Pardon Xander Schauffele if he didn’t get too chesty after comfortably capturing his opening match.
AUSTIN, Texas — Pardon Xander Schauffele if he didn’t get too chesty after comfortably capturing his opening match during the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club.
Sure, Schauffele played well Wednesday against Cam Davis, using birdies on five of the opening seven holes to cruise to a 4-and-3 victory during a round in which he said he hit only one bad shot.
But the World No. 7 has been in this position before, and he knows that a group that includes red-hot Tom Hoge and Aaron Wise will still be tough to navigate. In fact, in four previous starts at the Pete Dye-designed course, Schauffele has never emerged from pool play, even though he’s played some solid golf along the way.
With the tournament scratched from the 2024 PGA Tour schedule (and the entire World Golf Championships franchise perhaps riding off in the sunset), Schauffele knows this is his last chance to finally make some noise in an event strong-willed players seem to love.
“There’s been plenty of times where you go 2-1 and you don’t get out because somebody goes 3-0,” Schauffele said. “If you want to get out of your group, just go 3-0 and that’ll do the job. That’s kind of what we have in mind.”
Schauffele has seven PGA Tour victories and has thrice finished in the top three at a major, but he admitted he hasn’t always come to Austin in peak form, especially with preparation for the upcoming Masters often taking precedence.
“I don’t think I’ve been in great form coming in in the past. The one time I played really well I think Sergio (Garcia) was like 9 under through 16 or something and I was 6under,” Schauffele said. “I was playing well and he beat me straight up. It’s one of those things where you can match up against someone, shoot 1 over and win your match, or you can shoot 7 under and lose your match.
“That’s just the beauty of match play and the beauty of all these players being the top players in the world, and it’s also this golf course. Anyone can birdie any hole on any given day, so it makes it pretty exciting.”
On Wednesday, Schauffele hit 10 of 12 fairways and was among the day’s longest players off the tee in getting out to a sizable lead over the Australian Davis. Schauffele was 4 up at the turn and coasted home, despite making a bogey at No. 14.
After tinkering with his driver, the native of Southern California felt right at home during a warm, foggy Texas afternoon that made the greens approachable. He’s hoping the success will continue through the week.
“It’s been a work in progress with equipment on the woods side. I’ve been hitting my irons pretty good, and I don’t know if it’s a speed thing or a delivery thing, but my whole bag wasn’t really married to each other. I’d hit my irons really good and my driver or hit my driver okay and my irons bad,” “We’ve been kind of working through it a lot last week and earlier this week, Monday, Tuesday.
“It’s nice that it worked out.”
[12:55 PM] Schmitt, Timothy
Schauffele will meet Wise in a pool-play match Thursday that’s scheduled to tee off at 3:06 p.m. ET.
Although he has an interest in maintaining a match-play event, Rahm said he’s unsure whether other players share his enthusiasm
AUSTIN, Texas — Yes, huge purses have helped to draw stacked fields to the World Golf Championships Match Play event, ever since its inception in 1999 in La Costa, California. But with the news that the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play has been stripped from the 2024 schedule, Jon Rahm is one player who’s been adamant that the PGA Tour needs to find a way to bring the format back into the fold sooner than later.
In fact, when asked about it in advance of Wednesday’s first round, the world No. 2 said he’d be on board for any such event in the future, even if it was re-introduced as a non-elevated event.
“I love match play. Why not?” Rahm said. “It’s a really fun format, so I probably would, yes.”
Rahm has never won the WGC Match Play, but he reached the finals in 2017 — the second year it took place in Austin — before losing to then-No. 1 Dustin Johnson.
And the Spaniard insisted on Tuesday that he looks forward to this slot in the schedule, one that offers a little variety for players who see the same 72-hole tournament structure week in and week out.
“As a player, it’s just an opportunity to play kind of a different golf, right?” Rahm said. “It’s really the only time throughout the year besides maybe the Ryder Cup where you’re playing truly against the person in front of you, which is much more relatable to every sport we play in the world, which is basically about just playing better than the team in front.
“Usually, it’s very much about you minding your own business and hopefully beating the other 150 players in the field. It’s fun. It’s a lot more aggressive. You see more birdies. You see a lot of things happen.”
Jon Rahm of Spain hits his approach on the 13th hole during the first round of the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play golf tournament at Austin Country Club in 2018. (Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports)
Rahm does, however, understand why the format is difficult to sell. With the field dwindling in the final days of the event, sponsors in massive hospitality tents only get a handful of matches.
“When you have clients come out here, Dell clients, Sunday afternoon you have the consolation match and the final, so they get all of 15 minutes of golf if you get lucky. I’m being very generous right there, that go through each one of the tents, right?” Rahm said. “Unless you’re positioned in a spot where you can see more than one hole, like it could be on 13 and 15 on those tents, you’re going to have to be moving around.
“When it comes to TV as well, yeah, it’s a lot more dead time than any other sport in between shots. I’m sure there’s a solution to it. I’m sure there’s a way around it, because I think we should have a match-play event every single season. I just don’t know what that solution is to make it entertaining enough throughout the entire Sunday or the weekend in general.”
Although he has an interest in maintaining a match-play event on the PGA Tour schedule, Rahm said he’s unsure whether other players share his enthusiasm. Due to the nature of the format, it can be frustrating for players who play well early on, but run into a few hot opponents and find themselves eliminated. He opens play on Wednesday in a high-profile pool that includes Rickie Fowler, Keith Mitchell and 2021 champ Billy Horschel.
“A lot of times you can lose your first two matches playing good golf, you have no way of qualifying and you still have to show up Friday and play because otherwise, it might affect the group, when you’re maybe thinking, I’m going home because you’re done,” Rahm said. “You can come out and play great matches and lose all of them. I understand why people don’t like that, and it’s very unlikely for someone to not have their best and end up making it through the group, right?
“There’s so many reasons why somebody might not like it. I just enjoy match play. Win or lose, it’s a different way of doing things, and I think it’s really fun. Every time I’ve come, if I make it through the group stage or not, win or not, it’s something that I enjoy.”
A match play major for men and women makes perfect sense for the good of the game, on so many levels.
Golfweek recently reported the PGA Tour’s World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play won’t return to Austin, Texas, after this year because of sponsorship issues. While it’s a shame to watch the Tour’s one match-play event drop off the schedule, it presents a golden opportunity for the USGA, PGA of America, R&A or some other body to step in with a better product than the steady barrage of stroke-play events served up week after week.
Why match play? It’s the best format for golf at all levels. It reduces stress for beginners, increases the fun factor and lowers a barrier to entry for the game. For avid golfers, match play speeds up the game and elevates camaraderie. For pro golf, various match-play formats increase strategy and heighten personalities. For course setup, match play allows for more unique hole locations and tee placement. And for daily course maintenance, it eases the burden on unrealistic and unsustainable practices in the interest of fairness.
In Scotland – where the modern game was invented – and much of the rest of the world, match play rules the day. Many club golfers typically play hole-by-hole matches, be they various two-player formats or other team events, instead of individual stroke-play events with aggregate scoring totals deciding a winner. In the Home of Golf, stroke play is frequently the oddity, not the default.
The ruling bodies that conduct top-tier professional tournaments would be well-served to look to Scotland for what could make our game better.
Unfortunately, we often take our cues from pro golf on TV. Whether it be scoring format, equipment, clothing, pre-shot routine or most importantly course conditioning, pro golf on TV has a trickle-down effect, especially in the United States. TV producers prefer stroke play events because they are, barring bad weather, typically guaranteed to end at a predetermined time to complete a broadcast window. Stroke play usually makes for a tidy product without the risk of a lopsided match ending early, leaving an hour or more of dead air on a Sunday afternoon. But this reliance on stroke play has an unhealthy impact on the game. The loss of the Dell Technologies Match Play after this year offers up a perfect opportunity for event organizers to embrace professional match play events on an even grander scale.
Match play already presents some of the most compelling golf on TV, just not at most pro events. The U.S. Amateur, U.S. Women’s Amateur plus the men’s and women’s NCAA Championship finals deliver more drama and emotion than most PGA Tour events, albeit to smaller viewing audiences.
We need look no further than the Ryder Cup, one of the most-anticipated events every two years. The passion exhibited is unique in pro golf, with teams of players from the United States and Europe squaring off in various match-play formats. It brings out the players’ personalities and often spotlights their strengths and frailties.
Imagine combining the benefits of match-play formats in a major championship. This isn’t exactly a new idea, as the PGA Championship was contested as match play until 1958. But aside from one annual PGA Tour event in recent years, the format has been cast aside for elite pros.
Now is the time for a resurgence with the advent of the Men’s & Women’s U.S. Open Match Play Championship. It would be modeled after the U.S. Amateur and open to pros and amateurs alike – just like the U.S. Open. The event would immediately become more popular than the FedEx Cup Playoffs with fans and would serve as a match-play lead-in to the biennial Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup events. Not only would this be a win for fans, it could help solve the USGA’s venue challenges.
The USGA has locked in many of the U.S. Open sites for both men and women for the next 20-plus years at a handful of venues including Pebble Beach Golf Links, Pinehurst No. 2, Oakmont, Shinnecock, Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course, Riviera, Oakland Hills, Winged Foot and Merion. Each is an amazing course with great architecture and tradition. And by repeating venues, the USGA has made the business of conducting championships easier in terms of scheduling, logistics and course setup.
However, the law of unintended consequences is that by locking in these venues, they have locked out others.
No. 5 green at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Gabe Gudgel/Golfweek)
The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, Southern Hills in Oklahoma, Inverness in Ohio and other clubs have been great hosts before and have invested to conduct more championships. They are largely locked out of the U.S. Open schedule.
Municipal venues such as Bethpage Black in New York, Torrey Pines in California and Chambers Bay in Washington (my biased choice for future U.S. Opens and Match Play events, as I helped design the site of the 2015 U.S. Open) are also shut out. And what about any new course that comes along that might be worthy to host a national championship?
Creating The U.S. Open Match Play not only opens the door to all of these venues, but many, many more.
One of the great things about the U.S. Open is it was always the toughest test in golf. The winning score historically was usually around par. But that means there are only a couple dozen venues capable of hosting the event, and even then we see the USGA changing a course from par 72 to par 70, narrowing fairways, growing rough, speeding up greens and more, all in effort to protect par.
But with match play, par doesn’t matter. All of a sudden, venues such as Chicago Golf Club, National Golf Links of America in New York or Pacific Dunes in Oregon become viable candidates on the golf course side (there are still many other factors to consider).
Creating this championship would allow the USGA to match the venue to the event better. While Oakmont and Shinnecock work well for stroke play, venues such as Los Angeles Country Club (site of this year’s U.S. Open) or Merion (site of the 2030 Open) are far better suited for match play. It would also allow the USGA to better spread out events geographically. And instead of having the U.S. Open at Pinehurst three times in nine years, the resort could host two U.S. Opens and a U.S. Open Match Play.
This same idea holds true for the women’s game. The women actually have a wider range of great venue options because a course doesn’t need to approach 8,000 yards long. A best-case scenario would be finding a way for men and women to actually compete together on the same course, as in the major championships in tennis.
If the USGA doesn’t want to charge through the door the PGA Tour has opened, I hope the PGA of America, R&A or some other group will. More match play on great venues around the world is good for golf. All of golf.
View photos of Billy Horschel throughout his career.
The biggest Florida Gators fan you’ll find on Tour, Billy Horschel loves the game as much as he loves his alma mater.
A seven-time winner on the PGA Tour, Horschel has had plenty of close brushes with history. In 2013, he was a weekend co-leader with Phil Mickelson and finished T-4 at the U.S. Open, his first career major as a professional.
Since then, Horschel’s best finish in a major was at the 2016 Masters (T-17) and the 2022 Open Championship (T-21). It hasn’t been all doom and gloom for Horschel though. He capped off a fantastic year in 2014 with a great playoff run. Horschel finished the year with back-to-back wins at the BMW Championship and the TOUR Championship.
More recently, Horschel won the 2021 WGC-Dell Technology Match Play, defeating Scottie Scheffler 2&1 in the finals, and cruised to win the 2022 Memorial by four shots.
Despite always being around the top of leaderboards year in and year out, Horschel has yet to represent the United States in team competitions as a professional. Thrice repping the stars and stripes as an amateur, Horschel was on the 2007 Walker Cup team and the 2007 and 2008 Arnold Palmer Cup teams.
At 35 years old, Horschel may finally get the nod at the 2022 Presidents Cup, further cementing his legacy as a top-tier pro during the past decade.
The Golfweek Senior National Match-Play Championship consists of four separate brackets, senior (age 55-64), super-senior (age 65-69), legends (age 70-74), and super legends (75+). Over the course of three days, players in each bracket will be …
The Golfweek Senior National Match-Play Championship consists of four separate brackets, senior (age 55-64), super-senior (age 65-69), legends (age 70-74), and super legends (75+). Over the course of three days, players in each bracket will be whittled to one Senior National Match-Play champion in each division. The Golfweek Senior National Match Play is not a one loss and done tournament. As players are eliminated from match-play they will enter a consolation stroke-play competition using the stableford scoring system. Duke University Golf Club will be the perfect venue to host Golfweek’s ninth annual Senior National Match Play!
DeChambeau hasn’t played since January. On his first swing, at least, it showed.
Bryson DeChambeau made his return to competitive golf on Wednesday for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play after missing two months of action. His swing at the first tee box could’ve gone better.
Before we go any further and dissect this absolutely inexplicable drive, it’s worth noting the reason DeChambeau hasn’t been on tour lately is because he was busy rehabbing a fractured hamate bone in his left hand and a torn labrum in his left hip. The 28-year-old reportedly hadn’t even tried using his irons until a week ago and admitted he won’t be going full tilt at the Austin, Texas tournament.
Officially, DeChambeau drove 342 yards and out of bounds to the right. Had his shot stayed playable at that distance, he would’ve had a look at the green on a tricky par 4 at Austin Country Club. DeChambeau found a tent off the cart path and came to a rest next to an outlet underneath a folding table instead.
Again. Yikes.
Bryson posted a video of himself testing out his driver on Monday, and if that was supposed to inspire any confidence heading into his first round matchup against Richard Bland, it may have been deflated at hole No. 1.
Fortunately, the error only led to a bogey. After take a drop, DeChambeau used three more strokes to halve the hole and reset himself at the No. 2 tee box.
Tipico Sportsbook listed DeChambeau at +4000 to win this weekend before play began. Anyone who grabbed those odds couldn’t have been too comforted by his start to the day.
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See StrackaLine’s hole-by-hole maps of the layout designed by Pete Dye alongside the Colorado River in Texas.
Austin Country Club’s current course in Texas, host site of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, was designed by Pete Dye and opened in 1984.
Built on the shores of the Colorado River, it has been the host site of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play since 2016. Austin Country Club was founded in 1899, but the club moved from one course to another before Dye built the club its third course.
Austin Country Club will play to 7,108 yards with a par of 71 on the scorecard for the Match Play.
One of the most interesting holes on the course each year is the short, drivable par-4 13th. Listed at 317 yards from the back tees but playing shorter for players who take on the challenge, the hole gives Tour pros the chance to drive the green, which is all carry over water. Or players can lay up with a mid-iron to the fairway, leaving a wedge into the green. The risky option can be incredibly tempting to these players who have plenty of length to aim at the tiny target from the tee.
Thanks to yardage books provided by StrackaLine – the maker of detailed yardage books for thousands of courses around the world – we can see exactly the challenges the pros face this week. Check out the maps of each hole below.
Everything you need to know for Wednesday’s opening matches in Austin.
The Florida Swing has come and gone and the PGA Tour is now bound for the Longhorn State. Who’s ready for some match play?
A bracket quite literally packed with the world’s best players is set for this week’s 2022 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. On hand will be 64 of the world’s top-69 players, including Billy Horschel, who will look to defend his title after beating Texan Scottie Scheffler, 2 and 1, in last year’s final.
Here’s everything you need to know for Wednesday’s opening matches of the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. All times Eastern.
Wednesday matches, tee times
Time
Players
9:20 a.m.
11 Jordan Spieth vs 60 Keegan Bradley
9:31 a.m.
32 Adam Scott vs. 46 Justin Rose
9:42 a.m.
6 Justin Thomas vs. 53 Luke List
9:53 a.m.
29 Kevin Kisner vs. 37 Marc Leishman
10:04 a.m.
14 Joaquin Niemann vs. 64 Maverick McNealy
10:15 a.m.
25 Kevin Na vs. 34 Russell Henley
10:26 a.m.
3 Viktor Hovland vs. 63 Sepp Straka
10:37 a.m.
24 Will Zalatoris vs. 45 Cameron Tringale
10:48 a.m.
10 Louis Oosthuizen vs. 50 Alex Noren
10:59 a.m.
19 Paul Casey vs. 36 Corey Conners
11:10 a.m.
7 Xander Schauffele vs. 56 Takumi Kanaya
11:21 a.m.
18 Tony Finau vs. 39 Lucas Herbert
11:32 a.m.
15 Abraham Ancer vs. 57 Bubba Watson
11:43 a.m.
31 Webb Simpson vs. 44 Brian Harman
11:54 a.m.
2 Collin Morikawa vs. 61 Robert MacIntyre
12:05 p.m.
22 Jason Kokrak vs. 43 Sergio Garcia
12:16 a.m.
12 Billy Horschel vs. 49 Min Woo Lee
12:27 a.m.
26 Thomas Pieters vs. 33 Tom Hoge
12:38 p.m.
5 Scottie Scheffler vs. 59 Ian Poulter
12:49 p.m.
20 Matthew Fitzpatrick vs. 41 Tommy Fleetwood
1 p.m.
13 Tyrrell Hatton vs. 52 Christiaan Bezuidenhout
1:11 p.m.
17 Daniel Berger vs. 48 Si Woo Kim
1:22 p.m.
4 Patrick Cantlay vs. 62 Keith Mitchell
1:33 p.m.
21 Sungjae Im vs. 42 Seamus Power
1:44 p.m.
9 Bryson DeChambeau vs. 54 Richard Bland
1:55 p.m.
27 Talor Gooch vs. 47 Lee Westwood
2:06 p.m.
8 Dustin Johnson vs. 51 Mackenzie Hughes
2:17 p.m.
30 Max Homa vs. 38 Matthew Wolff
2:28 p.m.
16 Brooks Koepka vs. 55 Erik van Rooyen
2:39 p.m.
28 Shane Lowry vs. 35 Harold Varner III
2:50 p.m.
1 Jon Rahm vs. 58 Sebastian Muñoz
3:01 p.m.
23 Patrick Reed vs. 40 Cameron Young
Format
The field of 64 players has been split into 16 groups of four players. Players face everyone within their group in match play Wednesday-Friday and earn one point for a win and a half point for a tie. The player with the most points in each group moves on to the knockout rounds. The group tiebreaker is sudden-death stroke play.
The Round of 16 and quarterfinal matches are Saturday, followed by the semifinal, third-place and final matches Sunday.
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A loaded field is set for some PGA Tour match play.
Local fan favorite Jordan Spieth highlights a group of major champions as the draw for the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play was conducted Monday morning.
The field is divided into 16 four-player groups that will begin three days of round-robin play Wednesday at the Pete Dye-designed Austin Country Club in Texas. The top 16 players in the Official World Golf Ranking who are in the field are the top seeds in each group; each group was filled out randomly.
The three-time major champion Spieth, the 11th seed, is joined by 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott, 2013 U.S. Open champion Justin Rose and 2011 PGA Championship winner Keegan Bradley.
Defending champion Billy Horschel, who defeated Scottie Scheffler, 2 and 1, in last year’s final, is the 12th seed and grouped with Thomas Pieters, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am winner Tom Hoge and Min Woo Lee.
Scheffler, another local favorite and winner of the WM Phoenix Open and Arnold Palmer Invitational earlier this year, is the No. 5 seed and will face a trio of Englishman in group play — Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Ryder Cup warrior Ian Poulter.
World No. 1 and reigning U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm has U.S. Ryder Cup hero Patrick Reed, Cameron Young and Sebastian Munoz in his group.
Sixth-seed Justin Thomas, who tied for third in last week’s Valspar Championship, will have to deal with Kevin Kisner, the 2019 champion and 2018 runner-up; Marc Leishman; and Luke List, who won the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year.
Eight-time PGA Tour winner Bryson DeChambeau is the ninth seed and grouped with Talor Gooch, Lee Westwood and Richard Bland. DeChambeau has not played on the PGA Tour since the Farmers Insurance Open in January. He was in the field for the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship but withdrew with a wrist injury before play began.
The strongest group based on seeding features Louis Oosthuizen (10th seed), Paul Casey (19), Corey Conners (36) and Alex Noren (50).
After pool play, the format turns to single elimination beginning Saturday.
Four of the top 12 players in the world are not in the field – Players Champion Cameron Smith (No. 6), four-time major winner Rory McIlroy (8th), last week’s Valspar Championship winners, Sam Burns (10th) and reigning Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama (12th).
Jessica Porvasnik of Hinckley, Ohio, rallied from 4 down through five holes to win the inaugural PXG Women’s Match Play Championship.
Jessica Porvasnik of Hinckley, Ohio, rallied from 4 down through five holes to defeat Julianne Alvarez of New Zealand, 1 up, on Thursday at the World Golf Hall of Fame Slammer & Squire Course in St. Augustine, Florida, and win the Women’s All-Pro Tour PXG Women’s Match Play Championship.
Porvasnik, who played at Ohio State, won both ends of the tournament format. She captured the stroke-play portion last week at 8-under-par 136 at the King & Bear. She earned a total of $13,000, $5,000 for the stroke play and $8,000 for the match play.
Alvarez, who was a member of the University of Washington’s national championship team in 2016, got off to a quick lead, but lost it when Porvasnik won Nos. 7, 8, 10 and 11.
