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

By Mike Randleman

Mar 27, 2019; Austin, TX, USA; The pin on on the fifth green during first round of the WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play golf tournament at Austin Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Spillman-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 27, 2019; Austin, TX, USA; The pin on on the fifth green during first round of the WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play golf tournament at Austin Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Spillman-USA TODAY Sports /
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WGC-Dell Match Play, PGA, Austin Country Club, 2022 Dell Technologies Match Play
PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA – MARCH 20: Brian Harman of the United States walks on the first hole during the final round of the Valspar Championship on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club on March 20, 2022 in Palm Harbor, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

It’s not the No. 15 seed St. Peter’s Peacocks advancing to the NCAA men’s basketball Sweet 16, but I don’t think too many prognosticators have Mr. Harman going this far.

I don’t have a ton of indisputable evidence to back it up. Fortunately for me, a lot of crazy things happen in this tournament. More so than college basketball, at least from a seeding perspective.

Harman has been defying the odds all his life. Despite being short in stature, the feisty player was elite as a junior and an All-American in his time at the University of Georgia.

His lack of length has played a part in his lack of dominance as a pro, but the lefty has carved out a lengthy career. He continues to qualify for this event into his mid-30s.

Harman made the round of 16 in 2019 and quarterfinals in 2021. This year is where the trend line continues to go up.

To get there requires several upsets. I see him finishing ahead in group play of top seed No. 15 Abraham Ancer, No. 31 Webb Simpson, and No. 57 Bubba Watson. That’s a good group for Harman. He faces two short hitters as the top two seeds and a good match player, but a currently aging and inconsistent one, in the low seed, Watson.

Ancer failed to advance out of group play in two WGC-Dell Match Play appearances. Simpson hasn’t made the round of 16 in five appearances at Austin Country Club. Watson is a former champion, but it’s not 2018 anymore.

Harman beats Watson in a battle of the former Georgia Bulldogs.

Then, Harman continues his run with the biggest upset of them all, a takedown of No. 2 Collin Morikawa.

Harman can’t match the iron play of Morikawa. Morikawa is having a great putting year, but Harman has more of an established resume with the flat stick and around the greens.

Harman has one more upset left in him with a defeat of No. 7 Xander Schauffele. Schauffele’s another relative youngster who, up until this forecasted scenario, has no experience on the weekend at the WGC-Dell Match Play.

That gets Harman into Sunday, where he finally gets outgunned by world No. 1 Jon Rahm. Undeterred and needing all the world ranking points he can get, Harman will bounce back to defeat a disinterested Viktor Hovland in the third-place match.

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