McIlroy has struggled on the greens this season. He ranks 173rd in SG: Putting (-.429).
Before Taylormade, before Nike, Rory McIlroy played Titleist.
At the 2012 PGA Championship, an event the Northern Irishman won by eight, McIlroy used a ProV1x, Titleist woods and irons, Vokey wedges and a Scotty Cameron Newport GSS prototype.
On Tuesday, 16 days away from the opening round of the Masters, McIlroy played a practice round at Austin Country Club in advance of this week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
On the greens, McIlroy’s hands were once again on a Scotty Cameron Newport.
Reports circulated Monday that McIlroy was making drastic equipment changes after a scouting trip to Augusta National. We now have a better idea of what those changes are.
🚨Country Club Collection says Rory’s equipment change is drastic and doesn’t involve the driver. Apparently “tore it up” at Augusta with the gear swap, and it will be revealed soon 👀
This isn’t the first time McIlroy has played around with a Scotty Cameron putter since signing with TaylorMade. At the 2020 Olympics (played in 2021), the four-time major champion used a Scotty Cameron 009 GSS Chromatic Bronze prototype.
Rory McIlroy of Team Ireland lines up a putt on the 11th green, the third playoff hole for the bronze medal, during the final round of the Men’s Individual Stroke Play on day nine of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Kasumigaseki Country Club on August 01, 2021 in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
So far this season, McIlroy has struggled on the greens. He ranks 173rd in SG: Putting (-.429) and 134th in Total Putting. Thank to an ice-cold flat stick, McIlroy missed the cut at the Players Championship and has just one top 25 in 2023 (T-2, Arnold Palmer Invitational).
Jonathan Wall of Golf.com was first to report the potential switch and tweeted McIlroy told him he’s trying to “rekindle an old flame.”
Confirmed: Rory McIlroy's Scotty Cameron Newport GSS is a new putter — not one he's used in the past. (The 👍 stamp is now on Rory, JT and Scottie's putters, if you're into that sort of minutiae.)
“Doing whatever I need to do to give myself the best chance to be in Augusta.”
Rickie Fowler technically may be in Austin, Texas, but he has Georgia on his mind.
Augusta, Georgia, that is.
“We are here to basically try and get ourselves back in Augusta,” Fowler said Tuesday during a pre-tournament press conference ahead of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship at Austin Country Club.
Fowler, 34, has made 10 career starts at the Masters, including finishing second in 2018, but hasn’t played in the first major of the year since 2020. Time is running out to earn an invite for the 87th Masters, which begins April 6.
Fowler, who ended 2021 ranked No. 103 in the Official World Golf Ranking, has climbed to No. 59 on the back of three top 10s so far this season and is coming off a tie for 13th at the Players Championship. The top 50 in the OWGR after this week automatically qualify for the Masters. That’s one of the primary reasons Fowler is back at Austin Country Club for the first time since 2016.
“I wasn’t a huge fan of the group format,” explained Fowler of the round-robin group play, which begins Wednesday and was instituted in 2016. “I loved the 64, just knock out. You knew exactly what you were getting into. But we are here to basically try and get ourselves back in Augusta.”
During the press conference, Fowler was informed making it to the quarterfinals would give him a good shot of vaulting into the top 50 again.
“I knew I needed to come here and play well. I wasn’t sure of exactly what I needed to do. The nice thing with the kind of world rankings and what’s coming off, really, anything I do that puts points on the board is only going to move me up from here moving forward,” Fowler said. “So, yeah, I mean, my short-term goal is to obviously get myself back in Augusta. If that doesn’t happen, we’re going to continue to move forward.”
[pickup_prop id=”31670″]
Fowler will have his work cut out for him to advance out of his four-man pod. As the No. 49 seed, he’s been grouped with No. 2 Jon Rahm, winner of three tournaments this season, No. 22 Billy Horschel, who won this event in Austin in 2021, and No. 39 Keith Mitchell, who has been showing good form with two top-5 finishes in his last five starts. The player with the most points in each group advances to the Round of 16 (ties broken by sudden-death playoff) and a single-elimination tournament on Saturday and Sunday determines the match-play champion. Fowler certainly will have to survive group play and then win at least his next match.
Top 50 #OWGR projection for #TheMasters qualification. As you can see, all the hopefuls (in white, not yet qualified for the Masters) who are at the @DellMatchPlay, will need to get out of the group stage and all but one will need to make the QF stage at least! pic.twitter.com/EBTZkv7i72
Fowler confirmed that if he didn’t sneak into the top 50 this week that he would head to San Antonio and the last-chance saloon that is the Valero Texas Open. The winner of next week’s Tour stop, if not already exempt, receives the last spot in the Masters field.
“I’m committed and planning on playing there,” Fowler said. “If I do play well enough, we’ll kind of maybe reconsider and see where we’re at. But, yeah, kind of doing whatever I need to do to give myself the best chance to be in Augusta.”
Rory McIlroy over Keegan Bradley, Denny McCarthy and Scott Stallings? Yup.
For the final time, the PGA Tour is in Austin, Texas, for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, fresh off a win at the Players Championship, returns to the Lone Star State as the defending champion. So far this season, Scheffler is 1-for-2 in defending titles.
Overall, eight of the top nine players in the Official World Golf Ranking are teeing it up Wednesday. Justin Thomas, who’s struggled at ACC throughout his career, is the only eligible member of the top 10 absent from the field.
Here are five prop bets for the WGC-Dell Match Play, starting with the world No. 3.
Who’s your pick for the PGA Tour’s final trip to Austin Country Club?
Golf’s edition of March Madness is here as the PGA Tour is in Austin, Texas, for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club for the final time.
Eight of the top nine players in the Official World Golf Ranking are in the field — No. 5 Cam Smith is ineligible while No. 10 Justin Thomas chose to take the week off due to an unsuccessful resume at ACC.
World No. 1 and Players champion Scottie Scheffler is looking to defend a title successfully for the second time this season (WM Phoenix Open). The Texan is the betting favorite at +800 followed by Jon Rahm at +1100.
Golf course
Austin Country Club | Par 71 | 7,108 yards | Pete Dye design
Course comparisons (according to Data Golf): 1. Harbour Town Golf Links (home of the RBC Heritage), 2. Colonial Country Club (home of the Charles Schwab Challenge), 3. TPC Sugarloaf
Kevin Na plays against Matthew Fitzpatrick during the first round of the 2022 WGC- Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club. (Photo: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports)
Course history
Quadrant by quadrant…group by group. Complete career and Austin CC match play history along with current Strokes Gained form. #DellMatchPlaypic.twitter.com/2QQa6OnmXs
Everything you need to know for Wednesday’s first round of matches at Austin Country Club.
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 2023 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas, the final playing of the event. On hand will be 64 of the world’s top-77 players, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who will look to defend his title after beating Kevin Kisner in last year’s final.
Here’s everything you need to know for Wednesday’s opening matches of the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. All times Eastern.
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.
How to watch, listen
You can watch Golf Channel for free on fuboTV. ESPN+ is the exclusive home for PGA Tour Live streaming. All times Eastern.
The loaded field in Austin has produced some must-watch matches for pool play.
Who’s ready for some match play?
The PGA Tour’s best – 64 of the world’s top 77 players – are bound for Austin Country Club this week for the final playing of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. The famed club in the Texas capital has been the host of the Match Play since 2016 when Dell became the title sponsor. As one of the Tour’s designated events for the season, the loaded field will be competing for a tournament-record purse of $20 million in its final year.
For those unfamiliar with the format, here’s how it goes: The 64 players are seeded and placed in 16 different groups. Golfers play everyone in their group in matches from Wednesday-Friday and earn one point for a win and half a point for a tie. The 16 group winners with the most points will then advance to the knockout stage with the Round of 16 on Saturday morning, the quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon, semifinals on Sunday morning final and third place-matches on Sunday afternoon.
With a great field comes some must-watch matches. Here are 10 showdowns you won’t want to miss at the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
Eight of the world’s top nine players will tee it up starting Wednesday. Justin Thomas is the only Tour player in the top 10 not in the field (No. 5 Cam Smith is ineligible due to his affiliation with LIV Golf).
Scottie Scheffler, fresh off a win at the Players Championship, is the defending champion. The best player in the world has already successfully defended a title this season at the WM Phoenix Open.
Find the full field for the Match Play below (and for the Corales Puntacana Championship, the opposite field event):
Two PGA TOUR events will be played next week:
WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (March 22-26) Corales Puntacana Championship (March 23-26)
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.
Scottie Scheffler entered 2022 still seeking his first PGA Tour win.
The calendar hasn’t even flipped to April yet and Scheffler is now a three-time winner on the PGA Tour.
Veteran caddie Ted Scott, who used to work for Bubba Watson, has been on the bag for all three of those wins, including Sunday at Austin Country Club.
Scott clearly takes great pride in helping his guy reach the finish line.
“I think I have a servant’s heart. I just like helping people. That’s why I coach golf,” Scott told John Rathouz of the Caddie Network the day after the victory. “When you get to help someone else achieve what they want to do, it’s so rewarding.”
Scheffler made the final of the Match Play a year ago, falling to Billy Horschel. Scheffler eliminated Horschel in the Round of 16 this time around. Scheffler then knocked out Seamus Power, Dustin Johnson and Kevin Kisner to win it all.
“Seeing how hard Scottie Scheffler works and seeing how dedicated he is to getting better and improving and winning. … it’s a joy. There’s no other way to describe it. To serve someone and try to help them achieve what they want to do, and then when they do it, it’s pretty freakin’ awesome.”
Scheffler ascended to No. 1 in the world ranking Monday, joining Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods as the only golfers to reach the pinnacle at age 25 or younger.
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There’s heaters. And then there’s whatever Scottie Scheffler is on these days.
There’s heaters. And then there’s whatever Scottie Scheffler is on these days.
The new No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking has seen his victory total—and his bank account—swell in 2022.
The 25-year-old former Texas Longhorn came into the year still in search of his first PGA Tour win. A member of the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team, it was becoming a matter of “when” not “if” he would find the winner’s circle.
Well, Scheffler answered that at TPC Scottsdale in February, surviving a playoff against last year’s FedEx Cup champ Patrick Cantlay in the WM Phoenix Open.
So far in 2022, he’s banked $6,323,663 in on-course earnings. That’s almost half of his total career earnings of $14,901,992 (which ranks 141st all-time).
2022 tournament
Finish
Earnings
WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
1
$2,100,000
The Players Championship
T-55
$46,200
Arnold Palmer Invitational
1
$2,160,000
Genesis Invitational
T-7
$390,000
WM Phoenix Opn
1
$1,476,000
Farmers Insurance Open
T-20
$95,508
The American Express
T-25
$55,955
Scheffler is not in the field this week in San Antonio for the Valero Texas Open.
He will next tee it up at Augusta National Golf Club the following week for the Masters Tournament, where he will no doubt be one of the favorites to don the green jacket.
