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

I’m normally quite high on Collin Morikawa, but for the sake of not picking straight chalk, I’ve selected him as one of my early exits.

With that said, I do see him having the upper hand in Group 2. He finished last in his group in 2021, which can’t come close to happening twice, right?

Getting those first WGC-Dell Match Play reps can be so crucial. Playing well in the Ryder Cup last fall doesn’t hurt the resume, either.

If No. 22 seed Jason Kokrak can hit it straight, he’ll have the distance advantage to put pressure on Morikawa. But he hasn’t done that a lot lately, going without a top-15 since winning the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open last fall.

Next is No. 43 Sergio Garcia. The 42-year-old is the best bet to make life difficult for the 25-year-old Morikawa. Garcia is an Austin resident and has won his group each of the last three events. However, he’s never been able to make a deep run at Austin Country Club and is running out of time to try to pick up his first WGC-Dell Match Play title.

I don’t see it happening here. Garcia is without a top-10 in his last six starts.

Lastly, Morikawa must down No. 61 Robert MacIntyre. This is a tough group as MacIntyre was another to advance to the round of 16 last year. The Scot has four top-15s in his last six starts (five on DP World Tour, one PGA Tour). However, it’s not like he went 3-0-0 last year. He squeaked by with a 1-0-2 record and was dispatched in the quarterfinals.

Morikawa last won late in 2021 at the DP World Tour Championship and has three top-fives on the PGA Tour in the interim. He’ll shake off a couple unsatisfactory starts in his last two events to get to the round of 16.

There, I have him succumbing to crafty veteran, No. 45 Brian Harman. Harman has made the quarterfinals in two appearances at Austin Country Club and will benefit from not having the top seed in the group be a bomber.