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WGC-Dell Match Play: Five biggest surprises from group play

By Brandon Raper

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 27: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on in his match against Luke List of the United States during the first round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 27, 2019 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Darren Carroll/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 27: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland looks on in his match against Luke List of the United States during the first round of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 27, 2019 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Darren Carroll/Getty Images) /
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WGC-Dell Match Play Rory McIlroy
WGC-Dell Match Play: Five biggest surprises from group play (Photo by Darren Carroll/Getty Images) /

Group play at the WGC-Match Play wrapped up on Friday evening at Austin Country Club. The round-robin format makes the existing match play format even more unpredictable, with several surprising results along the way. Here’s the best (and worst) of the first three days in Austin.

The WGC-Dell Match Play has been one of the premier events on the PGA TOUR calendar for a number of years, but its format has often been controversial. For 15 years between 1999 and 2014, the event was played under single-elimination rules. Much like the NCAA Basketball Tournament, this version of “March Madness” was simple: win and advance, lose and go home.

Of course, there’s very little match play done in the professional ranks these days. Sure, there’s the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup, but those are annual, qualified events for a couple dozen top pros. Once you get past the amateur ranks, this is pretty much it. That lack of play, combined with the often unpredictable nature of the format, led to several top stars going home after just one round – and a revamp of the format in 2015 to the current round-robin setup.

Count me among the seemingly small group of golf fans who loves this change. Had a bad day on Wednesday? Get fired up and come back tougher on Thursday and Friday? Can’t get up for that? Well, that’s a good problem to have, I guess, as long as you don’t mind taking two or three beatings.

Really, this is an event guys should presumably already want to play well at. The World Golf Championship gives 64 players a chance at nearly $2 million in prize money, along with a heaping helping of world ranking points – even a few potential Masters invitations for guys outside the top 50. Only two of the top 64 players in the world (Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler) took a pass this week. If you ask me, it’s the perfect balance, but that doesn’t mean everything goes chalk either. And even when things wind up as you thought, sometimes it takes the “scenic route” on the way.

With the elimination rounds set to begin tomorrow, these are five of the more surprising stories to emerge this week at the WGC-Dell Match Play. Let us know what you think of the week so far, and what you’re looking for on an exciting weekend to come!

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