The world’s best players are bound for Austin, Texas, for a unique stop on the men’s professional golf schedule.
Austin Country Club plays host to the 2022 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play once again this week, and with eight of the top-12 players in the world (as well as 63 of the top 69) set to compete, there are some matches that stand out among the rest.
Wednesday’s slate alone features a pair of Ryder Cup dogs, a major championship clash, a battle for Southern Californian supremacy and a potential Presidents Cup preview.
Check out the top five opening day matches to watch in Austin.
But, this week on the Twilight 9 podcast, the focus wasn’t on the Snake Pit, it was on the March Madness-like bracket that was announced Monday. So many stacked groups, so many options, and we ran through them all.
On the show, we went through each group, chose a winner, and continued until we had a champion — and that name might shock you.
We also went through our favorite picks for the week, including Max Homa claiming Group 8.
6:08: Viktor Hovland is becoming the king on content 14:20: No Phil Mickelson at the Masters 25:00: WGC-Dell Match Play preview 30:25: Best bets and picks 38:10: Filling out the bracket
With four straight top 20s entering the week, can Max Homa work his way through group 8?
Can you smell that? How ’bout feel it? Yes, the first men’s major championship of the year is within shouting distance, and it’s going to be hard to wait another two weeks for the Masters.
But before the players take that special drive down Magnolia Lane, it’s time to head to Austin, Texas, for the WGC-Dell Match Play.
Several of the game’s biggest names, including Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns, and recent Players champion Cameron Smith, are not in the field this week. However, after a layoff stemming back to the Farmers Insurance Open, Bryson DeChambeau is one of the 64 names in this week’s March Madness type bracket.
Strokes Gained: Approach: Pete Dye design? It’s probably good to start with iron play.
Putting: Bermuda: There’s a reason why Kevin Kisner seems to reach the final four of this event every year. When you can consistently make putts that your opponent thinks you’re gonna miss, it’s demoralizing.
Data Golf Information
Course Fit (compares golf courses based on the degree to which different golfer attributes — such as driving distance — to predict who performs well at each course – DataGolf): 1. Harbour Town Golf Links (home of the RBC Heritage), 2. Colonial Country Club (home of the Charles Schwab), 3. Sea Island GC (Plantation)
Trending: 1. Justin Thomas (last three starts: 6, T-33, T-3), 2. Scottie Scheffler (T-7, 1, T-55), 3. Matt Fitzpatrick (T-9, MC, T-5)
Percent chance to win (based on course history, fit, trending, etc.): 1. Jon Rahm (5.1 percent), 2. Justin Thomas (4.8 percent), 3. Viktor Hovland (3.5 percent)
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Viktor Hovland – Top 10: Miss
Louis Oosthuizen – Top 20: Miss
Matthew Fitzpatrick – Top 20: Cash (+170)
Shane Lowry – Top 20: Cash (+130)
Jason Kokrak – Top 20: Miss
Russell Knox – Top 20: Miss
Kevin Kisner – Top 20: Miss
Down two units on positions plays, six units on outrights at Valspar.
Up 16.69 units on position plays, and up 31.5 units on outright plays in 2022.
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“You put it as a funk; I put it as a learning experience,” Morikawa said.
AUSTIN, Texas — We should all be so lucky to have bumps in the road as smooth as the ones Collin Morikawa has recently traversed.
Yes, the five-time PGA Tour winner has slipped a little in recent weeks, but from what? The University of California star opened the 2021-22 PGA Tour season by placing in the top seven in the first five events he played, including a pair of runner-up finishes at the CJ Cup and the Genesis Invitational. So the bar was high, to say the least.
But Morikawa did miss the cut at the Players Championship, something he’s only done seven times as a PGA Tour pro, and struggled to a T-68 at the Valspar Championship last week.
So what’s created this mini-funk of sorts, one that’s seen him slip from the top of the last two leaderboards?
“You put it as a funk; I put it as a learning experience,” Morikawa said Tuesday in advance of this week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club. “What’s weird about the past couple weeks from Players and Valspar is that I felt some of the best golf I had felt warming up and getting ready for the tournament. But then there are just like little pieces that when I actually tee it up on Thursday that I’m missing from when I compare it to a really good round or a really good tournament.
“It’s so frustrating because I feel like I can hit all those shots but then they’re just not put together.”
Collin Morikawa of the United States reacts to chipping in for an eagle on the third hole during the third round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Course on December 04, 2021, in Nassau. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Morikawa mentioned that his putter has let him down a bit in recent weeks, but he’s certainly not overly concerned about overhauling anything. In fact, he thinks this week’s match-play format might allow him to get more aggressive with the putter.
But either way, don’t call it a funk. He’s still the second-ranked player in the world, and enters this event as the second seed.
“I wouldn’t say it’s like a little funk. For me, it’s just making sure I wake up and realize, okay, I can’t take anything for granted out here,” he said. “I have done that in the past, and I hate myself for doing that, but sometimes — this is a little different. This is just not thinking through some shots, not going through the full process of actually doing my due diligence when I’m over the shot.
“In a format like this, I can’t get lazy just because it’s match play. If I miss that putt, that doesn’t mean I just am carefree. I want to go out there and give it all I got and see what happens.”
Morikawa would like to improve on last year’s performance at the event when he was knocked out during the group stage. His feelings when he left Austin last year, now those could be considered a funk.
“It was pretty sad. It was pretty sad. I felt like my game was — playing pretty well. At Players, I didn’t play great, I think a couple weeks before this. And just game still felt fine, showed up, practice rounds were good, and then you get your seed, and I think I went 0-2-1,” Morikawa said. “It’s defeating, but it happens. That’s what match play is, right? You have to be prepared to beat your guy every single day, and I just was giving away way too many mistakes, and in match play you just can’t do that.
“I think the hard thing is you can’t worry about anyone else out there. You can’t worry about, oh, this guy might have shot even and won his match and then I shot 5-under and I lost. All you have is control over what you’re doing and who you’re playing.”
“Maybe the mid-thirties and beyond, this is where I’m gonna have my golden era of golf going forward.”
When Billy Horschel came to Austin for last year’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, he hadn’t won an individual PGA Tour event in nearly four years, his match play record was shaky and he wasn’t even a consideration for the Ryder Cup.
One week at Austin Country Club changed all that, however, as the 2017 FedEx Cup champion sliced through the field with relative ease, dispatching local favorite Scottie Scheffler in the final and ending his drought. He went on to win again on the DP World Tour later in 2021 and although he wasn’t a pick for Steve Stricker’s Ryder Cup team, he’s been a model of consistency this calendar year, finishing in the top 20 at four straight events before a nasty sinus infection forced him to pull out of the Players Championship two weeks ago.
Horschel says he’s kicked the infection and is eager to defend his title in Central Texas.
Before the defense begins, Horschel chatted with Golfweek about how iron play has been the key to his resurgence, how family life has balanced him, how he thinks the Texas Longhorns will “get their asses handed to them” in the SEC and how he longs to play in a Ryder Cup.
Bryson DeChambeau hasn’t played on the PGA Tour since the Farmers Insurance Open in late January.
Bryson DeChambeau hasn’t played on the PGA Tour since the Farmers Insurance Open in late January, insisting that a wrist injury — and not swirling rumors about his potential involvement in the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series — has kept him from competing.
On Friday, however, he was unveiled as one of the 64 entrants in the upcoming WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club, part of another powerful field.
DeChambeau, who currently sits 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking, was also expected to play in the Players Championship last week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, but dropped out just a few days before the tournament was set to begin, telling Golfweek via text that he was “almost ready,” and added that he was “getting ready for something big” with “many plans in the works.”
If he does indeed take part, DeChambeau will join a field that includes the world’s top five players — Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Patrick Cantlay, and former Texas Longhorn Scottie Scheffler, who finished runner-up at the event last year.
Among others in the star-studded field are Jordan Spieth, defending champ Billy Horschel, Justin Thomas, and Dustin Johnson, who captured the title in Austin back in 2017.
The highest-ranking player not in the field is Cameron Smith, who now sits at No. 6 by virtue of his victory at the Players. Smith informed the PGA Tour he was pulling out of the event to spend time with his family members.
Statement on behalf of Cameron Smith regarding next week's World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play pic.twitter.com/fKLXnTiNL8
— PGA TOUR Communications (@PGATOURComms) March 16, 2022
Others who won’t be taking part include No. 7 Rory McIlroy as well as 2021 Masters champ Hideki Matsuyama (No. 11), who also withdrew right before the Players with a back injury. Harris English (No. 22) and Phil Mickelson (No. 45) are the others in the top 69 not making the trek to Central Texas.
A total of 11 players will make their debut in Austin, including Sam Burns, Tom Hoge, and Lucas Herbert.
“They’ve really done a beautiful job,” said Hall of Famer Tom Kite, who is a member.
LAKEWAY, Texas — There are a million last-minute details to tend to. Maybe more. Dirt to be moved, sod to be planted. Trees to be pruned, painting to be done.
A championship tee is going in on No. 8. The trucks bearing the Arkansas white sand for the bunkers began arriving on Monday. They’re also rebuilding the tee box on No. 11. They’re still finding trees that need removing, a number that has reached 200 after 90 days were spent pruning the course. Including a whole lot of cedar trees.
Dozens of workers have been scurrying almost around the clock to get the golf course spruced up and ready for its soft opening on Oct. 11 and the grand unveiling two days later. Until then, the flower beds have to be redone, and the parking lot repaved. The bridges have been redecked, the fairways topped with 2,000 tons of sand.
The 72 brand new, victory-red golf carts sit lined up ready to go outside the renovated clubhouse. The unique, massive, double-ended driving range still awaits concrete for curbing.
The iconic waterfall hole on No. 7? It’s still being cleaned during this restoration before it gets turned back on full spigot.
And the finishing hole where Tom Landry’s white stucco home stood watch? They lowered the green on No. 18 by 3 1/2 feet, enlarged it by 30% and added an intriguing fairway bunker.
But when it’s done, the 10-month, multi-million dollar project conducted by Diamond Golf will reveal a majestic, fully modernized Hills Country Club Signature golf course at the Hills of Lakeway that Jack Nicklaus and his team initially designed some 40 years ago and have reshaped this year.
“It’s like an old house,” said Aaron Chilek, the club’s director of golf since 2008 and a former St. Edward’s golfer. “We gutted it and just modernized it.”
Nicklaus gives his stamp of approval for the course, which will host a Bear Trap Signature member-guest tournament this month with proceeds going to Dell Children’s Medical Center and the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. It will also raise money for Play Yellow Campaign, a national campaign supported by the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation and Nicklaus and his wife Barbara. The Play Yellow mission hopes to raise $100 million over five years to benefit Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and the Hills membership has pledged to raise $150,000 this year and $350,000 over a five-year period.
Hills Country Club general manager John Woodeshick raves about the renovation and revitalization of the Signature course redesigned by Jack Nicklaus and thinks it might even be a suitable replacement for Austin Country Club as home of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play if it leaves ACC after two more years. (Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman)
“It’s been a great course for 40 years and has served the members and the community well,” Nicklaus said of the Signature tract. “We are excited to debut some of the recent changes we have made to make sure we meet the desires of the members and players and to help shape maybe another 40 years at the Hills.”
ClubCorp, which owns or operates this and more than 200 other courses like Firestone and Mission Hills, has refashioned the clubhouse from the swanky pro shop to the metal roof. It’s opened restaurants like the Chophouse as well as the Italian-themed The Den at the Flintrock course and the barbecue joint named Smoked at the Oak. They’ve redone the Aquatic center, built a heated pool, but it is the course that shined up the most.
Hills Country Club general manager John Woodeshick raves about the renovation and revitalization of the Signature course redesigned by Jack Nicklaus and thinks it might even be a suitable replacement for Austin Country Club as home of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play if it leaves ACC after two more years.
“At the center of all this, the crown jewel is the course,” general manager and senior vice president John Woodeshick said after a recent tour. “This has made the golf course relevant in today’s world for championship quality golf. It’s been a massive project, and this is just a fabulous course that showcases the Hill Country beauty and exposes the trees and natural rock outcroppings.”
A course so pretty with its new gorgeous vistas and improved air-flow and pruned trees that it could be more than just a new paradise for the 745 members. It may have an even grander vision.
A vision so big that the Hills folks might even be considered as a potential new home for the World Golf Championship-Dell Technologies Match Play if the Austin Country Club chooses not to renew its relationship with the PGA Tour and Dell when their contract expires after two more years.
This is a Lakeway course that hosted Nike Tour events for up-and-comers and the PGA Seniors Tour for seven years until Triton Financial ran into all kinds of difficulty and Federal Express pulled all its sponsorship dollars and put them into the main tour. So the Hills has pulled off such events before, and ClubCorp CEO David Pillsbury was president of PGA Properties and a driving force behind bringing the Dell Match Play to Austin.
So could we see the Hills become the home of the Dell tourney?
“It’s a loaded question, but is it an outlandish question?” Woodeshick said. “When it’s all done, this will be of the caliber to host any kind of event. Probably more of a caliber. The infrastructure is there. If they approach us and have an interest, we’d have an interest.”
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To be clear, the Hills has not been approached, and no parties are talking on the record. But there is growing concern that the ACC members have tired of the intrusion the Dell tournament has made on their golf games since it arrived in 2015. It hasn’t helped that many grouse over the fact they have to pay the full price for tickets as well as forfeit use of the course for two weeks in October for overseeding and two weeks in March for the tournament and the preceding week.
If the PGA Tour and Dell realize what a gem they have in a vibrant city that the players love, a gorgeous showcase for NBC’s and Golf Channel’s television cameras with the rustic Pennybacker Bridge and flotilla of boats on Lake Austin and the secure knowledge they don’t need to find a new home for a tournament that has bounced around from Arizona to California to Texas, a solution might easily be reached.
Were all parties to agree to a guaranteed payout of more than $1.2 million to ACC with perhaps double that amount or the granting of two free tickets to the 650 full members with the option to buy more at the full price, a longer-term agreement might be doable. “I think it’d be a done deal,” one member said.
No one on either side is predicting the future of the tournament beyond 2023, but sources say all parties need to agree by next May on just where the event will call home.
“The nostalgia wears off,” Woodeshick said. “It comes down to member disruption.”
One advantage the Hills could offer is course alternatives for its members with the ownership of Flintrock Falls and 36 other holes in the Hills portfolio and a partner agreement with Lost Creek Country Club, a benefit the ACC does not offer its members, who are stuck without a place to play for a month. If ACC were smart, it might offer to shell out 100 grand to another Austin club for its members to use for those four weeks.
Barton Creek might be a candidate for the Dell as a former home of the then-named Senior Tour, but its hilly terrain wouldn’t be as gallery-friendly as either ACC or the Hills, which is much flatter and easier to walk than ACC.
And television cameras adore Austin. Even though the Hills is in Lakeway, it’s really only a Bryson DeChambeau drive or two off the tee from Austin. And NBC can still show Austin’s skyline for that matter and its photogenic bridge.
One Hills member loves the new renovations.
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“They’ve really done a beautiful job,” said Hall of Famer Tom Kite, who is a member of the Hills and ACC. “They took a really, really good golf course, certainly one of the best in Central Texas, made some nice improvements and kind of refurbished the course.”
But he said any rumors about the Dell leaving ACC are just “pure speculation,” something he doesn’t traffic in.
“I know Dell and the PGA love Austin, and the players love Austin,” Kite said. “I would assume if ACC decides to no longer host the tournament going forward, before going to another city, I think the Tour would look very hard to find a suitable golf course in this area whether it’d be the Hills or Avery Ranch or the new (coming) Driftwood course.”
But make no mistake the Hills has created a gem of a golf course for its 745 members who as of Jan. 1 paid $50,000 to join. As of last week, that price went up to $75,000. On Oct. 1, it became $85,000.
“We will see where it lands,” Woodeshick said.
Woodeshick’s been involved with golf almost his entire life. He’s the son of Hal Woodeshick, a former Houston Astros relief pitcher and the answer to the trivia question of who was the winning pitcher in the first game ever played in the Astrodome in the exhibition with the Yankees. John played golf at Schreiner University in Kerrville and has run golf clubs in New York and Connecticut before moving here.
But this is very much the house that Jack built, offering a testing course in the heart of the Hill Country nestled around Hurst Creek. The sightlines have been dramatically improved with incredible vistas and no longer looks like a course cut out of a jungle.
They’ve tried to leave no stone unturned. And added a lot of Texas stone to pretty up the place. They’ve planted about two dozen crepe myrtles as a buffer next to the enlarged putting green — one that is lighted, in fact — to block a view of the parking lot.
They’ve even included up to six tee boxes for the players from the championship tips to the “forward tees” for beginners or seniors who don’t have the same length they once did because this is a flexible course that can play anywhere from 4,100 yards to 7,250 yards. Those tees “help grow the game of golf and keep older people in the game,” Woodeshick said.
The immense driving range has a new Turfhound Tee Surface, includes six short-game target greens and a practice bunker for those sand shots to be perfected. The chipping and putting greens are three times their former size.
The greens have been converted to the higher-tolerant Champion Bermudagrass G12 for a smoother putting surface. The greens have also been restored to their original size or bigger. New tee boxes have been laser-leveled and re-grassed with TifTuf Bermudagrass. The fairways have been regraded to improve drainage and playing surfaces with an updated irrigation system.
Even the enlarged putting green can be lit for use in the evenings.
“The new greens are fresh, exciting, slightly expanded and settling into the existing landscape,” said Scott Laughlin, the lead design shaper for Nicklaus. “My favorite green is the 18th green, and it is the hole and green with the most dramatic improvements. With the new fairway bunker, it could be one of the best finishing holes in Central Texas.”
It could. And in the meantime, the Hills is starting something really big.
Billy Horschel defeated Scottie Scheffler in the final match to claim the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play title on Sunday in Austin, Texas.
AUSTIN, Texas — So much for excruciating work, long hours and exhaustive prep being the only paths to success in the golf world.
Billy Horschel primed for a busy week at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play with the exact opposite approach — taking his family for a much-needed spring break vacation in his home state of Florida.
Who’s to challenge the results? Horschel put together a week to remember at Austin Country Club, winning weekend matches over Kevin Streelman, Tommy Fleetwood and then Victor Perez to reach the final.
As the winds picked up on Sunday afternoon, Horschel looked rested and relaxed as he downed Scottie Scheffler, 2 and 1, to claim the title. Horschel, who hadn’t won a sanctioned PGA Tour event since taking the 2018 Zurich Classic with Scott Piercy and an individual title since the 2017 AT&T Byron Nelson, credited the extended break for the hop in his step.
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“I think mentally it was the key. I played really well at Concession; felt good about my game, and go to Bay Hill and Players and play really bad,” Horschel said on Sunday. “So it was just a great mental reboot to spend time with family, my kids, my aunt and uncle, my cousins and their kids. It was just nice. I don’t think we’ve been on a family vacation I don’t think ever because of me that didn’t have clubs involved.
“So everyone had a great time, and I’m sure there will be more of this after seeing the success I’ve had this week.”
Horschel didn’t come into the week with a great track record at the WGC Match Play event, winning a single round in 2014 when the tournament was still sudden death, and then failing to get out of pool play in his three subsequent starts.
But the University of Florida product grinded out the win, battling Scheffler as each made a number of missteps through swirling winds. Horschel thinks he’s got the game to succeed in this event for years to come.
“I think I should be a good match play player. I have been. I have spells where I played really good in matches. I think when you putt really well, you putt really well inside 10 feet, something I do really well, I think it makes it tough to, if you don’t give holes away, it makes it tough on your opponents,” he said. “And I just haven’t done a few things correct in certain matches in previous years to be able to get to the point I am now and so I think I’m learning from those. I’m hoping I am.”
Scheffler was making his debut in the event, but he maneuvered around Austin Country Club like he knew the place — because he does. Scheffler played collegiately at the University of Texas, which is just a short ride away from Pete Dye-designed course.
Scottie Scheffler during the semifinal match of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club. (Photo: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports)
Scheffler won his pool then delivered knockouts to Ian Poulter, Jon Rahm and Matt Kuchar to reach the final. Although he’s yet to win on the PGA Tour, Scheffler came in as the 30th seed in this event and was the top remaining seed of the Sunday semifinalists. The runner-up finish marks his best to date; he finished T-3 at the 2019 Bermuda Championship and alone in third at the 2020 The American Express.
And although he was unhappy with his final round, which included a pair of costly bogeys on Nos. 7 and 9, he still enjoyed the company.
“I love playing golf with Billy. He is one of my favorite guys out here,” said Scheffler, who was the 2020 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.
Scheffler was a spectator at this event while playing for the Longhorns, something he looked back fondly on.
“All I really remember was coming out here with my buddies and wife and just kind of having a good time walking around seeing shots, kind of messing around, gambling a little bit and having some fun,” he said. “I don’t think we watched anybody in particular but just kind of walked the course and had some fun.”
Meanwhile, Kuchar — who has a long history of success at this event, capturing the title in 2013, and reaching the final in 2019 before falling to Kevin Kisner — won the consolation match over Perez, 2 and 1.
A quirky match play rule surfaced on consecutive holes at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play when Scottie Scheffler found the water twice.
AUSTIN, Texas — As Matt Kuchar lined up his putt on the 12th hole during Sunday’s semifinal match at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play he did so under an odd scenario, knowing that his opponent was standing well behind him — still lining up a wedge.
The reason was a quirky match play rule that surfaced at Austin Country Club when Scottie Scheffler put his second shot into the water on the par-5 12th hole. Kuchar had already hit his second shot and was sitting on the front of the green.
Under the rules of match play, however, Scheffler’s ball is considered closer to the hole because of where it was resting. That meant Kuchar had to putt while Scheffler stood 77 yards from the pin with a wedge in hand.
Golfweek’s rules expert, Ron Gaines, said this is a scenario that rarely presents itself.
“It’s an oddball, for sure,” Gaines said. “But this is determined by where the ball comes to rest, not where it crosses the margin of the penalty. Think of it as a penalty without water. You might go up and see if you can play it. Technically, Kuchar is farther away, because it’s where the ball is resting, not where they’re going to play it from.”
Scheffler was 2 up at the time, but lost the hole and moved on to the risk/reward par-4 13th.
Incredibly, the exact same scenario played out again as Scheffler’s drive landed just shy of the green in the water hazard.
Kuchar was now 90 yards from the flag and Scheffler stood well behind him, waiting to play from 177 yards.
Kuchar pulled the match all square after the peculiar two-hole stretch.
Nick Faldo said on the Golf Channel broadcast to rules official Steve Rintoul that he was unfamiliar with the rule.
“I’ve got Paul Azinger in the tower, we’ve been match players now for 40 years and didn’t even know this was a match play rule, and considering we’ve been calling the match play all these years, this is the first time I’ve experienced this kind of situation,” Faldo said.
The falls under USGA rule 6.4: Order of Play When Playing Hole.
Under the rules, had Scheffler played his shot first, Kuchar would have had the option to cancel the stroke. In other words, if Scheffler put his ball in tight to the flag, Kuchar could have nullified the shot.
The rule states:
In match play, the order of play is fundamental; if a player plays out of turn, the opponent may cancel that stroke and make the player play again.
Thirteen major champions showed up. Only Sergio Garcia remained late Saturday, and he fell to obscure but talented Victor Perez.
Austin doesn’t take its unofficial motto lightly.
Or its golf.
So in keeping with its quirky host city, the World Golf Championship-Dell Technologies Match Play has kept it weird. And highly competitive.
And to play off a recent popular PGA Tour slogan, it’s been weirder than most.
In this tournament’s brief five-year history, there hasn’t been a more unorthodox Dell Match Play event than this one, and that’s even with the bizarre quality that match play tournaments can often feature.
How weird has it been?
So odd that six of the eight quarterfinalists were seeded 30th or lower.
It didn’t get any more normal Saturday.
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And Texas’ Scottie Scheffler, who has yet to win on the PGA Tour, knocked off third-seeded and former No. 1 in the world Jon Rahm 3 and 1 late Saturday, and 31st-seeded Frenchman Victor Perez downed Sergio Garcia 4 and 3 to become the first golfer to clinch a spot in Sunday’s semifinals.
Get this:
Gone by the weekend were 18 of the top 20 players in the world, including No. 1 Dustin Johnson, No. 2 Justin Thomas and pretty much every other hot golfer you care to name. At No. 30, Scheffler is the highest remaining seed in the field.
Ian Poulter shot a Saturday round of 3 under par. And lost.
Poulter was also decked out in a lilac shirt and pink pants. OK, so that’s more the norm. Nothing to see there.
Three-time major champion Jordan Spieth advanced to the round of 16 for only the second time in five years and failed to move on, while Scheffler, who’s still seeking his first PGA Tour win in his two years, keeps on playing through. He’s been so dominant, he didn’t trail for a single hole against Rahm and on the day made 15 birdies in 31 holes.
South African Dylan Frittelli, another Texas ex, was the last entrant into the field of 64 and first to advance but never got into a groove Saturday morning and fell decisively to Tommy Fleetwood 4 and 3.
Dylan Frittelli hits from the No. 3 tee during a third-round match at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship. (Photo: David J. Phillip/Associated Press)
As for Fleetwood, Mr. Calm buried an ace on the par-3 fourth hole Saturday. And didn’t even react. Or was that a yawn? Talk about missing out on a photo op.
Of the eight players who won their early Saturday matches and moved into the final eight, six were seeded 30th or worse, and Matt Kuchar (52) and Brian Harman (54) were in the last dozen players ranked.
But the last two Dell winners were seeded 48th (Kevin Kisner in 2019) and 35th (Bubba Watson in 2018), so that’s another pattern that might continue. They’re all good.
On Saturday, Watson birdied four of his first six holes and led 4 up after five holes. And lost.
Harman, who eliminated Watson in an all-Georgia Bulldog, all-lefty confrontation, did the honors with eight birdies in a row. It would have been an eye-popping nine, but his 19-foot offering on the 14th green needed one more ball rotation.
“It’s nice to get the best of him today,” Harman said of Watson, “because I think he’s about 10-0 against me.” Make that 10-1.
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Spieth birdied the first two holes, then scuffled with his putting the rest of the day for the most part, leaving nearly every roller short. His four-year drought continues, but he’ll have another chance in the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio next week, his last tuneup before the Masters.
Thirteen major champions showed up at Austin Country Club on Monday. Only Sergio Garcia remained late Saturday, and he fell to obscure but talented Frenchman Victor Perez, the 31st seed.
If it was strange, it was going to happen this week.
We got hail Wednesday night.
Bryson DeChambeau on Friday ricocheted a tee shot at No. 10 off an oak tree limb and onto the adjacent putting green.
Upsets ruled the week, which is the beauty — and the bite — of match play.
That strangeness trend continued Saturday when Spieth, who has regained his form this season, bowed out of the competition against Kuchar, a former WGC champion and the 2019 finalist to winner Kevin Kisner, on the pivotal 18th hole. But second-year Tour player and former fellow Longhorn Scheffler, who’s going to win a major or two someday, remains in the field by reaching the semifinals.
Scheffler continued his weeklong tear. And he’s been battle-tested but never trailed for a single hole against Rahm.
He’s been dominant with crisp, accurate drives and outstanding putting, and he’s playing stress-free in group play.
He never trailed a single hole in his opening-round victory over 2016 Dell champion Jason Day either and was never farther behind than 1 down against Andy Sullivan. Scheffler was pushed to the limit by Xander Schauffele, 3 down after 13, but he won three of the next five holes to prevail
To even advance to the quarterfinals, Scheffler had to hold off Poulter, a match-play machine, 5 and 4. The former Longhorn put on a clinic Saturday, staying aggressive and forcing the Englishman to try to keep up.
“I kept the intensity up all day,” Scheffler said. “You could tell by the look in his eye that he wasn’t giving in at all. He was just waiting for a spark.”
Poulter had his chances but never could come up for air.
It was so frustrating for Poulter that he rolled in long-distance putts of 42 and 35 feet on the back nine. And halved both holes. That’s how clutch the dynamic Scheffler has been.
Scheffler was last year’s PGA Tour rookie of the year for a reason and might be closing in on his first victory.
So it wasn’t surprising when he was locked in a battle with the third-seeded Rahm, the only top seed in the 16 groups to advance to the knockout stages on the weekend, and led 2 up through 11 holes of their quarterfinal match. The Spaniard was also the only one of the top 20 ranked players to keep playing. The new norm, if you will.
“That shows, I mean, at this stage of the tournament nobody is giving it to you,” Rahm said. “You have to win it.”
