Spectacular finish bags second win for McIlroy but Lowry suffers early exit

McIlroy’s tee shot on the 375-yard 18th finished just four feet from the pin and led to a conceded eagle

Rory McIlroy produced a spectacular finish to his second match in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (Eric Gay/AP)

World number two Jon Rahm kept his hopes of winning the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play alive as Rory McIlroy produced a spectacular finish to the second day’s action in Austin.

Rahm suffered a surprise defeat to Rickie Fowler on Wednesday but bounced back to beat Keith Mitchell 4&3 on Thursday as Ryder Cup team-mates Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood suffered disappointing early exits.