 18th holes in competition at Austin Country Club.

Mickelson advanced out of the third round for the first time since 2004, so long ago that Lefty was known as the best player without a major and Tiger Woods was starting to work with a new swing coach, Hank Haney.

Johnson and Alex Noren (No. 8) were the only top 10 seeds left going into the weekend. Rory McIlroy (2) was mathematically eliminated on Thursday; Day (3) withdrew; Hideki Matsuyama (4) didn’t win a match all week; and Jordan Spieth (5) didn’t make it out of group play for the second time in three years.

Justin Thomas (6) also was knocked out. Thomas had a 2-up lead with five holes to play until Matt Fitzpatrick won the next four holes with birdies to win the match. That got Fitzpatrick into a playoff with Kevin Na, who had a 4-up lead until Chris Wood won the next six holes and seven out of the next eight.

Their playoff didn’t start for two hours, then Na hit a wedge to 3 feet and he advanced.

Fitzpatrick didn’t even endure the greatest frustration. That belonged to Tyrrell Hatton, his fellow Englishman, who lost to Rafa Cabrera Bello to set up a three-man playoff of stroke play involving Charles Howell III.

Hatton had a 10-foot putt to win on the first extra hole, but just missed on the left. When he went to tap in, he set his putter down and nudged the ball. Under a new local rule, he could have replaced it with no penalty. But he tapped in and incurred a two-stroke penalty, and he was walking back to the clubhouse as Cabrera Bello and Howell played on. Howell wound up winning on the fifth extra hole.

Asked if he knew the rule, Hatton replied, “I really wasn’t thinking at that stage.”

Sergio Garcia (7) lost in a battle of the Spaniards when rising star Jon Rahm took him down. Garcia at least provided one unforgettable moment when a burst of rain during his tee shot on the 13th hole caused him to lose his grip. The tee shot squirted left about 30 feet.

“First, I thought I missed the ball. Second, I thought the club was gone,” Garcia said. “Anyway, the match was already in bad shape there.”

Ross Fisher of England came up with another clutch moment. He only assured himself a spot in the Match Play three weeks ago with birdies on his last three holes in Mexico to tie for third and move up in the ranking. On Friday, he beat Jim Furyk and then holed a 20-foot birdie putt to beat Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff.

Reaching the round of 16 leaves him a good chance to be in the top 50 in the world at the end of the week and get into the Masters.

And now, everyone starts with a clean slate.

It’s single-elimination the rest of the way, starting with the fourth round and quarterfinals on Saturday.

RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico – Five days after getting married, Trey Mullinax ran off nine birdies and saved par with a 15-foot putt on his last hole for a 9-under 63 to take the lead at the Puerto Rico Open.

The first round Thursday was suspended when showers turned into heavy rain at Coco Beach Golf & Country Club and the course was too wet to continue.

Mullinax was coming off consecutive missed cuts in Florida when he got married Saturday to Abi Essman, whom he has dated since high school. Several of his Alabama teammates were at the wedding in Birmingham, Alabama, including Justin Thomas.

And then it was off to Puerto Rico, and Mullinax posted his best round of the year. He had a one-shot lead over D.A. Points.

“Obviously, to shoot the score I shot today you have to putt well,” Mullinax said. “But it was nice to hit the ball like I feel I’ve been playing. I feel like I’ve been hitting the ball well, just haven’t been scoring. But today I hit the ball nice and it was a good result.”

Points finished his round of 64 with a 9-iron that he holed from the ninth fairway for an eagle.

“Today was the calmest day I’ve ever seen here, so it was pretty much a perfect 9-iron,” he said. “I knew I had a little backstop and I could hit it as hard as I want, and I threw it 149 yards and it spun back and went right in.”

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., is the top Canadian. He shot a 6-under 66. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch are 1 under, and Grahem DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., is 1 over.

It was an important start for Points, who has a low priority this year on the PGA Tour and has had trouble getting into tournaments.

He last played seven weeks ago at Pebble Beach, where he won in 2011 with Bill Murray as his amateur partner. Points has tried Monday qualifying for some PGA Tour events.

“I’m proud of myself for not just sitting on my butt and not doing anything,” he said. “I’ve been playing and practicing and trying to stay sharp and I think that paid off today.”

Former Las Vegas winner Bill Lunde, playing for the first time in five months, and Xander Schauffele were at 65. The group at 66 included Harold Varner III, David Hearn of Canada and Jonathan Randolph, who still had three holes remaining.

The first round was to resume Friday morning.

Former Puerto Rico Open winner Scott Brown was at 67. San Juan native Rafa Campos was at 5 under with four holes remaining when the rain arrived. A year ago, Campos opened with a 64 and eventually tied for eighth.

The Puerto Rico Open is opposite the World Golf Championships event in Texas this week, meaning a winner does not earn an automatic spot in the Masters. Wesley Bryan would need to win to have any chance of moving into the top 50 in the world ranking and qualifying for Augusta National.

Bryan opened with a 63.