Austin Country Club welcomes the PGA TOUR back with a 64-player field for the annual World Golf Championships – Dell Technologies Match Play.
Monday, March 20, will see the announcement of the 16 groups and final bracket.
FIELD NOTICES:Scottie Schffler returns to defend his title, which he won at THE PLAYERS Champion a year ago. Scheffler has already won the WM Phoenix Open title… Eight of the top-nine golfers in the world will be there, along with Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay. Justin Thomas and Justin Rose will also be playing. Justin Suh is at No. Currently, 77th in the OWGR is the last man in this field. Suh was solid in Florida Swing finishing T5 at The Honda Classic and T24 at Bay Hill. He also finished T6 at the PLAYERS Championship. Min Woo Lee is back on TOUR, where he tied for sixth at TPC Sawgrass. Lee was in the final pairing at TPC Sawgrass with Scheffler and is now on the verge of earning Special Temporary membership. He missed two cuts this season but has finished in the top 21 at all 10 events. Scheffler is currently on a T7-5-T9-10-T19… Scheffler was the only Texan to win the title in Austin. However, there are many other stars in Texas like Jordan Spieth or Will Zalatoris.
The Field’s Most Highly-Rated Players
FedExCup:Winner gets 550 FedExCup Points
COURSEAustin Country Club par 71, 7,108 yards (yardage subject for change). In its seven-year tenure as the Pete Dye design’s host, it has hosted a diverse mix of champions from long-bombers and short-game wizards (such was match play’s beauty). Austin Country Club hosted the WGC Match Play for the seventh time. The property was damaged by an ice storm in February, which resulted in more than 1,200 trees being cut. Two distinct nines make up the course, which dates back to 1899. The front nine showcases the Texas Hill Country while the back nine is located in the lowlands near Lake Austin. This creates a picturesque backdrop as matches move closer to completion.
STORYLINES The 16-man round-robin stage groups will be decided Monday… Since Tiger Woods’ 2003-04 title defense, there have not been many close calls at the WGC–Dell Match Play. Hunter Mahan was the winner in 2012, Jason Day was the runner up in 2013, and Paul Casey won in 2014. and 2016. Kisner was the runnerup (2018). The following points are used to award points: 1 point for the winner, 0 for the loser, and 0.25 points for each tie. The format changes to single elimination after group play. To crown a champion, two rounds will be played on Saturday and Sunday. There could be more Cinderella stories at Austin Country Club. The 2018-2021 winners were 32-48-40, Scheffler was No.5 a decade ago… This is the last match-play event on PGA TOUR’s schedule.
LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY: 9 & 8, Tiger Woods def. Stephen Ames (1st Round, 2006 at La Costa Resort & Spa).
LONGEST MATCHES:26 holes. Mike Weir def. Loren Roberts (1st round, 2003 at La Costa), Scott Verplank def. Lee Westwood (1st Round, 2006 at La Costa).
LAST TIMES:Scottie Schiffler won the Championship match for the third consecutive week, beating Kevin Kisner 3 and 4 in the final. Scheffler’s win at the WGC–Dell Match Play was one year after his defeat by Billy Horschel (2 and 1) in the final in 2021. Scheffler’s third win in five starts pushed him up to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Scheffler never lost to Kisner. After six holes, Scheffler led by three and a half shots. He then closed the deal with Kisner with a par on No. 15. Scheffler won his semi-final victory against Dustin Johnson without trailing. Scheffler completed his final 57 holes at Austin Country Club with a par on No.15. In his semi-final, Kisner defeated Corey Conners by 18 holes. Conners won the first three holes of the consolation match and ended up beating Johnson 3.
How to Follow
Television: Wednesday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel). Saturday, 10 a.m.-12 p.m. (Golf Channel). 12 p.m.-6 p.m. (NBC). Sunday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3 p.m.-7 p.m. (NBC)
PGA TOUR Live
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Radio: Wednesday-Friday, 2 p.m.-8 p.m. ET. Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. (PGA TOUR Radio on SiriusXM and PGATOUR.com/liveaudio
