AUSTIN — The World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play returns to Austin Country Club this week. It boasts the usual stellar field, led by the world No. Scottie Scheffler, the favorite son.
After a successful 2016 season, the PGA Tour failed to reach an agreement with Austin Country Club for an extension of their contract. The contract will expire next Sunday. It’s a strong field, with 64 of the top-ranked players in the world expected to be there when the five day tournament starts Wednesday.
The tournament has a prize pool of $20 million and the winner will take home $3.6 million. The tournament’s first three days will be played in pool with 16 different pods each of four golfers. The winner of each grouping will move on to Friday’s playoffs. The draw will take place Monday morning.
Jordan Uppleger, executive director of Dell Match Play, stated Saturday that there was an “incredible field” coming to Austin Country Club. “It’s great to see Rickie Fowler, a fan favorite, and Jason Day, our first Austin Country Club champion back in action.”
This event is unpredictable mainly because it is so predictable. The pandemic caused the tournament to be cancelled in 2020. Three of the previous winners were seeded 32nd (Billy Horschel, 2021) or lower.
Justin Thomas, United States, plays his shot from the 1st tee at Austin Country Club during the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play on March 21, 2018, Austin, Texas. (Photo by Darren Carroll/Getty Images).
Justin Thomas, a two-time PGA champion, was not among the eligible players. Cam Smith however, is at No. Because of his contract with LIV Golf, he is among 12 players who are not eligible for the tournament.
Thomas stated that he doesn’t have an affinity for Pete Dye ACC due to its rolling terrain and two very different nines, even though he has won other match-play events such as the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup where he scored 17 1/2 points.
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“(Innisbrook is a place that I love. Thomas stated that he loves the golf course. “I feel like I have a good chance of winning there if you go and play. It’s just that I don’t feel the same way about Austin Country Club. It is not a criticism of the course. It’s just that I’ve only played it six times, and it’s been really bad five of those.
Thomas stated that he did not want to lose any momentum as he tries to win a major, other than the PGA Championship or the Masters. Only once did he make it to the round-robin stage in six Dell events.
Scheffler will be there, however, and he is the most popular golfer in the world, with wins in the Players Championship, as well as the Phoenix Open, which was his second consecutive win.
Scheffler won six times in the past year and a half, including the Masters. He was fifth seed in the Dell championships a year ago and defeated Kevin Kisner (4 and 3) for the title. Both Scheffler, and Kisner finished runners-up in the previous year to win the big prize.
Scheffler won his title defense in Phoenix and will try to defend it in Austin, his hometown where he played for Texas. Jordan Spieth (three-time major champion) will also be there to defend his title.
Jason Day, Kevin Kisner, and Billy Horschel are also former Dell champions.
Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm will be their opponents. Max Homa, Max Homa. Xander Schauffele. Will Zalatoris. Viktor Hovland. Justin Rose, 32nd-ranked player worldwide, chose to not participate in the Dell alongside Thomas.
There are 16 international players in the field.
This field includes 48 PGA Tour winners, who have a total of 207 wins. The tournament will see the debut of thirteen players, including Tour winners Cam Davis and Tom Kim, J.J. Spaun and Nick Taylor. Justin Suh was the last to qualify. Tickets are available at dellmatchplay.com.
