Graeme McDowell wins again in extra holes at Match Play Championship

Graeme McDowell figured his luck had run out Friday at the Match Play Championship.

After two remarkable rallies to reach the third round, McDowell missed a pair of eight-foot putts to fall 2 down with two holes to play against Hunter Mahan, who had lost only four times in 18 matches at the Golf Club of Dove Mountain.

“My head went down as I walked off the 16th green. I really thought I blew it,” McDowell said after yet another improbable comeback. “I genuinely thought I was done this time. I really didn’t think there was any way back from that.”

McDowell won the next two holes to extend the match. He made a 20-foot par putt on the 20th hole to stay alive, and then won the next hole with a 15-foot birdie putt. “Nine lives have been used up — and then some,” McDowell said.

Ernie Els is five-over par in 57 holes over three matches yet he also reached the quarterfinals. Jim Furyk has been at least 2 down in every match and he advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in 14 appearances. Rickie Fowler won a match that featured an 18-foot par putt conceded to him by Sergio Garcia, who felt bad because of a ruling that had taken too much time on the previous hole.

The Accenture Match Play Championship always has its share of wild tales. McDowell tops them all.

How else to explain how a guy can play 58 holes over three matches without ever hitting a tee shot with the lead? Most players are relieved with every match they win. McDowell felt a tinge of guilt.

“Embarrassed is the wrong word. I’m not embarrassed,” he said. “But I just feel like I’m robbing these guys.”

Perhaps it’s only fitting that his quarterfinal match is against Victor Dubuisson of France, who took out Bubba Watson. Dubuisson has never trailed at any point this week. He plays the guy who has never led a single hole while the match was going on.

In other matches:

— Furyk, getting plenty of support from his college days at Arizona, rallied from an early deficit to beat Harris English on the 18th hole. He next plays Fowler, who made birdie on the 18th for a 1-up win over Garcia.

— Jason Day, who played 40 holes over the opening two rounds, had a relatively easy time in beating George Coetzee, 3 and 1. Day will play the quarterfinals against Louis Oosthuizen, who was stellar in a 5-and-4 win over Webb Simpson.

— Els beat a reigning major champion for the second straight day — U.S. Open champion Justin Rose on Thursday, PGA champion Jason Dufner on Friday. Even though he was scrappy again, the Big Easy birdied the 18th for a 1-up victory over Dufner. Now it’s time to play 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, who had 10 birdies on his card to take out defending champion Matt Kuchar. Els has made only nine birdies all week.