ASH, England – Top-seeded Henrik Stenson defeated Thongchai Jaidee 2 and 1 to reach the quarterfinals undefeated after the opening three rounds of the World Match Play Championship.

Stenson sealed the win when his wedge shot into the 17th green spun back into the hole for birdie on the London Club course. He finished with an eagle and six birdies on the final day of round-robin play and will play fellow Swede Jonas Blixt in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Thongchai, last year’s runner-up, was eliminated.

American Ryder Cup player Patrick Reed also advanced after beating Jamie Donaldson 3 and 2, and will play Geroge Coetzee of South Africa.

In the other quarterfinals, Victor Dubuisson of France faces Mikko Ilonen of Finland and Joost Luiten of the Netherlands takes on Pablo Larrazabal of Spain.

Stenson was 3 up with four holes to go but three-putted on the 15th and then watched as Thongchai chipped in for birdie on the next. However, the Swede responded with an even more spectacular birdie on the next.

“It was getting a little bit more interesting and while I didn’t hit the best approach with my second into 17, I thought if I could get my lob-wedge to spin back it might be close. But then it was a bonus and quite spectacular when it went into the hole,” Stenson said.

Luiten also finished undefeated in round-robin play after eliminating defending champion Graeme McDowell with a 2 up victory.

Luiten, was overlooked for European Ryder Cup selection in favor of Lee Westwood, had been 3 down to McDowell after eight holes before going ahead for a first time with a birdie at 17 and then also managing to birdie the last.

“It is always hard when you are 3 down after eight holes but I had plenty more holes and I managed to get back on my game and hit some good shots,” Luiten said.

Reed, who was undefeated in the recent Ryder Cup, was 2 up after just four holes and then moved to 4 up with a birdie at 12.

“It feels good to win as today I made a lot of clutch and solid putts,” he said. “This is one of those events I’ve always wanted to play. I watched it last year on TV back home. Justine, my wife, goes, `I think we need to play there next year or whenever we get a chance.’ And luckily we got an invite this year and I couldn’t pass it up.”

Dubuisson lost Friday’s match to Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher 2 and 1, but advanced after two previous victories.

Larrazabal eliminated Ireland’s Shane Lowry by the same margin.

Blixt defeated England’s Paul Casey in a playoff after their match ended all square. Italy’s Francesco Molinari won his first match in defeating Coetzee 2 and 1, but the South African still finished second in his group behind Stenson.

HONG KONG – Ernie Els grabbed control of the Hong Kong Open with a two-stroke lead at the halfway mark by carding a 5-under-par 65 on his birthday Friday.

Els, who turned 45, has a 9-under total of 131 to lead Raphael Jacquelin of France and Australians Scott Hend and Cameron Smith by two shots on the Fanling Course at Hong Kong Golf Club.

One shot further behind was a group of 11 players, including first-round leader Jyoti Randhawa of India.

“The course is there for the taking. I feel I can win this,” said Els, in the midst of his first Hong Kong Open. The four-time major winner is going for his first win of the year.

He began the second round two shots behind Randhawa in second place, and was soon into his stride, knocking in five birdies on his opening nine holes. He reached 10 under before attempting an ambitious drive for the green at the tricky 288-yard, par-4 fourth hole, only to find himself in the rough. It ended in his solitary bogey in the round.

“The fourth hole was a bit of a bummer, I didn’t really have to go for it (the green), and I lost some momentum there,” Els said. “I had it really going and it could have been really low.”

Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez, dealing with food poisoning, missed the cut by three shots. He made a par-70 to total 2-over 142.

Jimenez was bidding to become the first player to win the Hong Kong Open five times as well as complete a hat trick.

“It is disappointing that I couldn’t do it. But I was still not fit and it was hard out there,” the Spaniard said.

Canada’s Richard T. Lee finished at 3-over 143 (73-70) and did not qualify for weekend play.

Also missing the cut was Nicolas Colsaerts, whose second round of 79 included two double bogeys and eight bogeys.

HONG KONG – Ernie Els grabbed control of the Hong Kong Open with a two-stroke lead at the halfway mark by carding a 5-under-par 65 on his birthday Friday.

Els, who turned 45, has a 9-under total of 131 to lead Raphael Jacquelin of France and Australians Scott Hend and Cameron Smith by two shots on the Fanling Course at Hong Kong Golf Club.

One shot further behind was a group of 11 players, including first-round leader Jyoti Randhawa of India.

“The course is there for the taking. I feel I can win this,” said Els, in the midst of his first Hong Kong Open. The four-time major winner is going for his first win of the year.

He began the second round two shots behind Randhawa in second place, and was soon into his stride, knocking in five birdies on his opening nine holes. He reached 10 under before attempting an ambitious drive for the green at the tricky 288-yard, par-4 fourth hole, only to find himself in the rough. It ended in his solitary bogey in the round.

“The fourth hole was a bit of a bummer, I didn’t really have to go for it (the green), and I lost some momentum there,” Els said. “I had it really going and it could have been really low.”

Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez, dealing with food poisoning, missed the cut by three shots. He made a par-70 to total 2-over 142.

Jimenez was bidding to become the first player to win the Hong Kong Open five times as well as complete a hat trick.

“It is disappointing that I couldn’t do it. But I was still not fit and it was hard out there,” the Spaniard said.

Canada’s Richard T. Lee finished at 3-over 143 (73-70) and did not qualify for weekend play.

Also missing the cut was Nicolas Colsaerts, whose second round of 79 included two double bogeys and eight bogeys.

ASH, England – Defending champion Graeme McDowell’s comeback fell short, while Henrik Stenson rallied from three holes down with success at the World Match Play Championship on Thursday.

McDowell fell to Mikko Ilonen of Finland 2 and 1 in their second pool match at the London Club.

It was only McDowell’s third defeat in 18 matches in the event.

Ilonen raced to 4 up after 10 holes before McDowell fought back with birdies on 11, 13 and 15 to be 1 down. But Ilonen, the Irish Open champion, birdied the 17th to seal the win.

“It feels very good to beat a player of Graeme’s quality,” Ilonen said.

Only their pool leader Joost Luiten of the Netherlands, and Victor Dubuisson, remain unbeaten going into the last round of pool play on Friday, to determine the quarterfinalists.

Stenson, the top seed in the 16-man event, produced a startling finish of eagle-birdie-birdie to overcome Francesco Molinari of Italy 2 and 1. Molinari carded 7 under but Stenson went 8 under over the last nine holes, not leading the match until his second-to-last birdie on 16.

There was a measure of revenge for Stenson, after Molinari knocked him out of the event a year ago in Bulgaria.

“I gave Francesco a couple of early gifts being 3 down after four. That really was not in the plan but I didn’t give up,” Stenson said.

“To be eight under from nine onwards meant for another good day. Considering I came here not having touched a golf club for nearly two weeks, I will take that.”

Pablo Larrazabal holed a chip shot from the rough for birdie at the last hole to defeat Stephen Gallacher 1 up.

Larrazabal birdied the opening two holes to race ahead, but Gallacher then birdied the third, fifth and sixth holes to take the lead.

The duo halved the next five holes before Larrazabal won the 13th and claimed victory at the last.

Dubuisson was never behind Shane Lowry of Ireland, claiming a 3 and 2 victory at the 16th hole.

Luiten was 4 up through 11 holes en route to beating Alexander Levy of France, last week’s Portugal Masters winner, 4 and 3.

Ryder Cup-winning hero Jamie Donaldson won 4 and 3 against Jonas Blixt of Sweden, American Patrick Reed won his first match in the event, 2 and 1 over 2006 champion Paul Casey of England, and George Coetzee of South Africa remained in quarterfinal contention by beating 2013 runner-up Thongchai Jaidee 2 and 1.

HONG KONG – Jyoti Randhawa shot a 6-under 70 Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Hong Kong Open.

Angelo Que (65) was in second place, one ahead of group of nine others at 66 that included four-time major champion Ernie Els.

Els, who turns 45 on Friday, was playing in his first tournament during a month-long Asian swing which will also take him to Macau and China.

“I missed three very makeable putts on the back nine and that hurt a little bit,” Els said after carding six birdies and two bogeys.

The Hong Kong Open is sanctioned by both the European Tour and the Asian Tour and is being played for the second time on the European Tour calendar.

Four-time champion Miguel Angel Jimenez (72) struggled with the after-effects of food poisoning. The 50-year-old Spaniard won the Hong Kong Open in 2004, `07, `12 and `13.

“I was cramping badly and was very sick. I had been vomiting and going out all night. I couldn’t even sleep,” said Jimenez, who is bidding to join Tiger Woods, Tom Watson and Bernhard Langer as the only people to have won the same tournament five times.

Que, who is from the Philippines, shot his first bogey-free round of the year.

“I putted like a maniac,” Que said. “My first birdie putt was a 40-footer and after than things just fell into place.”

Canada’s Richard T. Lee opened with a 3-over 73 and was tied for 115th after the opening-round.

ASH, England – Defending champion Graeme McDowell and Victor Dubuisson began the World Match Play Championship with comfortable wins on Wednesday, three weeks after teaming up as one of Europe’s top pairings in the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

McDowell had a 3-and-2 victory over Alexander Levy, who won the Portugal Masters on Sunday, and Dubuisson beat Pablo Larrazabal by the same score in the first of three group matches at The London Club in southeast England.

“Historically in this event the last couple of years I have been getting off to slow starts and you don’t want to put yourself in the hole against good players,” said McDowell, who was 4 up after 10 holes against Levy in the first match of the day. “So a good start for me was key. … I got going with the putter and was able to build a winning lead.”

Henrik Stenson, at No. 5 the highest-ranked player in the 16-man field, halved his match with George Coetzee of South Africa. Two other members of Europe’s Ryder Cup winning team, Stephen Gallacher and Jamie Donaldson, lost to Shane Lowry and Paul Casey, respectively.

Patrick Reed, the U.S. team’s top points scorer in Gleneagles, opened with a 2-and-1 loss to Jonas Blixt.

Reed won 3 1/2 points in the Ryder Cup in his first appearance in the competition.

Blixt went ahead with a birdie at No. 7 and was never behind after that.

“It was one of those days where both of us played pretty solid, but at the end of the day I didn’t really make anything,” said the Texas-born Reed.

Other players to start with wins were Joost Luiten and Thongchai Jaidee, who lost to McDowell in last year’s final.

The second matches of the round-robin stage will be played Thursday.

McDowell and Dubuisson won both of their foursomes matches in Gleneagles. They carried their good form over to The London Club, which is staging the 50th anniversary edition of the World Match Play.

McDowell, who lost in the 2012 final to Nicolas Colsaerts, was 2 up after five holes and 3 up through seven before winning another hole on No. 10.

“There are no easy matches out here and we always say that in match play as there are 16 quality players here this week – and especially being up against a guy coming off a victory last week,” McDowell said.

Dubuisson, who reached the final of the Match Play Championship in Arizona in February, was never behind against Larrazabal and was 3 up after nine holes.

Coetzee, ranked No. 89 and a late injury replacement for Thomas Bjorn, birdied the last hole for a half point against Stenson at the end of a fluctuating match in which neither player was more than 1 up.

“I am bit of a dark horse this week, I guess, as I was maybe going to go to South Africa to play a Sunshine Tour event,” Coetzee said. “But when I got the call, I was obviously excited and nice to be here and nothing to lose.”

The top two players from each of the four groups advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday. The semifinals and final are on Sunday.

ASH, England – With his fist-pumping, spiky exchanges with spectators and brilliant play on the course, Patrick Reed was the standout American player in every sense in the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

Two weeks later, Reed is back on British soil and says he is ready to show more “emotion and passion” at the World Match Play Championship.

Reed says, “Am I going to get as rowdy as I did at the Ryder Cup? Probably not … (but) if I’m making birdies and playing well, there’s going be to fistpumps and excitement.”

Reed, who scored a team-high 3 1/2 points in the United States’ loss to Europe, is the only American in the 16-man field at The London Golf Club.

Five members of the European team are playing, including defending champion Graeme McDowell.

VILAMOURA, Portugal – Alexander Levy of France won the shortened Portugal Masters after the third and final round was abandoned because of further bad weather Sunday.

Thunderstorms and water-logged greens had already led to the event being reduced to 54 holes Friday, and more rain Sunday saw it finally cut to 36 holes.

Levy’s rounds of 63 and 61 on Thursday and Friday left him on 18-under 124 – three shots ahead of Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts.

Levy didn’t play Saturday while the rest of the field finished the second round.

Both Levy and Colsaerts managed just one hole Sunday before rain left the Oceanico Victoria Golf Club’s course unplayable.

“I played only four shots at the weekend and I won the tournament, but the most important thing is I have the trophy in my hand,” Levy said. “But it’s a special feeling at this time.”

It was the 24-year-old Levy’s second European Tour title after he won the Volvo China Open earlier this year. That makes him the first Frenchman to win two European Tour titles in the same season.

“If at the start of the year you had said I would win two tournaments I would say `never!’ to you,” Levy said.

Chilean Felipe Aguilar was third on 13 under, with Romain Wattel, Richard Bland and Morten Orum Madsen tied for fourth.

VILAMOURA, Portugal – Alexander Levy will start the final day of the Portugal Masters with a three-shot lead after the rest of the field failed to catch the Frenchman while finishing a rain-hit second round on Saturday.

Levy was one of a small group to finish the second round on Friday as scheduled, taking the lead with a round of 10-under 61 before rain forced play to be suspended and the event was reduced to 54 holes.

More thundershowers, which included a threat of lightning, and a water-logged course delayed play again on Saturday at the Oceanico Victoria Golf Club.

Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, whose opening round of 60 came one shot shy of a European Tour record, is in second place after hitting 4-under 67 to finally finish the second round.

“It’s always difficult to follow a really low score, but I’m quite happy with the way I played on the back nine coming in,” said Colsaerts.

“As I showed yesterday and today, if you get off rhythm a little bit and you don’t fully take advantage of the course, others will make up ground.”

Felipe Aguilar of Chile is five strokes back in third after carding a second round of 7-under 64 on the strength of eight birdies to go with one bogey.

Romain Wattel, Richard Bland and Morten Orum Madsen are joint fourth at seven shots off the pace.

VILAMOURA, Portugal – Alexander Levy of France surged into the clubhouse lead on Friday with a 10-under 61 in the rain-affected second round at the Portugal Masters.

A downpour interrupted play for most of the afternoon and darkness fell on the course before most players could complete their rounds. The second round will resume early Saturday, with the event reduced to 54 holes.

The rain did not appear to hinder Levy, who made 10 birdies in a flawless round to move to 18-under 124.

Only six players completed their rounds, with Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain (69) and Thomas Aiken of South Africa (67) tied for second, nine shots behind.

Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, who narrowly missed out on a 59 on Thursday, was second on the leaderboard at 15 under through 16 holes.