Bob MacIntyre playing for pride against Sergio Garcia in WGC Match Play

Having already tasted defeat at the hands of Open champion Collin Morikawa on Wednesday, MacIntyre needed to beat American Jason Kokrak to keep alive his hopes of reaching the knock-out stage at Austin Country Club for the second year in a row.

As had been the case in his opening match, though, the 25-year-old from Oban found himself on the back foot almost from the off and trailed his opponent on this occasion all the way from the second hole.

Despite making birdies at the fourth, sixth, tenth and 13th holes, he eventually succumbed 3&2 to Kokrak, the world No 27 and a three-time winner on the PGA Tour.

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 24: Robert MacIntyre of Scotland reacts on the first green during the second day of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 24, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Kokrak, who lost 4&3 to Garcia in his opening match, admitted he’d seen improvements in his game. “I hit the ball a lot better today,” he said.

“(Coach) Drew Steckel and I worked on something that we talked about yesterday and a little bit of something this morning on the way here.

“I was getting my left wrist a little cupped on the takeaway and on the backswing, so that was causing me to miss a lot right and be short.

“We tried to make it a little bit flatter at the top of the swing, and it really helped out as I hit a lot of quality golf shots today.”

The double defeat means MacIntyre can no longer progress to the last 16, as he did 12 months ago from a group that included Dustin Johnson, the world No 1 at the time, on his debut in the event.

Garcia, the record points-scorer in the Ryder Cup, heads into the match against MacIntyre tied with Morikawa on one-and-a-half points after the Spaniard secured an unlikely share of the spoils in the other match.

Wearing white-rimmed sunglasses, Garcia was three down to Morikawa with just five holes to play before making back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th from eight feet and 30 feet respectively.

The former Masters champion made it three gains in a row with another birdie at the par-5 16th before having a chance to sneak a win from 25 feet at the last but then had to knock in a tester for the half.

“If you would have offered me half on the 14th tee, I would have definitely taken it and run to the clubhouse,” said a smiling Garcia.

For the second day running, Paul Casey conceded his match due to back spasms, with Swede Alex Noren picking up a point on this occasion without having to hit a shot.

“I don't know,” said Casey in reply to being asked if planned to try again in the final round-robin matches. “I can't go through, so it's kind of like what's the point.

“I hate to just give a guy a match, and that would be Louis [Oosthuizen] tomorrow. I guess that makes it even, doesn't it. I give one to Corey [Conners] and now Alex.”

Defending champion Billy Horschel made it two wins out of two, as did Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick and ever-improving Irishman Seamus Power as they beat Ian Poulter and Patrick Cantlay respectively.

Power, who has won both his matches 5&4, is on the verge of a first Masters appearance in a fortnight’s time, having started the week in 48th spot in the world rankings and needing a big performance to stay inside the top 50.

World No 1 Jon Rahm is among a total of 12 players who have have both their matches so far, but three of the top 10 seeds are already eliminated – Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau and Ooosthuizen.

The only winner-take-all match on Friday is between Conners and Noren.

Full second-day results (seeding in brackets)

Group 1

Jon Rahm (1) bt Cameron Young (40) 5&4

Sebastian Munoz (58) halved with Patrick Reed (23)

Group 2

Collin Morikawa (2) halved with Sergio Garcia (43)

Robert MacIntyre (61) lost to Jason Kokrak (22) 3&2

Group 3

Viktor Hovland (3) bt Cameron Tringale (45) 2&1

Sepp Straka (63) bt Will Zalatoris (24) 4&2

Group 4

Patrick Cantlay (4) lost to Seamus Power (42) 5&4

Keith Mitchell (62) lost to Sungjae Im (21) 5&3

Group 5

Scottie Scheffler (5) lost to Tommy Fleetwood (41) 2&1

Ian Poulter (59) lost to Matt Fitzpatrick (20) 4&2

Group 6

Justin Thomas (6) bt Marc Leishman (37) 5&4

Luke List (53) lost to Kevin Kisner (29) 1 hole

Group 7

Xander Schauffele (7) lost to Lucas Herbert (39) 1 hole

Takumi Kanaya (56) bt Tony Finau (18) 1hole

Group 8

Dustin Johnson (8) bt Matthew Wolff (38) 4&2

Mackenzie Hughes (51) lost to Max Homa (30) 2 holes

Group 9

Bryson DeChambeau (9) lost to Lee Westwood (47) 1 hole

Richard Bland (54) bt Talor Gooch (27) 1 hole

Group 10

Louis Oosthuizen (10) lost to Corey Conners (36) 2&1

Alex Noren (50) won by concession over Paul Casey (19)

Group 11

Jordan Spieth (11) lost to Justin Rose (46) 3&2

Keegan Bradley (60) halved with Adam Scott (32)

Group 12

Billy Horschel (12) bt Tom Hoge (33) 3&2

Min Woo Lee (49) bt Thomas Pieters (26) 1 hole

Group 13

Tyrrell Hatton (13) bt Si Woo Kim (48) 1 hole

Christiaan Bezuidenhout lost to (52) Daniel Berger (17) 1 hole

Group 14

Joaquin Niemann (14) bt Russell Henley (34) 2&1

Maverick McNealy (64) halved with Kevin Na (25)

Group 15

Abraham Ancer (15) halved with Brian Harman (44)

Bubba Watson (57) bt Webb Simpson (31) 1 hole

Group 16

Brooks Koepka (16) bt Harold Varner III (35) 2&1

Erik van Rooyen (55) Shane Lowry (28)

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