2022 WGC-Dell Match Play: Top 10 power rankings at Austin CC

Are you ready for more brackets?

After the NCAA basketball tournaments began last week, it’s time for golf’s turn to get in on the bracket action. The bracktion, if you will.

We don’t get the 64-man bracket like we used to with the old format of the WGC-Dell Match Play, but pool play to begin the tournament will whittle it down to a 16-man bracket by the weekend.

The pools are headed by one of the top 16 seeds in the field. From there, each pool will feature a random draw of a player seeded 17-32, 33-48, and 49-64. The draw took place Monday morning. Seeding is based on the Official World Golf Ranking.

One pool play match per day is held Wednesday through Friday with the round of 16 and quarterfinals Saturday and semifinals and finals/third place Sunday.

Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas, has been the venue since 2016. The Pete Dye course measures 7,108 yards for a par 71. It features rolling fairways, firm and undulating Bermuda greens, and plenty of risk/reward shots suitable for match play.

Look for Bermuda specialists and birdie makers to do well this week. Fear of the big number is reduced when players are penalized for one hole, not their entire round.

Eligible players absent from the field this week are OWGR No. 8 Rory McIlroy, No. 10 Sam Burns, and No. 47 Phil Mickelson. No. 13 Bryson DeChambeau is making his first appearance since withdrawing with a wrist injury in Saudi Arabia in early February.

The weather for the week looks fairly benign with no rain projected and temperatures in the 60s-80s. It could get breezy in stretches, but that’s standard fare in Texas.

Given the format of the tournament, I’ve picked my 16 pool winners and will discuss my top 10 picks based on how I then foresee the bracket to play out.

These are not necessarily the 10 best players in the field, as there are players in great form who I see getting an unfortunate draw and missing bracket play altogether.

Here are guys who I see winning their pool but are not quite worthy of a vaunted top-10 spot in my power rankings: Paul Casey, Jordan Spieth, Tom Hoge, Joaquin Niemann, Max Homa, and Shane Lowry.