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If the WGC-Dell Match Play were medal play, look out for Maverick McNealy

By Bill Felber

AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 23: Maverick McNealy of the United States looks on on the third hole during the first day of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 23, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 23: Maverick McNealy of the United States looks on on the third hole during the first day of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club on March 23, 2022 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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Do you suppose Maverick McNealy wishes the WGC-Dell Match Play was being contested at medal play?

McNealy amassed five birdies in the only 12 holes he played Wednesday, polishing off Joaquin Niemann 8 & 6. But in the unique WGC-Dell Match Play format, all that got him was a tie with Kevin Na for first place in Group 14.

Had this been a normal medal play first round, Maverick McNealy projected to wind up around 63, probably furnishing him with a two-shot lead.

Obviously, projecting what would have happened if the Match Play had been medal play is a bit like asking what would happen if my aunt was my uncle. Although rarely contested among the game’s top pros, match play is believed to be the older of the two major forms of golf, and remains the predominant form of amateur competition.

It’s also understood that match play and medal play are not only different formats but they often also produce naturally different results.

Nonetheless, it’s at least fun to project how the leaderboard might look after one round if this was any other week on the PGA Tour.

 The top 10 as they figured to have finished Wednesday at the WGC-Dell Match Play

  • 1 Maverick McNealy 63
  • 2 Abraham Ancer 65
  • 2 Thomas Pieters 65
  • 2 Jon Rahm 65
  • 5 Lucas Herbert 66
  • 5 Alex Noren 66
  • 5 Seamus Power 66
  • 5 Scottie Scheffler 66
  • 5 Harold Varner 66
  • 10 Seven tied with 67

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In medal play terms, all of those numbers are speculative. Not every match covers the full 18 holes, not every putt is holed out, and some holes are conceded. So it’s necessary to project what a player would have done based both on what he did that day and also based on what Tour pros usually do.

Acknowledging that the WGC-Dell Match Play is not unfair, it’s still worth noting that Maverick McNealy’s projected 63 merely ties him for the lead in his four-player group with Na, who projected to finish five strokes worse. It also puts him on an equal footing with Webb Simpson, who won his Group 15 match with Brian Harman despite projecting a 73, which was the day’s 10th worst round. Harman had the day’s eighth-worst.

Abraham Ancer might also have a grudge. Ancer’s round projected out to a 65 – just two strokes worse than McNealy – by the time he defeated Bubba Watson in 17 holes. Despite the projected eight-stroke difference in their Wednesday play, Ancer is officially dead even with Simpson for the lead in Group 15.

Simpson, Adam Scott, and Talor Gooch were the big benefactors from the match play format. All three won their first matches despite projecting to finish with rounds of 72 or worse on the par 71 Austin Country Club layout.

The opposite side of that coin hurt the chances of Tom Hoge, Louis Oosthuizen, and Bubba Watson.

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Hoge was on pace for a 67 when his Group 12 match with Thomas Pieters ended on the 17th green, Pieters a 2 & 1 victor. Pieters was on pace for a 65.

Oosthuizen lost his Group 10 match to Alex Noren on the 18th green despite projecting to shoot 67. Noren was one stroke better.

Watson was on pace to shoot 68 when his Group 15 match with Ancer, he of the 65, ended after 17 holes.

That, of course, is the quirkiness of the WGC-Dell Match Play. There’ll probably be more of it on Thursday.

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