Tag: Match Play

Four in a row: Nelly Korda tops Leona Maguire in 2024 T-Mobile Match Play final

Korda has won for a third week in a row and for a fourth straight start in 2024.

Nelly Korda has won for a third week in a row but more importantly for a fourth straight start on the LPGA. A record-tying fifth would have to come in a major championship, but that’s a concern for a later date.

For now, Korda is shipping home yet another trophy after her 12th career LPGA win, defeating Leona Maguire, 4 and 3, in the final of the 2024 T-Mobile Match Play at Shadow Creek Golf Course.

It’s Korda’s second straight 4-and-3 victory after opening the match-play bracket, 3 and 2.

The five-day event in Las Vegas came on the heels of wins near Phoenix and before that, Los Angeles. Her first win in 2024 was back in January. She’s the first to win four in a row since Lorena Ochoa in 2008.

“It’s just been a whirlwind,” she said of her 2024 season so far. “It’s been an amazing time, and to do it here as well in match play has been so much fun.”

Only Nancy Lopez in 1978 and Annika Sorenstam over the 2004 and 2005 seasons have won five LPGA tournaments in a row.

The match-play event started last Wednesday and the new format this year called for 54 holes of stroke play before three rounds of match play.

Korda won $300,000 for the victory and became the 25th LPGA golfer to surpass $10 million in career earnings. She also joins Ariya Juntanugan, Sei Young Kim and Hollis Stacy with 12 career victories.

“Playing the first two events, going down the stretch, there is a different type of adrenaline,” Korda said of her first two wins this year coming in a playoff. “But I feel like with match play you have that from the first hole so it was a great day playing against Leona. Always such a great competitor. Happy to get my fourth.”

The LPGA is off next week and then it’s the first women’s major of 2024 at the Chevron Championship, starting on Thursday, April 18, in The Woodlands, Texas, on the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at The Club at Carlton Woods.

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Match play, weekly fields and postseason plans: Explaining TGL’s unique format

Here’s what you need to know about the format for TGL.

Over the last year, TGL has continuously announced player signings and team owners to build anticipation for the new tech-infused golf league led by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Golf fans knew the basics – six teams of four PGA Tour players competing in 15 regular season matches, followed by semifinals and finals matches all at a high-tech short-game complex – but we didn’t know what an actual competition would look like. On Tuesday the competition format, regular-season points system and postseason details were all released as the first match on Tuesday, Jan. 9, approaches.

Here’s what you need to know about the format for TGL.

MORE: TGL to air exclusively on ESPN

Match play

Each match will feature two sessions with different formats. Session 1 will be 9 holes of “Triples,” three vs. three team alternate shot. Session 2 is 6 holes of “Singles,” a head-to-head competition where each competitor plays two holes.

Holes are worth 1 point and the team with the fewest shots on a hole wins the point. Ties are worth 0 points. If a match is all square at the end of the 15 holes, players will compete head-to-head until a team hits two shots closer to the pin than its competitors.

It’s a unique format to say the least, and the Triples session could provide some entertainment. That said, the Singles session may confuse viewers with a revolving door of players, and the closest-to-the-pin overtime tiebreaker has the potential to drag out (remember the first Tiger Woods vs. Phil Mickelson match?).

Points system and postseason

The TGL regular season points system resembles the NHL: A win in regulation or overtime is worth 2 points, a loss in overtime is good for 1 point, and of course, a loss in regulation is worth 0 points.

At the end of the regular season, the top four teams on the points list advance to the playoffs. The semifinals will be single elimination and the finale, the Championship Series, will be a best-of-three competition. More details will be released on the postseason.

Venue

SoFi Center at Palm Beach State College in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is a nearly 250,000-square-foot venue that will accommodate approximately 1,600 people on match nights during TGL’s inaugural season. The tech-infused course is roughly the size of a football field.

Players will hit tee and approach shots from real grass tee boxes, fairway surfaces, rough, and sand on long shots into a 64×46-foot screen (roughly 20 times a standard simulator) powered by Full Swing technology.

For shots within 50 yards or less, players will transition from Screenplay to Greenplay to a custom-built “Green Zone” that is larger than four basketball courts and includes three 15×27 foot Virtual Greens, also by Full Swing. Each green features 189 actuators and jacks that change the slope of the green to create a variety of play on every TGL hole.

Weekly fields and teams

The league is comprised of six teams of four players. The two competing teams will name their three players ahead of each match, and all six will be mic’d up during the competition.

Team names, brands, front office staff and players will all be announced later this year. All 24 players have already been announced, same with five of the six team ownership groups:

  • Atlanta Drive GC: led by Arthur M. Blank, AMB Sports and Entertainment (Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta United, PGA Tour Superstores)
  • TGL Boston: led by John Henry, Tom Werner, Mike Gordon, and Fenway Sports Group (Boston Red Sox, Liverpool FC, Pittsburgh Penguins, RFK Racing)
  • Los Angeles Golf Club: led by Alexis Ohanian (Angel City FC), Seven Seven Six, Serena Williams and Venus Williams; as well as limited partners the Antetokounmpo brothers, Alex Morgan, Servando Carrasco and Michelle Wie West
  • TGL New York: led by Steven A. Cohen (New York Mets), Cohen Private Ventures
  • TGL San Francisco: a group led by Avenue Sports Fund’s Marc Lasry, Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala and Klay Thompson

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What if the Tour Championship was a match-play event? Here’s how it might play out

How interesting would this next week at East Lake Golf Club if we had match play?

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How does Jon Rahm vs. Jordan Spieth sound? Would you watch Wyndham Clark vs. Collin Morikawa? Or what about Xander Schauffele vs. Tony Finau?

In other words, what if the Tour Championship was a match play? How interesting would this next week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta be then?

The PGA Tour’s lone match-play event, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, was played in Austin for the final time in March. There is no upcoming match play tournament on the schedule.

It certainly seems like there’s room somewhere on the schedule for such an event. Why not bring the format to the high-stakes Tour Championship? Let’s do away with the staggered scoring format and bring on some head-to-head competition.

To make it work, the Tour would need to allow two more golfers into the field. We’d need 32 to make a nice, clean bracket. Doesn’t seem like having the top 32 advance from the BMW instead of the current top 30 is that big of a deal.

Also, 32 golfers make for a four-day event. The Dell had 64 golfers and needed five days of competition. It also had the pod system for the first three days but we don’t need that here. This Tour Championship Match Play (or whatever it would be called) would be an old-school “lose and go home” format.

Curious what the 2023 matchups would be? Based on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings, here ya go:

  • Scottie Scheffler (1) vs. Chris Kirk (32)
  • Viktor Hovland (2) vs. Sahith Theegala (31)
  • Rory McIlroy (3) vs. Sepp Straka (30)
  • Jon Rahm (4) vs. Jordan Spieth (29)
  • Lucas Glover (5) vs. Tyrrell Hatton (28)
  • Max Homa (6) vs. Emiliano Grillo (27)
  • Patrick Cantlay (7) vs. Sam Burns (26)
  • Brian Harman (8) vs. Jason Day (25)
  • Wyndham Clark (9) vs. Collin Morikawa (24)
  • Matt Fitzpatrick (10) vs. Adam Schenk (23)
  • Tommy Fleetwood (11) vs. Nick Taylor (22)
  • Russell Henley (12) vs. Taylor Moore (21)
  • Keegan Bradley (13) vs. Si Woo Kim (20)
  • Rickie Fowler (14) vs. Corey Conners (19)
  • Xander Schauffele (15) vs. Tony Finau (18)
  • Tom Kim (16) vs. Sungae Im (17)

Just for fun, we created a mock printable bracket here.

First place at the Tour Championship would still be worth $18 million. The total purse would still be $75 million. Yes, half the field would only be in Atlanta for a single day of competition, but with this being the season ender, they’d merely get an early start to their offseasons.

One sticking point could be how the TV networks feels about it. (CBS and NBC alternate years as broadcast partner for all three playoff events.) They probably don’t want to risk not having the Scotties and Rorys and Rahms of the world around on the weekend, and nothing can be done to assure only big names advance.

After all, this is match play, where weird things happen. But it could make for some amazing viewing for golf fans to wrap up the season.

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Ringler: Stroke play determines how you get the chance, match play has the final answer

Again, the No. 1 team and the No. 1 seed are absent from the championship winner’s circle.

Again, the No. 1 team and the No. 1 seed are absent from the championship winner’s circle.

Top-ranked Vanderbilt struggled to even advance to match play this week. No. 2 Illinois falls again match play. Stroke-play champions and third-ranked North Carolina continue a trend that has seen the top team in stroke play lose in bracket play 13 out of 14 years.

Instead, we have two teams that were amongst the best all season long, just not at the top.

Florida and Georgia Tech played for the title. Florida and Georgia Tech are very good college golf teams. Florida won, becoming the second team in a row ranked No. 6 to win the national championship. In this match play format, that is where you want to be.

No. 1 seeds and No. 1 teams rarely win.

In sports, we know the No. 1s and No. 2s do not always win the title.

Why does this happen in college golf?

The reason is very simple. Stroke play determines the rankings. Stroke play determines the seeds.

The Gators did finish tied for second after 72 holes of stroke play, earning the No. 2 seed. The Gators were ranked 6th by Golfweek entering match play.

However, stroke play does not determine the winner. Only how you get a chance to win. Match play is used, and that format brings teams closer together. Levels the playing field.

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It decreases the value of a dominant player. Instead of being several shots better, that top player can only be one point better in match play. And in 18 holes of golf, with players of NCAA Championship caliber, literally any player can beat the other any time out.

And sure, at times it can be more exciting. Not always. But, if you played a season full of dual matches, your rankings would look much different. They would look like match play rankings.

Again, this is to take nothing away from all the teams that have won a title since 2009, when the format changed. But, rather to try to figure out if there is a way to solve this formula on how they won.

Programs spend thousands of dollars to figure out how to get better. Like all sports, analytics are big in college golf. Whether it’s studying your swing numbers or breaking down the golf course. Or maybe it’s trying to figure out where to play and who to play. Being the best or second best or third best is hardly a guarantee to get a ring.

How to figure out the NCAA match play riddle? We have 14 years’ worth of data. The average national championship winning team is ranked 7.7. The seed average is 4.1.

Not sure if there is anything more than that. It may just be up to the golf gods or a bounce here or there on Tuesday or Wednesday.

No idea if there is an actual answer.

For Florida, the answer was ranked No. 12 after the fall, No. 7 entering the regionals, finish fourth at the NCAA Regional, finish tied for second after 72 holes of stroke play and then defeat Virginia (3-2), Florida State (3-2) and Georgia Tech (3-1).

That equals NCAA champions.

And with that path, it’s the first championship for the Gators since 2001, and the Grayhawk golf championship chapter closes. For three years the folks at Arizona State, Grayhawk, Thunderbirds and many volunteers were as good a host as we have ever seen. Certainly, big shoes for future hosts.

And continued searching for that winning formula for coaches.

Georgia Tech wins in extra holes, North Carolina knocks off hosts and Yuxin Lin’s back-nine push sends Florida into NCAA Men’s Golf Championship semifinals

Here’s a breakdown of Tuesday morning’s action.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It was a quick turnaround for the eight teams who advanced into the 2023 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship match play.

Come early Tuesday morning, they returned to Grayhawk Golf Club and began quarterfinal matches. And the headline was four Atlantic Coast Conference teams making match play, with North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Florida State and Virginia trying to battle for conference supremacy. And all of them were in different matches.

However, there was no shortage of excitement Tuesday morning, with numerous matches coming down to the wire.

NCAA: Photos

Here’s a look at recaps of the quarterfinals as well as semifinal matchups.

Quarterfinal results

Florida 3, Virginia 2

NCAA individual champion Fred Biondi’s match was the first to end, with him falling to Bryan Lee, 6 and 5. However, it was Yuxin Lin winning the final two holes to clinch the match for Florida and propel the Gators into the semifinals. Lin was 3 down after 11 holes but won three of the next five to clinch the match.

Florida State 3, Illinois 2

Speaking of ACC teams, Florida State, the sixth seed, knocked off No. 3 Illinois, 3-2, with freshman Luke Clanton beating individual runner-up Jackson Buchanan 1 up for the clinching point. Fellow freshman Cole Anderson also won his match, 1 up, winning the final hole to clinch another point. Seniors Tommy Kuhl and Adrien Dumont de Chassart earned the two points for Illinois.

North Carolina 4, Arizona State 1

Michael Mjaaseth needed one more roll. His ball came to rest less than an inch short of the cup on the par-4 18th hole, him needed a birdie to try to extend the match against North Carolina. However, Arizona State fell short against the top-seeded Tar Heels, losing 4-1 as David Ford beat Mjaaseth to get the clinching point. He drove the par-4 17th green and made birdie to go 1 up, which proved enough to move on.

Georgia Tech 3, Pepperdine 2

Hiroshi Tai, a freshman from Singapore, buried a birdie putt on the 19th hole to win his match against Roberto Nieves and send Georgia Tech into the semifinals to face ACC foe North Carolina. Ross Steelman, who held the 18-, 36- and 54-hole leads in stroke play, dominated to a 5-and-4 victory, and Bartley Forrester got the other point, winning 2 and 1.

Semifinal matchups

No. 2 Florida vs. No. 6 Florida State

Matthew Kress vs. Frederik Kjettrup (3:45 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

Fred Biondi vs. Cole Anderson (3:55 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

John DuBois vs. Luke Clanton (4:05 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

Yuxin Lin vs. Jack Bigham (4:15 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

Ricky Castillo vs. Brett Roberts (4:25 p.m ET, 1st tee)

No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 5 Georgia Tech

Dylan Menante vs. Christo Lamprecht (4:35 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

Ryan Burnett vs. Bartley Forrester (4:45 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

Austin Greaser vs. Connor Howe (4:55 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

David Ford vs. Hiroshi Tai (5:05 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

Peter Fountain vs. Ross Steelman (5:15 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

NCAA Championship: Match play field, pairings set for 2023 men’s quarterfinals

Check out the eight teams who made the match play at the NCAAs.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The men’s individual national champion has been crowned, which means one thing: it’s time for match play.

North Carolina is the top seed in match play, finishing at 6 under. The Tar Heels will face Arizona State, which topped Stanford on the second playoff hole for the final match play spot. The Sun Devils made the match play final last year, falling to Texas.

The top-seeded team has won the title only once (Oklahoma State, 2018).

The quarterfinals are set to begin on Tuesday morning and the semifinals to follow in the afternoon. On Wednesday, and the final. (Note: all times ET, which is three hours ahead of Scottsdale).

Golfweek/Sagarin rankings: Men’s team | Men’s individual
NCAA Leaderboard: Team | Individual | Photos

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Here’s a look at the quarterfinal matchups and pairings at the 2023 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship.

Top seeds Stanford, Wake Forest advance to NCAA Women’s Golf Championship semifinals

It was a quick turnaround Tuesday morning.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — It was a quick turnaround for the eight teams who advanced into the 2023 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship match play.

Come early Tuesday morning, they returned to Grayhawk Golf Club and began quarterfinal matches. Stanford, the defending national champion, was the top seed after stroke play and faced off against a Pepperdine team making its first appearance in NCAA match play. There was an ACC matchup between Florida State and Wake Forest. Then a Lone Star Showdown between Texas and Texas A&M. To wrap it up, there was a battle of the USCs, as South Carolina took on Southern California.

NCAA: Photos

Here’s a recap of Tuesday morning’s NCAA match play quarterfinals and a look ahead at Tuesday afternoon’s semifinal pairings. Every team that makes match play semifinals qualifies for the East Lake Cup in the fall.

Quarterfinal results

Texas A&M 4, Texas 1

The first match to conclude was the one between Texas rivals. Zoe Slaughter got the Aggies’ first point, beating Huai-Chien Hsu, 3 and 2. Then Sophie Guo got the Longhorns’ lone point, winning 2 and 1. However, Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio and Adela Cernousek each won their matches on the 18th green, 1 up, to advance Texas A&M to the semifinals.

Wake Forest 3.5, Florida State 1.5

It took until Rachel Kuehn’s 20th hole, but she took advantage of Amelia Williamson’s mistake. The senior at Wake Forest saw her Florida State playing partner dump her shot into the pond right of the 18th green. Kuehn found the fairway, then the green and two putted to win her match and secure the final point to propel Wake Forest, the 2019 national runner-up, into the semifinals. Carolina Lopez-Chacarra won 2 and 1, and Mimi Rhodes won 1 up.

Southern California 4, South Carolina 1

The Trojans have the longest streak of making the NCAA Championship at 25 years. However, it has been five years since USC made the match play semifinals. But the wait is over. South Carolina got on the board quickly with Mathilde Claisse winning, 6 and 5, but Cindy Kou and Catherine Park, the individual runner-up, each got a point on the board. Then Brianna Navarrosa got the clinching point when South Carolina’s Louise Rydqvist missed a birdie on the par-3 eighth, the group’s 17th hole.

Stanford 4, Pepperdine 1

Pepperdine’s Lion Higo watched her tee shot go right off the 18th tee in a tied match. It landed beneath a tree and near a shrub, leaving her an awkward stance and lie. she missed the ball on her first swing and had to take another to get the ball back in the fairway, However. it was enough of a blunder to give Kelly Xu the final point and advance Stanford into the semis. Rose Zhang, the NCAA individual champ, won 6 and 5, and Sadie Englemann won 2 and 1.

Semifinal matchups

No. 3 Wake Forest vs. No. 7 Texas A&M

Emilia Migliaccio vs. Zoe Slaughter (3:45 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

Carolina Lopez-Chacarra vs. Jennie Park (3:55 p.m. ET)

Mimi Rhodes vs. Bianca Fernandez Garcia-Poggio (4:05 p.m. ET)

Lauren Walsh vs. Adela Cernousek (4:15 p.m. ET)

Rachel Kuehn vs. Hailee Cooper (4:25 p.m. ET)

No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 5 USC

Kelly Zu vs. Catherine Park (4:35 p.m. ET, 1st tee)

Megha Ganne vs. Cindy Kou (4:45 p.m. ET)

Brooke Seay vs. Christine Wang (4:55 p.m. ET)

Sadie Englemann vs. Amari Avery (5:05 p.m. ET)

Rose Zhang vs. Brianna Navarrosa (5:15 p.m. ET)

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Golf fans have a brilliant idea to keep a designated match play event on the PGA Tour

What is the PGA Tour waiting for? Do this now!

When Sam Burns defeated Cam Young to win the championship match of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin on Sunday it stood as likely the last time we’ll see that format on the PGA Tour.

Tournament director Jordan Uppleger announced the event would not be returning in 2024 or beyond.

It’s an absolute shame, too. Because the pool-play-to-playoff format is rare among pro golf events. Every major tournament you can think of challenges a player against themselves at a specific course rather than using the knockout format.

With the end of the annual stop at Austin Country Club, golf is missing out on one of its most unique weekends, though PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan left the door open for a return to match play.

“I think for right now, for next season’s schedule, it didn’t work,” Monahan said. “But match play has been a staple out here. It’s been a staple on the DP World Tour. I think that will certainly be a consideration as we go forward.”

Which got many fans and analysts thinking about the right way to reincorporate the bracket format onto the Tour calendar. The answer became almost too obvious: the Tour Championship.

It’s an absolutely brilliant idea and one the PGA should immediately consider.

The current Tour Championship setup rewards the best players by giving them a head start on the scorecard. The player who earns the most FedEx Cup points during the season starts at 10-under par, second-most points starts at 8-under, the third at −7, etc.

What if, instead, the top players in the FedEx Cup standings were seeded like a playoff bracket and went head-to-head to crown a champion?

Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine explained how it could work:

Let’s get rid of the polarizing staggered start, expand the field at East Lake by two players to the top 32 in the FedExCup following the BMW Championship, and have the Tour’s best go head-to-head, mano a mano, for the $18 million first-place prize.

The Final Fore? It could be electric.

Sure, critics will argue that match play, for all its fickleness, shouldn’t decide a season-long champion – or perhaps more importantly, a $75 million event. But is giving the points leader a head start, including 10 shots on the last players in the field, much better? There’s a reason some people playfully call the playoff finale the “PGA Tour’s Net Championship” and joke about the “shadow leaderboard,” referring to the gross scores recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking.

Again, brilliant!

Think of how much easier it is to explain to casual fans tuning in how match play works rather than going on about why some players are 10-under par through two holes.

Think of the upsets. Think of the live betting opportunities. Think of golf’s own spin on March Madness. It’s hard not to get excited about it. And plenty of golf fans are already on board.

Dressed for Success: Sam Burns at the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

See how Sam Burns dressed for success in TravisMathew at the 2023 Dell Technologies Match Play

After 119 holes and five days, Sam Burns is your champion of the 2023 and final WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event at the Austin Country Club.

With his hot putter, Burns earned the fifth win of his young career, and his first of the season.

The win was also the most profitable of Burns’ career, as the Louisianan earned a cool $3.5M by defeating Cameron Young 6&5 in the finals. Don’t feel too badly for Cam Young and new caddie Paul Tesori, by finishing as the runner-up, Young still takes home $2.2M.

We’ve already taken a look into Burns’ winning equipment, so let’s dive into the champion’s closet and see how Sam dressed for success in TravisMathew apparel at the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.

Rory McIlroy made a beautiful 349-yard drive to the green during Match Play and it looked so easy

What a beauty from Rory McIlroy.

This drive was quite the stunner from Rory McIlroy to close out his day at Austin Country Club.

On Thursday, McIlroy opened No. 18 during the second day of Match Play with a gorgeous 349-yard drive. The ball bounced off of the green and rolled within four feet of the hole, making for an easy eagle. The shot helped McIlroy win his match over Denny McCarthy (2-up) to move to 2-0-0 in the standings.

MORE: LIV’s reported ratings are so laughably bad

McIlroy’s shot really was a thing of beauty, as the ball hung up just enough to hit the green and roll perfectly to a stop within feet of the hole.

What a shot, indeed!

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