The winner’s share jumps from $1,820,000 to $2,100,000 in the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
The lone match play event on the PGA Tour schedule is the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. There was a total of $12 million up for grabs among the 64 golfers in the field.
The prize money is elevated in 2022, with Scottie Scheffler earning $2,100,000 for his win while Kevin Kisner is taking home $1,320,000 for finishing runnerup. A year ago, Bill Horschel earned $1,820,000 for his victory.
In the third-place match, Corey Conners defeated Dustin Johnson. Conners earned $852,000 for his third-place finish while DJ is taking home $685,000. Everyone in the field gets paid, with the last-place finishers pocketing $41,000.
Scheffler will also rise to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, bumping Jon Rahm from the top spot.
Check out how much money each player earned at the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
We probably shouldn’t be too surprised who made the final at the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
We probably shouldn’t be too surprised with this match-up in the final at the 2022 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club.
Kevin Kisner, who was runner-up in 2018 and won it in 2019, defeated Corey Conners 2 up in one of the Sunday morning semifinals.
Scottie Scheffler, who was runner-up a year ago and has already won two PGA Tour events in 2022, took down Dustin Johnson 3 and 1 in the other morning match.
So it’s the No. 5-seed Scheffler and the No. 29-seed Kisner in the final, which starts at 3:20 p.m. ET. Conners and Johnson will face off in the third-place match.
If Scheffler captures the title, he would become the 25th player to reach the No. 1 position in the Official World Golf Ranking since it started in 1986 and would be the sixth-youngest. Jon Rahm has been in the No. 1 spot for 36 consecutive weeks, dating back to July 18, 2021.
Kisner, who used a crafty shot into the slope on the 18th hole to set up a birdie look that closed out Conners, is now 21-4-1 in the event since 2017.
After four days of grueling matches, it’s time to crown a winner. The final four players at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play are set to do battle Sunday at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas.
Scottie Scheffler, after falling to Billy Horschel last season in the championship match, beat the Florida Gator Saturday morning, then took down Seamus Power to advance to the semifinals. If he wins Sunday, he’ll become the No. 1 player in the world.
Kevin Kisner has advanced to the semifinals for the third time since 2018 after coming from behind to beat Adam Scott and then taking care of Will Zalatoris in the afternoon.
The 2017 champion at this event, Dustin Johnson, and Corey Conners round out the final four.
Here’s everything you need to know for Sunday’s fifth day of matches at the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. All times Eastern.
Four players will be left for the two semifinal matches. Winners advance to the final, while the semifinal losers will compete in a third-place match. There will be no tied matches. Matches all square after 18 holes will extend on Nos. 12 through 18 and repeated if necessary until there is a match winner.
Sunday afternoon
Consolation match for third place and championship match to determine the 2022 Match Play winner. There will be no tied matches. Matches all square after 18 holes will extend on Nos. 12 through 18 and repeated if necessary until there is a match winner.
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It’s now win or go home at the Match Play in Austin, Texas.
After three days of round-robin pool play, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play is headed to the weekend. From here on in, it’s single-elimination.
Lose and go home.
The bracket at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas, started with 64 of the top 69 players in the world. Now it’s down to 16.
World No. 1 Jon Rahm is set to do battle with Brooks Koepka, who went 3-0-0 in group play. Scottie Scheffler and Billy Horschel, last season’s championship match, both made it to the weekend and will square off Saturday morning.
Here’s everything you need to know for Saturday’s fourth day of matches at the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. All times Eastern.
Round of 16 will have eight matches. Single elimination. Winners advance to the quarterfinals. There will be no tied matches. Matches all square after 18 holes will extend on Nos. 10 through 18 and repeated if necessary until there is a match winner.
Saturday afternoon
Quarterfinals for the remaining eight players. Winners advance to semifinals. There will be no tied matches. Matches all square after 18 holes will extend on Nos. 10 through 18 and repeated if necessary until there is a match winner.
Sunday morning
Four players will be left for the two semifinal matches. Winners advance to the final, while the semifinal losers will compete in a third-place match. There will be no tied matches. Matches all square after 18 holes will extend on Nos. 12 through 18 and repeated if necessary until there is a match winner.
Sunday afternoon
Consolation match for third place and championship match to determine the 2022 Match Play winner. There will be no tied matches. Matches all square after 18 holes will extend on Nos. 12 through 18 and repeated if necessary until there is a match winner.
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Bland is the first to admit he’s still scrambling to learn New Math.
AUSINT, Texas — Please pardon Richard Bland. As with many others peeking at a 50th birthday on the horizon, Bland is the first to admit he’s still scrambling to learn New Math.
For example, the journeyman — who captured his first European Tour victory last at the Betfred British Masters in his 478th start — had been advised by those on his side to sit out the last few weeks, regardless of his desire to improve his Official World Golf Ranking prior to the upcoming Masters.
“In all my career I really never had to worry about my World Ranking and then suddenly when I went to I think 53 after Dubai, it’s been really weird,” Bland said after his match Friday at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. “I’ve had a guy sort of helping me with sort of permutations, and he’s going like, ‘It’s probably best you don’t play this week — or not this week, you know, on another week.’
“And I’m like, ‘How does that work? I want to play.’ And I didn’t play for three weeks and I think I went up seven spots. So I was kind of thinking, well, if I don’t play for the rest of the year I might be world No. 1.”
Bland might not be due to overtake Jon Rahm any time soon, but the Englishman is playing some of the best golf of his life, regardless of his ranking. And in a group with high-profile players like Bryson DeChambeau, Lee Westwood and Talor Gooch, Bland surprisingly emerged from Pool 9 at Austin Country Club, meaning he’s reached the Round of 16, which begins Saturday.
He edged Westwood 2 and 1 on Friday to advance. Bland, the bracket’s No. 54 seed, will face No. 8 seed Dustin Johnson next.
And while the questions about his age keep surfacing — Bland is the oldest player to advance out of group play since the format was introduced in 2015 and he’s getting closer to qualifying for his first Masters at a time when he should be sharpening up for the PGA Tour Champions — he takes it all in stride.
“I guess probably someone at 49 shouldn’t be doing this for the first time. But I guess there’s always the exception to the rule, isn’t there? Not necessarily just in golf. You see it in other sports as well,” he said. “You look at Bernhard Langer, 63, 64 years old, still winning on Champions tour. What an inspiration that is for someone like myself who is maybe looking to a career in the next couple years on Champions tour.
“If you stay fit and healthy, maybe I’ve got another 10 or 12 years in me yet, who knows. So, yeah, you’ve only got to kind of look at it, in tennis you still got, okay, Rafa Nadal’s still beating all the young ones, and Roger Federer, I’m sure when he comes back will be exactly the same. So there’s always the exception to the rule. So it’s quite nice to be that exception.”
He’s certainly due the consideration for Augusta. After winning the British Masters last May, he held a share of the lead after two rounds at last summer’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. He was also in the hunt at the Dubai Desert Classic earlier this year, falling in a playoff to Viktor Hovland.
Now, his showing in Austin continues to fill his schedule one that was supposed to be clear this week. In fact, he was due to take his wife Catrin to New York next week for her 40th birthday. Instead, his impressive play netted him a spot in the Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
It’s all an equation Bland didn’t think he’d have to work on, but one that he’s thoroughly soaking up.
“She flies in tomorrow,” Bland said. “With getting an invite into the Valero next week I had to put it kind of nicely that we’re not going to New York. She said she’s coming here. So that will probably cost me a bit more with a birthday present.”
Dylan Frittelli was resigned to commenting on his pal’s play as an on-course broadcaster for PGA Tour Live.
AUSTIN, Texas — Jordan Spieth survived.
That’s about as good as he could have hoped for Wednesday, given his uncharacteristically erratic wedge play, a more than worthy first-round opponent and some Titanic-level rust the former Texas Longhorn had to scrape away.
But survival is good in this WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play format.
And Austin’s favorite son gladly took a 2-up victory over former PGA Champ Keegan Bradley on the first day of the tournament at Austin Country Club despite missing a bunch of fairways, coming up short on a number of putts and not taking the lead in the match until the 16th hole. Spieth needed it, since he dropped a 3-and-2 decision to Justin Rose on Thursday.
Dylan Frittelli, a one-time Spieth teammate on Texas’ 2012 national championship team, was resigned to commenting on his pal’s play as an on-course broadcaster for PGA Tour Live. He followed Spieth all day, and Spieth afterward told his buddy, “I probably would have lost to you today on this golf course as I have many times.”
So why isn’t Frittelli in the field?
“I’m about 50 spots away from qualifying,” he joked, knowing his No. 116 world ranking left him far short of the top 64. “This is the first time I’ve done this, but I’ve done commentary in the booth in South Africa.
“How’d I get the job? I offered. I was actually hoping somebody might withdraw and they needed someone fast, but I think they had three or four on standby.”
Dylan Frittelli walks off the third tee during the second round of The Masters golf tournament at Augusta National GC. This week in Austin Frittelli tried his hand at broadcasting, covering his former Texas Longhorns teammate Jordan Spieth at the WGC-Technologies Match Play for PGA Tour Live. Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Spieth was playing with his A-game on standby most of a crisp, breezy Wednesday with the gusting wind out of the north. He pulled out his best late when he needed it the most, holing crucial putts of six-to-eight-plus feet on Nos. 15, 16 and 17 to gain and sustain the lead over the pesky Bradley. Finally on 18, both went into a greenside bunker, and when Bradley’s 8-foot putt slid by the hole, he conceded.
Spieth’s just glad he held on for a victory, trying to reach the weekend for the third time in his six tries here.
“If you lose your first match, you don’t control anything going forward,” he said. “It wasn’t like a pretty match.”
Bradley won two of the first three holes when Spieth started out tight. The Dallas native was drastically short on a 25-foot putt on No. 1 and missed the green and a short 8-footer on 3. However, Bradley gave one back on 2 when he ricocheted his approach shot off a rock into the ravine and another on 4 when his 3-foot putt lipped out.
That kept Spieth in the match until he could work out the kinks.
“I felt as if it was the start of the season in a way,” Spieth said. “I felt jittery and like I was going to have to knock some rust off.”
Little wonder because even though he had nine top-10 finishes in 2021, Spieth has not been sharp so far in 2022. He posted a second place at the AT&T Pro Am at Pebble Beach, but that’s his only top 10 of the year. In fact, he missed the cut in two of his last five starts, including the Players Championship, and he tied for 60th at Phoenix.
It wasn’t until the back nine Wednesday when his game came together, starting with a terrific save on the long par-5 12th hole when he had to hit his second shot off a steep hillside to the right of the fairway. He scrambled for one of his four birdies on the day while Bradley birdied No. 1 and eagled No. 6 but otherwise couldn’t cash in.
For a time, Spieth might as well have given his clubs to standard bearer Kaden Frierson, a Hyde Park eighth-grader and a devoted fan of the Longhorn. The bushy-haired 14-year-old, who has played golf since he was 8, claims he has a 3.8 handicap. He’s come through the First Tee program and longs to play for the Longhorns some day.
Kaden Frierson works as the standard bearer for Jordan Spieth at the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club. (Photo: Mikala Compton/American-Statesman)
His favorite player?
“Jordan Spieth,” Frierson said.
Spieth and Scheffler both bring a ton of burnt-orange flavor to this tournament, and a half-dozen or so fans serenaded Spieth with a rocking version of “The Eyes of Texas” off their balcony of a home along the fifth fairway.
Spieth clearly hasn’t had the best of seasons so far even though he remains high in the golf rankings at 11th.
The 28-year-old has gone through a lot of change in his personal life, marrying his high-school sweetheart Annie and fathering a son, Sammy. Such life events present different challenges, including all sorts of time management issues.
He plays Vokey and Scotty Cameron clubs, and they have already fashioned a putter and a wedge for Sammy that sit in his nursery at home, ready and waiting for the 4-month-old.
“So as soon as he’s able to, I’m sure he’ll be swinging it around,” Spieth said. “It’s been amazing. It’s certainly figuring out time management on the road is something — trying to be the best I can be here, there. And it’s another element of something that you want to be the best that you can be at.”
Jordan Spieth signs autographs at the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club. (Photo: Mikala Compton/American-Statesman)
Juggling those time and energy commitments can be tricky, especially for a goal-oriented guy like Spieth who can be a bit of a perfectionist as well as the biggest in-round talker in the game. He talks to himself and his caddie constantly, as on the 14th green where he misread it, missed a 9-footer and muttered: “Just amazing. I don’t understand it.”
“And that’s really difficult to do when you want to be the best golfer, too,” he said. “So trying to figure out that balance is something that I feel pretty patient with.”
Patience is a virtue he’s having to remind himself of.
Although he had a strong 2021 with a runner-up finish at The Open Championship and a spot on the winning U.S. Ryder Cup team, he took some time off for family and the baby, who arrived in November.
“I think last year helped a lot with being able to feel patient with it right now,” he said. “Like I feel like my game is in a better place than last year with not quite the consistent results to show for it with a couple outlier rounds with crazy conditions here or there. But I feel really good about my game and it has actually gotten better, week to week, month to month, since this time last year.
“So I think I’m doing a good job of it. But it is certainly a balance where your priorities shift a bit, but my drive to try and be the best golfer in the world has never been higher.”
Wednesday’s match could be just the start.
He said he’ll take a lot of momentum from the victory, minus his A game, because he had precious little prep time on this golf course after an early course closing Monday because of extreme weather conditions and blustery wind on Tuesday.
If his final four holes are any indication, he could be back on his game in no time.
“I look at this week trying to just gain momentum,” Spieth said. “The more rounds I can play, the sharper I get. You’ve got to keep winning matches in order to keep getting rounds in this tournament, so it was just an edgy, edgy match and sometimes you’ve got to grind those out.”
Everything you need to know for Friday’s matches in Austin.
The PGA Tour has made its way to the Lone Star State. Who’s ready for some match play?
The bracket is packed with most of the world’s best players at this week’s 2022 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. Friday’s matches will be the final round of pool play before the field is cut to the winner’s of each pool for the knockout stage.
Here’s everything you need to know for Thursday’s second day of matches at the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. All times Eastern.
Friday matches, tee times
Time
Players
10:20 a.m.
Billy Horschel vs. Thomas Pieters
10:31 a.m.
Tom Hoge vs. Min Woo Lee
10:42 a.m.
Scottie Scheffler vs. Matt Fitzpatrick
10:53 a.m.
Tommy Fleetwood vs. Ian Poulter
11:04 a.m.
Tyrrell Hatton vs. Daniel Berger
11:15 a.m.
Si Woo Kim vs. Christiaan Bezuidenhout
11:26 a.m.
Patrick Cantlay vs. Sungjae Im
11:37 a.m.
Seamus Power vs. Keith Mitchell
11:48 a.m.
Bryson DeChambeau vs. Talor Gooch
11:59 a.m.
Lee Westwood vs. Richard Bland
12:10 p.m.
Dustin Johnson vs. Max Homa
12:21 p.m.
Matthew Wolff vs. Mackenzie Hughes
12:32 p.m.
Brooks Koepka vs. Shane Lowry
12:43 p.m.
Harold Varner III vs. Erik van Rooyen
12:54 p.m.
Jon Rahm vs. Patrick Reed
1:05 p.m.
Cameron Young vs. Sebastián Muñoz
1:16 p.m.
Jordan Spieth vs. Adam Scott
1:27 p.m.
Justin Rose vs. Keegan Bradley
1:38 p.m.
Justin Thomas vs. Kevin Kisner
1:49 p.m.
Marc Leishman vs. Luke List
2 p.m.
Joaquin Niemann vs. Kevin Na
2:11 p.m.
Russell Henley vs. Maverick McNealy
2:22 p.m.
Viktor Hovland vs. Will Zalatoris
2:33 p.m.
Cameron Tringale vs. Sepp Straka
2:44 p.m.
Corey Conners vs. Alex Noren
2:55 p.m.
Xander Schauffele vs. Tony Finau
3:06 p.m.
Lucas Herbert vs. Takumi Kanaya
3:17 p.m.
Abraham Ancer vs. Webb Simpson
3:28 p.m.
Brian Harman vs. Bubba Watson
3:39 p.m.
Collin Morikawa vs. Jason Kokrak
3:50 p.m.
Sergio Garcia vs. Robert MacIntyre
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, Thursday, and 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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Only three of the top seven seeds captured a point in their matches Thursday at Austin Country Club.
AUSTIN, Texas — As is often the case at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play — an event that can produce similar chaos to its NCAA basketball counterparts that run in the same month — the second round of action busted quite a few brackets and put some others on notice.
Bryson DeChambeau, making his return from an injury, was quickly eliminated after two erratic and uneven performances. Local favorites Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler were thumped by Englishmen Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood, respectively, and will likely need to win on Friday to advance.
And the hottest player and current Cinderella is a relative unknown, 42-seeded Irishman Seamus Power, who followed up Wednesday’s thrashing of Sungjae Im by unloading on World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay, taking a second consecutive match 5 and 4.
It all sets up for an interesting final day of pool play when action resumes Friday at Austin Country Club.
Justin Rose shakes hands with Jordan Spieth after winning their match during the second day of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. (Photo: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports)
Brooks Koepka is also circling after a pair of victories in the opening two rounds, beating Harold Varner III 2 and 1 on Thursday after topping Erik van Rooyen on Wednesday.
Koepka never trailed to Varner, using a string of three consecutive birdies on the front nine to get ahead for good. Although he has two points, Koepka could still fail to reach the Round of 16 if he loses Friday, then falls in a playoff.
Either way, the four-time major champ insisted he won’t coast, even though his name comfortably sits atop his pool.
“I don’t ever have expectations. I show up and I want to win. I feel like I can. But I think that’s where guys screw up, they start thinking ahead. That’s where nerves come into play,” Koepka said. “You start thinking about, well, if I could just par these last two, I can get in the clubhouse and win or whatever, and that’s usually when guys make mistakes, instead of just finishing off the round and play exactly like you would, they change up the game plan.
“I never get ahead of myself. It’s just whatever shot is in front of me, I just worry about that one, I could care less what I’ve got in front, two holes, a hole, whatever, it doesn’t make a difference.”
Top-seeded Jon Rahm was victorious, but only three of the top seven seeds captured a point in their matches Thursday as Collin Morikawa tied Sergio Garcia while Cantlay, fifth-seeded Scheffler and Xander Schauffele (No. 7) all lost.
Reigning champ Billy Horschel posted a 3-and-2 victory over Tom Hoge, giving him seven consecutive victories in the event — his last five matches last year to win the title and the first two this year — which leaves him six short of matching Tiger Woods, who holds the record with 13 consecutive wins in the Match Play from 2003-05. Woods also is the only player to win back-to-back Match Play titles.
Among those with two points after two rounds of play are Dustin Johnson, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, Corey Conners, Alex Noren and Lucas Herbert, who holed out a putt on the 18th hole to defeat Schauffele.
The 20th-seeded Fitzpatrick was ecstatic to be in an advantageous position after he topped fellow English countryman Ian Poulter, 4 and 2.
“This is a miracle,” he said. “This is the closest I’ve gotten to getting out of the group. I’m happy with the start. The good thing is it’s in my hands, so if I go out and win tomorrow, I’ll go through.”
The third round of pool play is Friday. After that, the field will be trimmed to 16 players and single elimination will begin Saturday.
“There are stats that Tiger has accomplished and that he has that are just mind blowing.”
Billy Horschel is more than halfway to catching Tiger Woods.
With a 3-and-2 victory over Tom Hoge on Thursday at windy Austin Country Club in Texas in the second round of pool play in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Horschel has won seven consecutive matches in the event.
The defending champion last lost, 4 and 2 to J.T. Poston, in last year’s second round of pool play. He won his last five matches last year to win the title and the first two this year.
That leaves him six short of matching Woods, who holds the record with 13 consecutive wins in the Match Play from 2003-05. Woods also is the only player to win back-to-back Match Play titles.
“There are stats that Tiger has accomplished and that he has that are just mind blowing. Things that you just can’t imagine and when you think about 13 straight matches won, you don’t think that’s a big deal, but when you realize it, it’s two years of match play and not losing almost,” Horschel said. “There’s nothing I can say that someone hasn’t already said about him, so if somehow I was able to continue on a great streak and win the next five matches and then come back and win one match next year, it would be really cool to have my name next to him.”
Horschel will play Thomas Pieters in the final round of pool play; Pieters moved to 1-1-0 with a 1-up win over Min Woo Lee. Horschel made a 50-footer for birdie on the first hole to grab a lead he never relinquished.
“I think I don’t toot my own horn. I’m not one of those guys to tell you how great I am at what I do,” said Horschel, the 2014 FedEx Cup champion. “I’m a grinder. Yes, I can make it look pretty sometimes but I’m OK playing in the mud and grinding it out and I’m a really good putter inside 10 feet, which is crucial in match play. I love the format and right now obviously I’m having a lot of success.
“I’ve been lucky that the two guys I’ve played have made some mistakes. So it’s allowed me not to have to really do anything special.”
Among others to move to 2-0-0 were Alex Noren, who won when Paul Casey conceded due to back spasms for the second consecutive day. Noren will face Corey Connors, who beat Louis Oosthuizen, 2 and 1, to move to 2-0-0, in the final round of pool play.
Also improving to 2-0-0 was Lucas Herbert, who beat Xander Schauffele, 1 up.
“I played a lot of amateur golf with Xander and I feel like he’s obviously had a quicker rise than I did to the PGA Tour and to that top 10 in the world, but I felt like back seven or eight years ago we probably had similar games and I feel like I’m getting somewhere near where he is,” Herbert said. “So I didn’t feel super out of place playing against him, I felt like I knew him and had spent a bit of time with him out at events and practicing and that kind of thing with him before.
“So I think that was a big benefit to me versus playing against someone I had not really met before and not played any golf against.”
Matt Fitzpatrick, who beat Ian Poulter, 4 and 2, also moved to 2-0-0, and Seamus Power won his second consecutive match with a 5-and-4 romp over Patrick Cantlay.
“This is a miracle. This is the closest I’ve gotten to getting out of the group,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m happy with the start. The good thing is it’s in my hands, so if I go out and win tomorrow, I’ll go through.”
The third round of pool play continues Friday. After Friday’s action, the field will be trimmed to 16 players and single elimination will begin Saturday.
The world’s best players are in Austin, Texas, this week 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, and with eight of the top-12 players in the world (as well as 63 of the top 69) in the bracket, some matches stand out among the rest.
Thursday’s slate alone features a Match Play record holder, a duel between major champions, a must-win match to avoid elimination, and a Sin City showdown pitting the old school vs. new.
Check out the top five matches to watch during the second day of action in Austin (all times Eastern).
