WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play – Preview & Picks

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The PGA Tour’s version of March Madness if here. We head to Austin Country Club for the WGC – Dell Technologies Match Play event. This is one of the most entertaining events on the Tour all year so it should be a good one.

Apologies for the short article this week, I’ve been super busy so I didn’t have that much time to do a detailed writeup on all of my picks.

 

Tournament Information:

  • Dates: March 23rd, 2022- March 27th, 2022
  • Location: Austin, Texas, United States
  • Course:  Austin Country Club
  • Course Type: Parkland
  • Par: 71 (4x 3’s / 11x 4’s / 3x 5’s)
  • Length: 7,108 yards
  • Format: Match Play – Bracket Style
  • Field/ Cut:  64 Players | Group Play – Match Play
  • Greens: Bermuda Overseeded Poa Trivialis
  • Fairways: Overseeded Rye/ Fescue
  • Rough: Bermuda 2″
  • Stimpmeter: 12.0 ft. (Average)
  • Purse: $12,000,000 / Winner $2.160 Million
  • FedEx Cup Points: 550
  • Bunkers: 110
  • Water Hazards: – (In-Play on 7 Holes)
  • Average Green Size: 5,500 sq. ft.

 

Course Architect/ Comparable Courses:

  • Course Architect: Pete Dye (1984)
  • Renovations: Rod Whitman (2015)
  • Comparable Courses:
    • TPC Sawgrass – THE PLAYERS (Results)
    • TPC River Highlands – Travelers Championship (Results)

 

TV Information:

  • Round 1: Wednesday, March 23, 2022
    • Golf Channel – 2:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
  • Round 1: Thursday, March 24th, 2022
    • Golf Channel – 2:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
  • Round 2: Friday, March 25th, 2022
    • Golf Channel – 2:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
  • Round 3: Saturday, March 25th, 2022
    • Golf Channel – 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM ET
    • NBC – 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET
  • Round 4: Sunday, March 26th, 2022
    • Golf Channel – 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM ET
    • NBC – 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM ET

 

Weather:

  • Wednesday: Mostly Sunny 58 F, 10 mp/h NW, 28% Humidity, 0% Chance of Rain
  • Thursday: Sunny 60 F, 11 mp/h NW, 23% Humidity, 0% Chance of Rain
  • Friday: Sunny 66 F, 5 mp/h NE, 26% Humidity, 0% Chance of Rain
  • Saturday: Sunny 69 F, 8 mp/h S, 36% Humidity, 0% Chance of Rain
  • Sunday: Mostly Sunny 72 F, 13 mp/h SSW, 35% Humidity, 0% Chance of Rain

 

Key Statistics:

  • Strokes Gained: Tee to Green
  • Strokes Gained: Putting (Bermuda)
  • Match Play History (All Events)
  • Recent Form

 

Previous Winners Scores & Prices:

  • 2021: Billy Horschel
    • Price: 90-1
  • 2020: Cancelled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
    • Price: N/A
  • 2019: Kevin Kisner
    • Price: 80-1
  • 2018: Bubba Watson
    • Price: 50-1
  • 2017: Dustin Johnson
    • Price: 70-1

 

Format:

The field is divided into four groups ranking the players 1-64. Tier 1 is players ranked 1-16, Tier 2 is players ranked 17-32, Tier 3 is players ranked 33-48, and Tier 4 is players ranked 49-64. There’s sixteen different groups that are randomly drawn and include one player from each tier.

Over the course of the first three days (Wednesday through Friday), each player will play one 18-hole match against every person in their group. A match victory is worth 1 point, while a tied match is worth half a point. The winner of the group is obviously the golfer with the most points who will then enter a 16-man single elimination bracket on the weekend. The round of 16 will take place on Saturday morning with the advancing eight golfers competing again later on that day. The semifinals is on Sunday morning with the finals and third-place match taking place on Sunday afternoon.

 

Bracket:

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If you would like to fill out an official bracket, you can do so here.

 

Picks (To Win Groups):

Given the amount of action this week, all plays at 0.25 unit plays given us a total of 3.75 Units wagered this week.

  • Group 1:
    • Jon Rahm (+130)
  • Group 2:
    • Sergio Garcia (+260)
  • Group 3:
    • Viktor Hovland (+165)
  • Group 4:
    • Patrick Cantlay (+180)
  • Group 5:
    • Scottie Scheffler (+180)
  • Group 6:
    • Kevin Kisner (+333)
  • Group 7:
    • Xander Schauffele (+150)
  • Group 8:
    • Dustin Johnson (+190)
  • Group 9:
    • No Pick
  • Group 10:
    • Alex Noren (+300)
  • Group 11:
    • Adam Scott (+260)
  • Group 12:
    • Billy Horschel (+175)
  • Group 13:
    • Daniel Berger (+190)
  • Group 14:
    • Russell Henley (+225)
  •  Group 15:
    • Bubba Watson (+333)
  • Group 16:
    • Brooks Koepka (+210)

 

Picks (Outright):

No outrights as of right now, once the field of 16 is set for the weekend I’ll add a few outrights live.

 

Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.