SAN FRANCISCO -- The Masters champion finally ran out of magic.
Jordan Spieth seemed poised to move on to the 16-player elimination stage of the WGC-Cadillac Match Play when his opponent, Lee Westwood, started making a mess of the 16th hole Friday at Harding Park.
The Englishman had shanked a bunker shot, and left a pitch shot short while Spieth lined up a birdie putt. But then Westwood chipped in for par and Spieth missed, and their match remained tied.
Westwood took advantage by making a birdie at the 17th and prevailed with a 2-up victory when Spieth could not make a birdie at the final hole.
Spieth, the Masters champion, lamented being 16 under par for three days, including 3 under on Friday, and still going home.
"I had a tough opponent,'' said Spieth, 21, who is half the age of Westwood, 42. "It was just a challenging group and that's match play. I'm happy with the way I'm playing and I'm excited about next week.''
Spieth, who is ranked second in the world behind Rory McIlroy, was referring to next week's Players Championship, the PGA Tour's flagship event at TPC Sawgrass.
Westwood was coming off a victory at the Indonesian Masters on Sunday on the Asian Tour. A veteran of nine European Ryder Cup teams, he will face countryman Danny Willett on Saturday morning after going 3-0 in pool play. Spieth finished 2-1 in Group 2.
"It was nice to be the underdog for a change,'' Westwood said. "I just went out and played with a bit of freedom.''
Spieth won the first two holes but was down one after a bogey at the 10th. He immediately tied it again with a birdie at the 11th. They remained tied -- Spieth made a clutch putt to keep it that way at the 14th -- through the 16th hole, where Westwood's shanked bunker shot and poor chip seemed certain to leave Spieth with the lead.
"Anything can happen,'' said Westwood, who has 39 worldwide victories but will be making just his second appearance in the final 16 in 15 appearances in this tournament. "I think probably getting out of the group is really one of the toughest things to do this week. It's sort of a different format. Fortunately I won three games and get the fate in my hands.''