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WGC-Match Play: Making the predictions at Austin Country Club

By Mike Randleman

AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 24: Kyle Stanley of the United States plays his shot from the 16th tee during the quarterfinal round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 24, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Darren Carroll/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX - MARCH 24: Kyle Stanley of the United States plays his shot from the 16th tee during the quarterfinal round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 24, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Darren Carroll/Getty Images) /
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AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 25: Justin Rose of England watches his approach shot on the second hole during the third round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play at the Austin Country Club on March 25, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 25: Justin Rose of England watches his approach shot on the second hole during the third round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play at the Austin Country Club on March 25, 2016 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

Round of 16

  • 1 Dustin Johnson vs. 16 Patrick Reed
    • A pair of Ryder Cup teammates do battle here. Reed’s stroke play performances have been uninspiring of late, so give me DJ who has two wins on Tour this season and can bomb away for birdies at Austin CC.
  • 2 Justin Rose vs. 38 Billy Horschel
    • After Horschel makes it by his group, he’s in for it facing the rested Rose who has a win at Torrey Pines and a T8 at the Players as part of just five starts so far in 2019.
  • 27 Alex Noren vs. 48 Kevin Kisner
    • I’ve got a rematch of the 2018 semifinals here in the round of 16. Kisner emerged in 19 holes in one of the tournament’s better matches, but give me Noren to add to the Euros’ success in 2019.
  •  4 Rory McIlroy vs. 18 Patrick Cantlay
    • Cantlay is having a great season but he still could afford to rise up at more big events. McIlroy will have to work for it against a good ball striker like Cantlay, but he’s on to the quarters.
  • 5 Justin Thomas vs. 12 Jason Day
    • Just as it’s trendy to pick 12s over 5s in the NCAA Tournament, I’ve got one here. Picking a two-time tournament champ and former world No. 1 Day isn’t like picking Liberty, but I like Day’s match play acumen and his slow, plodding style to get under the skin of JT.
  • 17 Marc Leishman vs. 19 Louis Oosthuizen
    • These two are both locks for the International President’s Cup team, but only one can advance to the quarters. The two were also together in losing a playoff to Zach Johnson at the 2015 Open Championship. That’s all beside the point as I’ve got the match play wizard Oosthuizen to be on his way to a third top-10 in seven starts this year.
  • 7 Francesco Molinari vs 42 Charles Howell III
    • With two pure ball strikers going at it, it’s going to take birdies to win a lot of holes in this one. Both are Tour winners in 2018-19 but Molinari has shot to the stratosphere since last summer and will keep it going here.
  • 8 Jon Rahm vs 29 Rafa Cabrera Bello
    • We could be in for an all-Spanish round of 16 matchup here as we’ve got the bombing Rahm taking on the more strategic RCB. As mentioned before, RCB is a great match play player and while I like him to push this to 18, if not extra holes, give me Rahm to play a little smarter than he did at the Players and escape.
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