Louis Oosthuizen will face the man who beat him in the 2016 WGC-Dell Matchplay final, Jason Day, after the groups were confirmed at Austin Country Club, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
Oosthuizen was drawn in group 8 alongside Jason Day with Jason Dufner and James Hahn making up the quartet. In the 2016 final, Day crushed the South African 5 & 4 and will enter this week as the favourite to escape from the group, not only due to his improved world ranking, but also on the back of his win at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Oosthuizen missed the cut last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and will be desperate for some form heading into The Masters on 5 April.
The former Open champion is one of four South Africans in the field this week with Charl Schwartzel caught up in the crossfire in a group that contains Ryder Cup teammates Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. The 2011 Masters winner pays the price for his rankings decline and must attempt to reverse a form decline that has seen him register one top-10 finish in the year since finishing T17 in this event last year.
Schwartzel plays outsider to the American duo, who have been teammates on 12 occasions but now will face off as foes. Spieth has the hometown advantage and two missed cuts in 2018 against Reed’s decent form that includes a T2 at the Valspar and a top 10 last week at Bay Hill.
Haotong Li, who beat Rory McIlroy at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, is the final member of the group but will be keen to upstage his more notorious colleagues. Li may yet prove to be the deciding factor in this group as he plays aggressive and often birdie-laden golf.
Branden Grace finds himself in a group that includes top seed Marc Leishman, the rejuvenated Bubba Watson and last man into the field Julian Suri.
The man to beat for Grace should be Watson, who ended a barren run with a win at the Genesis Open and then backed that up with a top 10 at the WGC event in Mexico.
Leishman will also pose a threat although he is yet to replicate his late-season form from 2017 which saw him win the BMW Championship and finish third at the Dell Technologies Championship. Should Grace advance, he is likely to face Rory McIlroy, fresh off his Arnold Palmer Invitational victory.
Like Spieth, South African representative Dylan Frittelli has hometown advantage as he bases himself out of Austin. The two-time European Tour winner has already confirmed his intention to make the PGA Tour his preferred tour and a solid week starting on Wednesday could be the springboard he needs.
Frittelli helped Spieth and the University of Texas claim the 2012 NCAA title after draining a 30 footer for the win. Standing in his way is Masters champion Sergio Garcia, a bit competition-rusty after the birth of his first child, PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Xander Schauffele and rising star Shubhankar Sharma.
The WGC-Dell Matchplay starts on Wednesday at Austin Country Club.
Dell Matchplay group stage:
GROUP 1: Dustin Johnson (1), Kevin Kisner (32), Adam Hadwin (38), Bernd Wiesberger (52)
GROUP 2: Justin Thomas (2), Francesco Molinari (21), Patton Kizzire (48), Luke List (60).
GROUP 3: Jon Rahm (3), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (28), Chez Reavie (43), Keegan Bradley (63)
GROUP 4: Jordan Spieth (4), Patrick Reed (19), Haotong Li (34), Charl Schwartzel (49)
GROUP 5: Hideki Matsuyama (4), Patrick Cantlay (30), Cameron Smith (46), Yusaku Miyazato (53)
GROUP 6: Rory McIlroy (6), Brian Harman (18), Jhonattan Vegas (44), Peter Uihlein (57)
GROUP 7: Sergio Garcia (7), Xander Schauffele (20), Dylan Frittelli (41), Shubhankar Sharma (62)
GROUP 8: Jason Day (8), Louis Oosthuizen (25), Jason Dufner (42), James Hahn (56)
GROUP 9: Tommy Fleetwood (9), Daniel Berger (26), Kevin Chappell (33), Ian Poulter (58)
GROUP 10: Paul Casey (10), Matthew Fitzpatrick (31), Kyle Stanley (45), Russell Henley (51)
GROUP 11: Marc Leishman (11), Branden Grace (23), Bubba Watson (35), Julian Suri (64)
GROUP 12: Tyrrell Hatton (12), Charley Hoffman (22), Brendan Steele (36), Alexander Levy (55)
GROUP 13: Alex Noren (13), Tony Finau (29), Thomas Pieters (39), Kevin Na (61)
GROUP 14: Phil Mickelson (14), Rafa Cabrera Bello (17), Satoshi Kodaira (40), Charles Howell III (59)
GROUP 15: Pat Perez (15), Gary Woodland (24), Webb Simpson (37), Si Woo Kim (50)
GROUP 16: Matt Kuchar (16), Ross Fisher (27), Yuta Ikeda (47) Zach Johnson (54)
