Rory McIlroy, playing for the first time since winning the Masters, teamed with Shane Lowry to shoot an 8-under 64 in better-play Thursday in the Zurich Classic, leaving the Irish defending champions six shots behind leaders Isaiah Salinda and Kevin Vetlo.

The path is clear for Rory McIlroy to clinch the year-long Race to Dubai title and be crowned the European tour’s best player for a sixth time.

17 green during a third round match at the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship golf tournament Friday, March 26, 2021, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)AUSTIN, Texas – The Latest on the Dell Technologies Match Play (all times local):4:55 p.m. The Dell Technologies Match Play already has a No. ___4:30 p.m.Kevin Na lectured Dustin Johnson and then sent him home from the Dell Technologies Match Play. 64 seed to advance since the Match Play switched to group play in 2015.

In the Dell Technologies Match Play, every day can feel like Sunday. “I turned out to hit that shot really well, went super high over the trees. It was his biggest loss in Match Play since Ben Crane beat him, 8 and 7, in the second round of 2011. Kevin Kisner, the defending champion from 2019 — the Match Play was the third event to be canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic — won his seventh straight match by beating Louis Oosthuizen. When you're up against an opponent who plays really, really well and you play just a little better, it's really satisfying."

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)AUSTIN, Texas – For a sport known for its glacial pace, fortunes can change quickly in golf. That was the cutoff for the top 64 players to get in the Dell Technologies Match Play. Rozner won all four of his matches at Formby Golf Club on the Lancashire coast of England. Rozner said he spoke to Dubuisson last week to find out why he did so well in the Match Play in 2014. I'm trying to take it match after match, step after step.”He makes it sound like a slow process.