WGC Dell Technologies Match Play

[MattyO1984]

When Greg Norman last threatened the hegemony of the PGA Tour, the Tour alongside the European, Asian, Japan, Sunshine and Australasian Tour's got together and the World Golf Championships were created. Three, rising to four events, where the best players were brought together with the largest prize funds and no cuts. The era of the WGC began in 1999 with the WGC Matchplay held at La Costa, California with Jeff Maggert claiming the first title by ousting Andrew Magee on the second playoff hole of which was then a 36 hole final. It seemed that every year brought a tweak of some kind with host venues changing, group formats being introduced and this year the final tweak sees not only the event but the WGC's themselves being placed in the bin as the PGA Tour reacts to Norman's second attempt to wrestle for control of the game. The lack of matchplay, the lack of any other format beyond strokeplay, will be a miss in the schedules but there will be no tears for the WGCs. Whilst they brought together stellar fields and provided Tiger with a source of income that did something to at least acknowledges the juice he brought to the game the events themselves never appeared to endear themselves with the fans. Whether that was due to the bland courses, the general reluctance of the world's best to play anywhere outside the States or the fact that money and money alone does not equal prestige is a debate for another thread. Let's make the most of this week and make the most of televised matchplay as the world's best go mano y mano one last time.

 

Defending Champion:-

Scottie Scheffler

 

Notables in the Field:-

Jon Rahm

Rory McIlroy

Patrick Cantlay

Max Homa

Xander Schauffele

Will Zalatoris

Viktor Hovland

Collin Morikawa

Tony Finau

Matt Fitzpatrick

Jordan Spieth 

 

Course:-

Austin Country Club

Par 71

7,108 yards

 

 

[iBanesto]

[WorkItBothWays]

Difficult to predict but I like Fleetwood's chances. He's second seed is his group with Sungjae Im being the top seed.

Group 16
Sungjae Im (16)
Tommy Fleetwood (24)
J.T. Poston (43)
Maverick McNealy (58)

[bobobs]

Have to be honest.....not a huge fan of matchplay in the PGA ranks. I was thinking about the WGC's and LIV while watching the Valspar this weekend and came to the conclusion...the reason the PGA and stroke play works for me is quite simple. Two guys on the last day, fighting to win for the first time. Yes Jordan was right there as well (which adds to the excitement). 

 Basically, I love the underdogs in the mix with a household name week to week.

Matchplay has its lustre, however not the same as stroke play. As for LIV...a bunch of overpaid has beens and a few of the worlds best. No underdog to speak of. Boring !

[Tiger_Stud]

1 hour ago, WorkItBothWays said:

Difficult to predict but I like Fleetwood's chances. He's second seed is his group with Sungjae Im being the top seed.

Group 16
Sungjae Im (16)
Tommy Fleetwood (24)
J.T. Poston (43)
Maverick McNealy (58)

I‘m sure it will be Tommy‘s week!

[jimecherry]

someone forgot to add no Liv discussion to the title.

 

on a serious note what is the lowest world ranking of a winner for this tournament?

if we break the groupings up into 4 by 16 and re order based on owgr would someone like a ricky fowler be considered a bracket buster ;}

 

[grm24]

7 minutes ago, jimecherry said:

on a serious note what is the lowest world ranking of a winner for this tournament?

90 - Steve Stricker 2001. Many players skipped the Match Play that year due to it being played in Australia. Stricker was the 55th seed.

 

Kevin Sutherland was the lowest ranked seed to win the event (62nd) in 2002. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGC_Match_Play#Winners

[KrazyTrain18]

Austin CC has been a great venue, disappointing to see it leave the schedule. 

[c7015]

Will miss match play on the schedule for sure, but the wonky format they had to keep the top seeds was already awkward. 

 

Match play I like to think brings out an underdog, so a fleetwood , fowler , keegan could be good names to take some long shots on 

 

guy like hovland has been trending and could be dangerous. Outside Scheff winning everything 

 

[jdl]

2 hours ago, bobobs said:

Have to be honest.....not a huge fan of matchplay in the PGA ranks. I was thinking about the WGC's and LIV while watching the Valspar this weekend and came to the conclusion...the reason the PGA and stroke play works for me is quite simple. Two guys on the last day, fighting to win for the first time. Yes Jordan was right there as well (which adds to the excitement). 

 Basically, I love the underdogs in the mix with a household name week to week.

Matchplay has its lustre, however not the same as stroke play. As for LIV...a bunch of overpaid has beens and a few of the worlds best. No underdog to speak of. Boring !

Agree. Match play is so good in the Ryder Cup but so blah here. It is nice to see a different format but still lacks something.

[Dave230]

I'm not really a fan of the group format, it's supposed to protect the top players but I don't think it has. If they don't have their best golf that week, they're not going to go deep into the tournament regardless. Would rather see it go back to straight knockout.

 

EDIT: Well actually I'd rather they kept it at all! Since it's the last year of it.

Edited March 20, 2023 by Dave230

[jimecherry]

1 hour ago, Dave230 said:

I'm not really a fan of the group format, it's supposed to protect the top players but I don't think it has. If they don't have their best golf that week, they're not going to go deep into the tournament regardless. Would rather see it go back to straight knockout.

 

EDIT: Well actually I'd rather they kept it at all! Since it's the last year of it.

Group play exists not to protect top seeds but to insure they get 3 rounds in before the masters;} 

[Duct Tape]

5 hours ago, jimecherry said:

someone forgot to add no Liv discussion to the title.

 

 

 

You’re the LIV police after five posts?  🤓😀🏌🏼‍♀️
 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Duct Tape

[woahnelly]

Group 2 is tough. I'm picking KM to win every week, until he does so! 

[TiScape]

Funny thing is @Duct Tape, ur both now suspended 30 days for saying IT! 😂 

😜

[BubbaBallesteros]

This tournament is definitely my favorite outside the majors. Love this course and match play. 

[Hawkeye77]

Intro for this thread Jack Whittaker-esque. Had at me at hegemony - expecting something worthy of Dan Jenkins for the real Masters thread!

[Creedo77]

7 hours ago, bobobs said:

Have to be honest.....not a huge fan of matchplay in the PGA ranks. I was thinking about the WGC's and LIV while watching the Valspar this weekend and came to the conclusion...the reason the PGA and stroke play works for me is quite simple. Two guys on the last day, fighting to win for the first time. Yes Jordan was right there as well (which adds to the excitement). 

 Basically, I love the underdogs in the mix with a household name week to week.

Matchplay has its lustre, however not the same as stroke play. As for LIV...a bunch of overpaid has beens and a few of the worlds best. No underdog to speak of. Boring !

You should be watching the tournament in the Dominican this week. A lot of dogs playing there 

[Justsomeguy]

I took 6 longshot positions and 1 favorite. Prioritized putting. Streaky I know, but.. some in same groups. I'm not looking for favorites to go nuts here. Lot of parity in the top 50 these days.

Homa 20:1 $10 - $210

Kuchar 80:1 $10 - $810

Kisner 100:1 $10 - $1010

Wise 100:1 $10 - $1010

Mcnealy 100:1 $10 - $1010

Putnam 125:1 $10 - $1260

Poston 150:1 $10 - $1510

[KennyP]

With the small group format, this is the first time I've noticed the weaknesses caused by defections. Could be a difficult weekend for the sponsors if Scheffler, Rahm & McIlroy bow out early.

 

That said, i'll enjoy watching the later rounds as you see the matches evolve.

 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by KennyP

[Cincy_Ken]

11 hours ago, woahnelly said:

Group 2 is tough. I'm picking KM to win every week, until he does so! 

Yeah, rough draw for Rahm.  Mitchell and Fowler as the C and D players in that group have been playing like top 20 golfers this year.  And Billy as the B player hasn't been in great form but is the type of grinder you wouldn't want to see in match play.  

[UAdamz]

Fowler needs to make it to the quarterfinals to qualify for the Masters, otherwise he would have to win the Valero next week.

[Justsomeguy]

10 hours ago, Justsomeguy said:

I took 6 longshot positions and 1 favorite. Prioritized putting. Streaky I know, but.. some in same groups. I'm not looking for favorites to go nuts here. Lot of parity in the top 50 these days.

Homa 20:1 $10 - $210

Kuchar 80:1 $10 - $810

Kisner 100:1 $10 - $1010

Wise 100:1 $10 - $1010

Mcnealy 100:1 $10 - $1010

Putnam 125:1 $10 - $1260

Poston 150:1 $10 - $1510

I added Kitayama at 80:1 for $10.

Love these long shots.

[Kenbone]

Hatton is poised to win this week. So sayeth I

[Dutch1008]

4 hours ago, Kenbone said:

Hatton is poised to win this week. So sayeth I

Hatton might be my new favorite player...

 

 

Edited March 21, 2023 by Dutch1008

[Dave230]

8 hours ago, UAdamz said:

Fowler needs to make it to the quarterfinals to qualify for the Masters, otherwise he would have to win the Valero next week.

Such a tough group though and first game against Rahm. Then Keith Mitchell has been playing well and Horschel really is a great match player.

[bekgolf]

Rory all week.  Equipment change and tweaks to equipment will restore his mental approach and bring his confidence level back to where it needs to be.  He will be bombing drives and sinking putts like it's 2012.

[PearSorbet17]

16 hours ago, KennyP said:

With the small group format, this is the first time I've noticed the weaknesses caused by defections. Could be a difficult weekend for the sponsors if Scheffler, Rahm & McIlroy bow out early.

 

That said, i'll enjoy watching the later rounds as you see the matches evolve.

 

 

 

Yeah, exactly what I thought when I saw Justin suh in the field. 

[KrazyTrain18]

With the match play possibly leaving the schedule after this year, the tour has a great opportunity to reformat (again) the Tour Championship.  I think a match play finale to differentiate it from the rest of the PGA Tour events would be a great way to make that a unique event rather than the awkward staggered start scoring they use now.  

[PearSorbet17]

Who’s A Meronk and how is he in the field?