Kevin Kisner ended Justin Thomas' hopes of winning the WGC-Match Play by securing his eighth straight match win at the event dating back to 2019.
The 37-year-old beat the reigning Players champion 2-and-1, but he was 4-up after 10 until Thomas won three straight holes to make the match close. Kisner birdied 16 to move 2-up before securing the victory on No. 17.
"I dunno. I think it's probably luck," Kisner said about his win streak, according to Golf.com's Dylan Dethier. "I haven't run into a buzzsaw in a while and I've had a good run of luck winning holes with par."
"When I'm making birdies, they're not," he added. "I hope it stays through the weekend."
Kisner, who defeated Matt Kuchar in the 2019 final, improves his impressive match-play record to 15-5-2 as a professional, which includes the veteran's win at the 2017 Presidents Cup. Kisner will face Kuchar in Round 3, with the winner advancing to the Round of 16.
Meanwhile, Thomas lost his second match of the week and won't be able to advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. However, he does need to play a meaningless match on Friday against Louis Oosthuizen, who's also 0-2.
