The PGA Tour exits Florida and heads to Texas for the only match play event on the schedule. Established in 1999, 2023 will be the 24th, and final, playing of the World Golf Classic – Dell Technologies Match Play.
Earlier this month it was announced that this will be the final year of the event.
However for this season the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play was elevated to “designated” status.
Last year the field competed for a purse of $12 million with $2.1 million going to champion Scottie Scheffler.
This year the purse is increased to $20 million with $3.6 million going to the champion.
Four previous champions will not be in the field this week due to their defection to LIV Golf in 2022. Bubba Watson (2018), Dustin Johnson (2017), Ian Poulter (2010), and Henrick Stenson (2007) were suspended by the PGA Tour when they tee’ed it up in LIV Golf events in 2022.
Watson and Johnson will be in the field along with many from the designated event this week for the Masters in early April.
Tiger announced that he will not compete prior to the Masters in three weeks.
Three-time WGC – Match Play Champion, Tiger Woods (2003, 2004, 2008) will not be in the field as he is playing a limited schedule; continuing to recover from a car wreck that nearly took his leg in 2021.
Woods last competed at the Genesis Invitational back in February.
Notables in the Field (OWGR Top-25)
| Scottie Scheffler 1 | Jon Rahm 2 | Rory McIlroy 3 |
| Patrick Cantlay 4 | Max Homa 6 | Xander Schauffele 7 |
| Will Zalatoris 8 | Viktor Hovland 9 | Colin Morikawa 11 |
| Tony Finau 12 | Matt Fitzpatrick 13 | Jordan Spieth 14 |
| Sam Burns 15 | Cameron Young 16 | Tyrrell Hatton 17 |
| Sungjae Im 18 | Tom Kim 19 | Hideki Matsuyama 20 |
| Kurt Kitayama 21 | Keegan Bradley 22 | Shane Lowry 23 |
| Tom Hoge 24 | Billy Horshel 25 |
Match Play format
As much of the U.S. is watching the NCAA Basketball Tournament, the PGA Tour also features its only bracket style tournament for its own March Madness.
Like the Big Dance the field for the WGC – Match Play event is limited to 64 players, which is even fewer than the newly announced limited field events.
The 64 are grouped into 16 groups of four.
Round robin play will take place Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday with each player playing each member of the group.
The winner will receive one point, zero points to the loser, and in the event of a tie each player will receive a half point.
In the event of a tie for the most points in a group, a hole-by-hole playoff will determine the player to advance to the round of 16.
After the round robin stage it’s just like the NCAA Tournament.
The Group of 16 will play Saturday morning, with the quarterfinal taking place in the afternoon.
The semifinal will be played Sunday morning, the championship and consolation matches taking place in the afternoon.
Players to Watch
Tony Finau
This will be Tony’s fifth trip to Austin Country Club for Match Play. In three previous trip he has one top-25 finish which came in 2018.
So far this season in 9 events played on the PGA Tour, Tony has eight top-25 finishes, three of those being top-10s.
Finau’s best finish this season came when he won the Cadence Bank Houston Open back in November.
Tony’s last appearance was at the Players Championship in March where he finished in a tie for 9th place.
Tony is currently ranked 8th in the FedExCup Playoff, and 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).
Sahith Theegala
This will be Sahith’s first trip to Austin Country Club.
In 13 events so far this season, Theegala has seven top-25 finishes, including five top-10s. his best result in official events on the PGA Tour was a tie for second place at the RSM Classic back in November.
In unofficial events, Theegala won the QBE Shootout with partner Tom Hoge.
Theegala’s last event was the Players Championship where he finished in 74th place.
JJ Spaun
This will be JJ’s first entry in the match play event.
So far this season in 13 events, JJ has six top-25 finishes, including one top-10 finish. His lone top-10 came at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January.
JJ most recent event was the Players Championship in March where he failed to make the weekend.
Spaun is currently ranked 49th in the Fedex Cup rankings, and 72nd in the OWGR.
Tee Times & Pairings
Finau
Wednesday morning at 11:48 AM, Tony will face Christiaan Bezuidenhout from South Africa.
The South African is currently ranked 94th in the FedEx Cup Rankings and 72nd in the OWGR. Bezuidenhout has no wins on the PGA Tour but 5 wins worldwide. On two trips to Austin, Bezuidenhout finished 60th in ’22, and 56th in ’21.
Thursday morning at 10:20 AM, Tony will face Adrian Meronk from Poland. Meronk is ranked 55th in the OWGR, and has 3 wins worldwide. Meronk is not currently a PGA Tour member and does not have a FedEx Cup ranking. This will be Adrian’s first trip to Austin for the match play event.
Theegala
Sahith will face Min Woo Lee from Australia on Wednesday at 10:31 AM. Lee is ranked 47th in the OWGR, and has two wins worldwide. This will be Lee’s second trip to Austin for the WGC. Min Woo finished 26th in 2022. Lee finished tied for 6th at the Players Championship earlier this month.
On Thursday at 2:55 PM Sahith will face JJ Spaun.
Spaun
On Wednesday JJ will face Matt Fitzpatrick from England. Fitzpatrick is ranked 93rd in the FedEx Cup, and 13th in the OWGR. Fitzpatrick won the 2022 U.S. Open. This will be Matt’s seventh trip to Austin for the WGC. His best finish was 17th place in 2017, along with back to back 18th place finishes in 2021 and 2022. Fitzpatrick has missed the cut in three of his last four events.
On Thursday at 2:55 PM JJ will face Sahith Theegala.
How to Watch
Wednesday (3/22) to Friday (3/24): 2 PM to 8 PM EST (Golf Channel)
Saturday (3/25): 10 AM to 12 PM (Golf Channel); 12 PM to 6 PM (NBC)
Sunday (3/26): 10 AM to 2 PM (Golf Channel); 3 PM to 7 PM (NBC)