WARRNAMBOOL'S Marc Leishman is unbeaten after two matches at the World Golf Championships Match Play in California.
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Leishman, the 60th seed, on Friday morning defeated American 23rd-seed Ryan Palmer four up with three holes to play.
The 31-year-old set up his victory with three consecutive wins between the eighth and 10th holes, opening the four-hole buffer.
Leishman now sits on top of the standings in his four-man group with one match to come on Saturday (AEST) against Indian Anirban Lahiri, the 35th seed. Lahiri was defeated on the 19th hole by world number six Justin Rose on Friday. Rose, defeated by Leishman on Thursday, joins Lahiri on one win and one loss at equal second in the group.
Leishman would advance to the knockout stage with a win against Lahiri.
On Thursday morning he defeated world number six Justin Rose 3-up with two holes to play.
He later revealed wife Audrey, who was gravely ill earlier this month, was making a quick recovery.
“She is doing good,” Leishman told the US PGA Tour website.
“The rehab is going ahead of schedule so she is a whole lot better than she was a few weeks ago. She is up and walking around and she is hoping to get down to the Players (tournament) next week.
“Things are looking really good for Audrey.”
Things are also looking good for Leishman after his defeat of the Englishman, a last-start winner on tour.
Leishman played with a calm freedom against Rose. He birdied the opening hole to take a 1-up lead and from there was never caught by the US Masters runner-up, giving him the equal lead in his group with India’s Anirban Lahiri, who beat Palmer 4&2.
Leishman, the 56th seed in the 64-player field, jumped to a 2-up lead through three holes and while Rose was just 1-down when he claimed the ninth hole, the Warrnambool pro took crucial wins on the 11th and 12th holes to open up a three-hole lead.
Rose attempted a comeback with a nice birdie and win on the 13th but a 10-metre birdie bomb from Leishman for the hole on the 14th ensured the upset would stay on the cards.
“Really happy with the day. Drove the ball well and putted pretty well,” Leishman said.
“Rosey probably missed a few putts he could have made but that’s golf and I’m really happy to win the first match.”
Leishman wasn’t the only Aussie to produce an upset. John Senden defeated world number three Henrik Stenseon on the 19th hole.
But fellow Aussies Jason Day, Adam Scott and Matt Jones were defeated.
