A bumper week of matchplay golf awaits at the Austin Country Club where the best golfers in the world will go head to head in the form of a bracket challenge. ANDRE HUISAMEN unpacks the pairings and everything you need to know about the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event.
Matchplay golf doesn’t get much bigger than this with the best in the business going at each other in this thrilling knockout competition.
For the fifth consecutive year, Texas will be the venue for the second World Golf Championship of the year.
The Covid-19 pandemic ruled out last year’s tournament, meaning Kevin Kisner will start the week as the defending champion after his victory over Matt Kuchar in 2019.
Only four South Africans will be in the field for this year’s edition, including world No 23 Louis Oosthuizen, who came agonisingly close to winning in 2016 when he finished as runner-up to Jason Day.
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Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Dylan Frittelli and Erik van Rooyen will complete the local presence in Austin and are all set for a big week of competitive golf.
All 16 groups will be divided into two brackets with an eight-a-side split, leading up to the all-important final on Sunday. The group stage will be followed by a round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final.
Each group has a player seeded 1-16, 17-32, 33-48, 49-64 with the round-robin phase taking place on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. All four players in a group will play against each other. One point is awarded for a win, and one half point for a tie, with only the group winner qualifying for the next round. The next phase will, however, be conducted in knockout mode with the loser falling out of the competition, while the winner progresses.
Oosthuizen will feature in Group 2 alongside the dangerous Justin Thomas and 2016 finalists Kisner and Kuchar. The South African will take on Kisner in his first match, while Thomas and Kuchar will go at it.
Bezuidenhout will have to battle Patrick Reed, Joaquin Niemann and Bubba Watson in Group 7, while Frittelli takes on Tony Finau, Jason Kokrak and Will Zalatoris in Group 12.
Van Rooyen will tee off in Group 14 alongside Daniel Berger, Harris English and Brendon Todd.
Group 2 schedule: Wednesday – Thomas vs Kuchar, Oosthuizen vs Kisner Thursday – Thomas vs Kisner, Oosthuizen vs Kuchar Friday – Thomas vs Oosthuizen
Group 7 schedule: Wednesday – Reed vs Watson, Niemann vs Bezuidenhout Thursday – Reed vs Bezuidenhout, Niemann vs Watson Friday – Reed vs Niemann, Bezuidenhout vs Watson
Group 12 schedule: Wednesday – Finau vs Frittelli, Kokrak vs Zalatoris Thursday – Finau vs Zalatoris, Kokrak vs Frittelli Friday – Finau vs Kokrak, Zalatoris vs Frittelli
Group 14 Schedule: Wednesday – Berger vs Van Rooyen, English vs Todd Thursday – Berger vs Todd, English vs Van Rooyen Friday – Berger vs English, Todd vs Van Rooyen
Take a look at the groups featuring South Africans for this week’s WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play:
Group 2: Louis Oosthuizen
Group 7: Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Group 12: Dylan Frittelli
Group 14: Erik van Rooyen?????? pic.twitter.com/GzKpKocCmd
— Compleat Golfer (@CompleatGolfer) March 22, 2021
Group 1: Dustin Johnson, Kevin Na, Robert MacIntyre, Adam Long
Group 2: Justin Thomas, Louis Oosthuizen, Kevin Kisner, Matt Kuchar
Group 3: Jon Rahm, Ryan Palmer, Shane Lowry, Sebastian Munoz
Group 4: Collin Morikawa, Billy Horschel, Max Homa, JT Poston
Group 5: Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, Si Woo Kim, Antoine Rozner
Group 6: Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Jason Day, Andy Sullivan
Group 7: Patrick Reed, Joaquin Niemann, Christian Bezuidenhout, Bubba Watson
Group 8: Tyrrell Hatton, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Matt Wallace
Group 9: Webb Simpson, Paul Casey, Mackenzie Hughes, Talor Gooch
Group 10: Patrick Cantlay, Hideki Matsuyama, Carlos Ortiz, Brian Harman
Group 11: Rory McIlroy, Cam Smith, Lanto Griffin, Ian Poulter
Group 12: Tony Finau, Jason Kokrak, Will Zalatoris, Dylan Frittelli
Group 13: Victor Hovland, Abraham Ancer, Bernd Wiesberger, Kevin Streelman
Group 14: Daniel Berger, Harris English, Brendon Todd, Erik van Rooyen
Group 15: Matt Fitzpatrick, Matthew Wolff, Corey Conners, Jordan Spieth
Group 16: Sungjae Im, Victor Perez, Marc Leishman, Russell Henley
