WGC-Dell Match Play Preview and Bracket Breakdown

The brackets are set for the WGC-Dell Match Play at Austin Country Club. Here’s a look at the groupings and how you can catch all the action.

Golf’s version of March Madness has arrived. The WGC-Dell Match Play tees off this week at Austin Country Club, a Pete Dye design in Austin, Texas.

The drawing for the WGC-Dell Match Play bracket was done on Monday night in front of a live studio audience and this year will see a newer format than year’s past. In order to eliminate the one and dones, the event will feature a group play which was first debuted in 2015.

The group play differs from the original single-elimination format. Instead of being sent home after the opening match if a golfer lost, they now have a chance to compete in their group in order to advance out of the first round. Many golfers were upset with the “lose and go home” setup, so this is an effort to appease to players.

The groups are determined at random with the top 16 golfers in the world headlining each group. They are grouped with golfers from Groups B, C, and D. Group B is the golfers from 17-32, Group C is golfers from 33-48, and Group D is golfers from 49-66.

The first three days of the event consists of golfers competing to see who will get out of the groups and advance to the second round. From there on out, it’s single elimination.

Here’s a look at how the groups unfolded on Monday night:

• Group 1 – Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Victor Dubuisson, and Jamie Donaldson
• Group 2 – Jason Day, Paul Casey, Thongchai Jaidee, and Graeme McDowell
• Group 3 – Rory McIlroy, Kevin Na, Smylie Kaufman, and Thorbjorn Olesen
• Group 4 – Bubba Watson, J.B. Holmes, Emiliano Grillo, and Patton Kizzire
• Group 5 – Rickie Fowler, Byeong-Hun An, Scott Piercy, and Jason Dufner
• Group 6 – Adam Scott, Bill Haas, Chris Wood, and Thomas Pieters
• Group 7 – Justin Rose, Matt Kuchar, Anirban Lahiri, and Fabian Gomez
• Group 8 – Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, and Robert Streb
• Group 9 – Patrick Reed, Phil Mickelson, Matthew Fitzpatrick, and Daniel Berger
• Group 10 – Danny Willett, Brooks Koepka, Billy Horschel, and Jaco Van Zyl
• Group 11 – Branden Grace, Russell Knox, David Lingmerth, and Chris Kirk
• Group 12 – Hideki Matsuyama, Kevin Kisner, Soren Kjeldsen, and Rafa Cabrera Bello
• Group 13 – Sergio Garcia, Marc Leishman, Ryan Moore, and Lee Westwood
• Group 14 – Zach Johnson, Shane Lowry, Martin Kaymer, and Marcus Fraser
• Group 15 – Brandt Snedeker, Charl Schwartzel, Danny Lee, and Charley Hoffman
• Group 16 – Louis Oosthuizen, Andy Sullivan, Bernd Weisberger, and Matt Jones

The action for the WGC-Dell Match Play starts a day earlier than golf fans are used to and goes throughout the weekend. Here’s how you can catch all the madness (ALL TIMES EASTERN):

Wednesday, March 23rd – Group Play
TV Station: Golf Channel
Time: 2 PM – 8 PM

Thursday, March 24th – Group Play
TV Station: Golf Channel
Time: 2 PM – 8 PM

Friday, March 25th – Group Play
TV Station: Golf Channel
Time: 2 PM – 8 PM

Saturday, March 26th – Round of 16/Quarterfinals
TV Station: Golf Channel; NBC
Time: 10 AM – 2 PM; 2 PM – 6 PM

Sunday, March 27th – Semifinals/Finals
TV Station: Golf Channel; NBC
Time: 10 AM – 2 PM; 2 PM – 6 PM

PGA TOUR Live will be broadcasting the from Wednesday-Friday for the featured groups at 11:00 AM–4 PM and the featured holes at 4–8 PM.

Next: Fantasy Golf: WGC-Dell Match Play Fantasy Picks

If you have SiriusXM radio, you can catch the coverage on PGA TOUR Radio and PGATOUR.com Wednesday-Friday at 2-8 PM, Saturday 10 AM-6 PM, and Sunday at 12 PM-7 PM.