2021 WGC-Match Play: Top 10 power rankings at Austin CC
Continuing with the career-best trend in 2021, I foresee Patrick Reed reaching the WGC-Match Play quarterfinals for the first time in his seventh try.
He was second in his pool in 2019 and reached the round of 16 in 2016 and 2018. We all know how much of a menace Reed is in team USA events, and I expect him to bring some of his “me against the world” mentality to Austin.
Reed seemed to draw a pretty reasonable group. His top competition is Joaquin Niemann, a tournament debutant who’s fared no better than T-25th in his last four starts coming in.
Next is another first-timer, South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout. He won back-to-back European Tour events in his home country to close 2020. Bezuidenhout caught more eyes with solo seventh a few weeks ago at Bay Hill with a crafty short game. I could see this being Reed’s longest match.
Bubba Watson is a past WGC-Match Play champ in 2018., but that feels like ages ago for him. Mr. Pink Driver showed some life with a couple of top-10s in the fall but has gone quiet in 2021. He can’t get to Augusta fast enough.
Reed’s short game and ability to finagle shots out of trouble can be maddening to opponents. He’s a good wind player. Not to mention the 30-year-old is first in strokes gained putting (1.101). Reed will move on to the round of 16 where he’ll prevail as the favorite against Hideki Matsuyama in a Presidents Cup-style meeting.
The must-see quarterfinals matchup could pit Reed against the recent Players Championship winner, Justin Thomas. Both could be repping the red, white, and blue in the Olympics and Ryder Cup later in the year. I see Thomas pouring in a 20-footer to nip Reed on the 20th hole.
The WGC-Dell Match Play comes on the schedule at an interesting time in 2021 just two weeks before the Masters.
Players in the field can appreciate getting reps under the pressure a format like match play brings, but you have to wonder if they feel like their time would be better spent sharpening their stroke play acumen.
Regardless of players’ perspectives, the WGC-Match Play usually makes for an entertaining diversion for fans.
There are some (including me) who yearn for the days of yore with the 64-player, single-elimination bracket. Especially with the tournament in March, it could piggyback nicely with the NCAA Tournament. On the flip side, it is nice for players and fans alike that all 64 players are guaranteed three matches and won’t go home packing on Wednesday.
The format changed in 2015 to divide the field into 16 four-player pools.
The pools were announced Monday morning by randomly drawing one player ranked 1-16, another 17-32, 33-48, and 49-64.
The field was finalized prior to last week’s Honda Classic and is based on the Official World Golf Rankings.
Eligible players not in the field due to injury are No. 12 Brooks Koepka, No. 25 Adam Scott, No. 38 Justin Rose, No. 52 Gary Woodland, and No. 61 Tiger Woods.
Alternates were pulled via the OWGR as well.
Pool play features one match per day Wednesday-Friday. The round of 16 and quarterfinals are Saturday and the semifinals and finals on Sunday.
The tournament has moved to various courses in its two decades plus of existence. The current host course since 2016 has been Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. It’s the second Pete Dye design on the PGA Tour schedule in the last three weeks (TPC Sawgrass).
Austin CC measures 7,108 yards for a par 71. It features a good mix of hole lengths with several holes being able to play to a variety of different yardages.
The two nines are pretty distinct from one another. The front is on higher ground with views of the Texas hill country. The back has more of a lowland feel with views of Lake Austin.
It’s a very hilly, sloped course so look for players who play well at Kapalua and Augusta, for example, to perhaps have success this week.
As usual in Texas, the wind is one of the course’s top defenses.
The weather forecast hints at some possible storms early in the tournament before clearing out. Temperatures look to be in the 60s-80s with winds projecting to be steady but nothing too radical.
On the next slide, you can view my predicted order of finish for the group stage followed by picks for the bracket stage. From there, I’ll continue my top 10 power rankings drawing from my eight quarterfinalists and two more I have from those bowing out in the round of 16.
Let’s get to it: