Who’s ready for some match play?
The PGA Tour’s best – 64 of the world’s top 77 players – are bound for Austin Country Club this week for the final playing of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. The famed club in the Texas capital has been the host of the Match Play since 2016 when Dell became the title sponsor. As one of the Tour’s designated events for the season, the loaded field will be competing for a tournament-record purse of $20 million in its final year.
For those unfamiliar with the format, here’s how it goes: The 64 players are seeded and placed in 16 different groups. Golfers play everyone in their group in matches from Wednesday-Friday and earn one point for a win and half a point for a tie. The 16 group winners with the most points will then advance to the knockout stage with the Round of 16 on Saturday morning, the quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon, semifinals on Sunday morning final and third place-matches on Sunday afternoon.
With a great field comes some must-watch matches. Here are 10 showdowns you won’t want to miss at the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Group 1: Scottie Scheffler vs. Tom Kim
Let’s start with the defending champion, Scottie Scheffler. The world No. 1 also finished runner-up in Austin in 2021 and enters the week off a win at the Players Championship.
Scheffler’s top challenger in Group 1 is rising star Tom Kim, the 20-year-old ranked No. 19 in the world who already has a pair of PGA Tour wins under his belt. Kim embraced the moment as a member of the International team at the Presidents Cup last fall and is sure to put on a show for the fans this week.
Group 2: Jon Rahm vs. Billy Horschel
Both players are known to wear their emotions on their sleeves, which could produce some fireworks given the volatility of match play. Horschel took home the Match Play trophy in 2021 while Rahm, currently ranked No. 2 in the world, finished runner-up in 2017.
Group 2: Keith Mitchell vs. Rickie Fowler
This is a must-watch for a couple reasons, the first strictly for the clashing aesthetics with Cashmere Keith vs. Highlighter Rickie. Second, both are playing some pretty good golf these days.
In 10 starts this season on Tour, Fowler has six top-25 finishes, including a trio of top 10s and a T-2 at the Zozo Championship. Over 12 starts, Mitchell also has three top-10 finishes, including a pair of close calls on the west coast swing at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (T-4) and Genesis Invitational (5).
Group 3: Rory McIlroy vs. Keegan Bradley
Ranked No. 3 in the world, McIlroy is appointment television these days alongside Scheffler and Rahm, not to mention his history at the event which includes a win in 2015 and a runner-up showing in 2012.
Bradley won in the fall at the Zozo Championship and so far this year has a runner-up finish at the Farmers Insurance Open and top 10 at Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Group 5: Max Homa vs. Kevin Kisner
This might be one of the most fun matches in the pool play slate. Both are fan favorites, but Kisner might just have the advantage at Austin Country Club. The match play maven has been runner-up in 2022 and 2018 and won in 2019.
Homa hasn’t finished better than T-18 at the Match Play, but he did go an unbeaten 4-0 at the 2022 Presidents Cup, including a defeat of Tom Kim in his Sunday singles match. So far this season Homa already has two wins at the Fortinet Championship and Farmers Insurance Open.
Group 5: Max Homa vs. Hideki Matsuyama
See above for the reasons to watch Homa, but let’s focus on Matsuyama here.
After two wins last season, Matsuyama has struggled by his lofty standards so far this season and hasn’t advanced to the Round of 16 at the Match Play since 2015. But as he prepares to make another run at Augusta National following his 2021 Masters win, don’t be surprised if a match with Homa gets Matsuyama’s competitive juices flowing.
Group 9: Collin Morikawa vs. Jason Day
Jason Day has been back on his grind recently on the PGA Tour with five top-10 finishes in 12 starts this season and could be a fun challenge for the top seed in Group 9. Not only that, Day has a history of success at the Match Play, where he won in 2014 and 2016, the first year at Austin Country Club.
Group 12: Jordan Spieth vs. Shane Lowry
Ryder Cup preview, anyone? Neither player has a great history of success in the event, but this isn’t a projection of winners. The pair are separated by just nine places in both their seeds and world rankings, making for one of the closest matches on paper in pool play.
Group 14: Tyrrell Hatton vs. Anyone else in Group 14
Hatton will be looking to make his case for a third Ryder Cup appearance and has a strong history at the Match Play where he has advanced to the Round of 16 in three of his last five appearance in Austin.
Not only that, the fact he idles at 70 percent on the verge of losing his temper makes him must-watch in match play. It doesn’t matter if its Russell Henley, Lucas Herbert or Ben Griffin, they’re all matches you won’t want to miss with Hatton.
Group 15: Cameron Young vs. Davis Thompson
The most stoic match on the slate. You won’t know who’s up or down in the match seeing as neither are prone to showing any sort of emotion, positive or negative, on the golf course.
Thompson, a PGA Tour rookie, finished runner-up at the American Express and was ninth at the Fortinet Championship to start the season.
Young, the reigning Rookie of the Year, finished T-35 in his Match Play debut last year and had five runner-up finishes. So far this season, he’s finished in the top 25 in four of eight starts with one top 10.
Young also be breaking in a new caddie, as Paul Tesori is making the switch away from Webb Simpson.
