Thomas 'couldn't stop' thinking about No. 1 in loss

AUSTIN, Texas – And then there were two.

It took some time, but the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play has moved to within 18 holes of a conclusion, with Bubba Watson and Kevin Kisner set to square off in Sunday’s championship match.

Although both players have been impressive this week, they came by their tee time in the finale through vastly different means.

For Kisner, his duel with Alex Noren was one of the week’s most heated matches, with neither player ever leading by more then a single hole. In total, the duo combined for 11 birdies and a 51-footer for eagle at the 12th hole by Kisner, whiched squared the match. He finally earned his spot in final with a birdie on the 19th hole (No. 12).

WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play: Full bracket | Scoring | Group standings

WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play: Articles, photos and videos

By comparison, Watson won the par-5 12th hole with a par when Justin Thomas found the water with his second shot into what has essentially been a par 4 1/2 for players this week.

Watson built an early lead on Justin Thomas in the morning’s first semifinal match and played defense the rest of the way, playing his last 10 holes in 1 under par to secure a 3-and-2 victory.

“I made some putts early. And when you make putts early, you have a chance to get the lead. I just played solid and he didn’t make any putts,” said Watson, who advanced to the semifinals in 2011 at the Match Play, but is making his first appearance in the finals.

The semifinal loss was doubly painful for Thomas, who could have overtaken Dustin Johnson atop the Official World Golf Ranking if he would have advanced to the championship match. Instead, the best the world’s second-ranked player can do is a third-place finish if he wins the afternoon consolation match. That would move him within .24 average ranking points of the top spot.

“I haven’t had such a hard time not thinking about something so much. And that really sucked,” Thomas said. “I couldn’t stop thinking about it, to be perfectly honest. And I think you’re constantly getting questions about it with the media. But I need to be mentally stronger than that, and understand that it’s just a match.”