Dell Technologies WGC Match Play Preview
Posted by Austin Chen on 20 Mar 2018
The best golfers in the world are coming to Texas this week! Austin is the host town for the Dell Technologies World Golf Championship Match Play. This is the 3rd year in a row where Austin Country Club is the venue. The course is a par 71 that measures out to 7,108 yards. The fairways are bent grass with Bermuda putting greens. This 18 hole course is designed by Pete Dye with views of the Texas hill country as well as Lake Austin. Austin Country Club goes all the way back to 1899 and is thought to be one of the oldest golf clubs in Texas.
Format:
For those unfamiliar with the match play format, here is how it works. The match play consists of 64 golfers and starts with pool play. There are 16 groups of 4 players playing round robin matches from Wednesday thru Friday. The top 16 ranked golfers are allocated to each group. The 48 remaining players are placed into 3 pools depending on their world golf rankings. All group play matches are 18 holes. One point is awarded for a win and half a point if the match is halved. Ties for 1st place in a group are decided by a sudden death stroke play playoff starting on hole 1.
The group winner will advance to a single elimination bracket starting Saturday. The round of 16 and quarterfinals are played on Saturday. On Sunday the semi finals, consolation match, and finals are played.
Curious to see which group your favorite golfer is in?
Notable Holes To Watch:
Hole 12 Iron Bridge
If you have watched any part of the Match Play before, this is the hole that you will most likely remember. It has the famous bridge.
Hole 13 Cape Dye
This is the shortest par 4 on the course. Dye is begging you to hit left which some of these longer hitters will certainty do.
Hole 4 Slippery Knoll
The par 3 is a great one shot challenge.The hole is atop a knoll between Deer Creek and Fawn Creek.
Hole 6 Cat Mountain
Cat Mountain is the highest point on the course. If you don't hit it far enough off the tee you will have a blind 2nd shot.
Who To Watch:
Dustin Johnson
He is the defending champion of the Dell Technologies Match Play. It is always fun to watch Dustin Johnson in these events because he can be more aggressive then a stroke play event.
Jason Day
Jason Day is the other match play champion at Austin Country Club and always a fan favorite.
Shubhankar Sharma
Shubhankar Sharma came into our lives earlier in March when he lead the WGC Mexico for 3 rounds. He is only 21 but no slouch with 2 European Tour wins already.
Dylan Fritelli
Dylan Fritelli is probably the best player in the top 50 world golf rankings that no one has heard about. The South African returns to Austin this week. He is actually very familiar with the area and could be a real sleeper this week. He graduated from the University of Texas and was part of the Jordan Spieth led 2012 National championship team.
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