If the WGC-Dell Match Play were medal play: Day 2
By Bill Felber
If the WGC-Dell Match Play were contested at medal play: Seven interesting notes from Thursday’s day two.
1. WGC-Dell Match Play: Pity Thomas Pieters
He lost 1-up to Min Woo Lee in their Group 12 match, dropping his group record to 1-1. Pieters now trails Billy Horschel, who has won his first two matches, and must defeat Horschel Friday just to reach a playoff with him.
That’s despite the fact that Pieters followed what amounted to first-round 65, with a Thursday 69, a performance that would be seven strokes better than Horschel’s 68-73-141 if this were a medal play competition. If that were so, Pieters would stand tied for third place rather than have his back against the wall.
Horschel caught Min Woo Lee Wednesday on a day when Lee shot 74. Against Pieters Thursday, Lee effectively turned in a 68. The other member of Group 12, Tom Hoge, shot 67 against Pieters but 78 against Horschel.
2. Save some pity for Scottie Scheffler
The 69 he effectively shot Thursday, following on a Wednesday 66, would – if this were medal play, leave him at 135. That would equal the field’s fifth-best score, just three off a pace that would be co-set by Maverick McNealy and world No. 1 Jon Rahm.
But this is match play, not medal play, so Scheffler, who lost his Thursday Group 5 match to Tommy Fleetwood, trails Matthew Fitzpatrick, who won for a second time. Like Pieters in Group 12, Scheffler must beat Fitzpatrick Friday just to earn a playoff for the group win.
If this were match play, Fitzpatrick would probably be at 140, five shots behind Scheffler and one behind Fleetwood.
Related Story. If the WGC-Dell Match Play were medal play, look out for Maverick McNealy. light
3. The group to be in at the WGC-Dell Match Play
Adam Scott has played indifferently this week. By medal play scoring, he would be at 72-69-141 and part of a five-player tie for 36th place.
In the match play group format, though, Scott leads Group 11 at 1-0-1 and has the best chance to advance to weekend play. He heads up the most lackluster group – in terms of performance, if not name recognition — of the 16. By medal play standards, fellow group members Justin Rose would be at 142, Jordan Spieth would be at 143, and Keegan Bradley would be at 144.
That puts the group average at 142.5, one-half stroke above par at Austin Country Club.
4. WGC-Dell Match Play: The group to avoid
That would be Group 16, consisting of Brooks Koepka, Harold Varner III, Shane Lowry, and Erik Van Rooyen…or at least three parts of it.
Through two rounds, Koepka is undefeated, giving him the inside track to advance. He deserves it, having effectively posted rounds of 68-67-135. But Lowry, who can create a playoff scenario by beating Koepka Friday, and Varner have been almost as good.
If this were medal play, Varner and Lowry would both be at 136 and hot on Koepka’s heels. The average medal play score of those three Group 16 members? It’s 135.3.
Van Rooyen? He has been the group punching bag, losing 3 & 2 to Koepka Wednesday and 2-up to Lowry on Thursday.
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5. Sepp Straka’s lament
Despite what amounted to a second-round 65 Thursday in a 4 & 2 victory over Will Zalatoris, Sepp Straka needs help Friday. Thanks to a 1-up loss to Viktor Hovland Wednesday, he is 1-1 and trails Hovland’s 2-0 in Group 3. Now Hovland must lose Friday to Zalatoris to open a path to the weekend for Straka.
On the course, Straka and Hovland have effectively matched each other, both with performances that would add up to 136 if this were medal play.
6. The tie that shouldn’t be.
Collin Morikawa and Sergio Garcia enter the final round of group play Friday tied for the lead in Group 2, both at 1-0-1. Garcia needs to sue for an adjustment to the rules.
After he and Morikawa both won Wednesday, they tied one another Thursday. Garcia will meet Robert MacIntyre Friday, Morikawa plays Jason Kokrak.
Here’s the thing: On a medal play basis, Garcia’s 67-70-137 would be four strokes better than Morikawa’s 71-70. They are tied because Morikawa happened to catch MacIntyre on a very bad (74) day Wednesday.
Next. 2022 WGC-Dell Match Play: Top 10 power rankings at Austin CC. dark
7. Who ought to be leading the WGC-Dell Match Play?
Here’s how the top 10 would line up through two rounds if this tournament were contested at medal play. (A note on Alex Noren: He picked up a forfeit win over an injured Paul Casey Thursday. In order to estimate what Noren would have shot, we’ve assigned him a field-average score for Thursday, which was 69*.)
Player Score
1 Maverick McNealy 63-69-132
1 Jon Rahm 67-65-132
3 Abraham Ancer 65-69-134
3 Thomas Pieters 65-69-134
5 Brooks Koepka 68-67-135
5 Scottie Scheffler 66-69-135
5 Alex Noren 66-69*-135
8 Sepp Straka 71-65-136
8 Viktor Hovland 69-67-136
8 Shane Lowry 70-66-136
8 Harold Varner 66-70-136
8 Corey Conners 67-69-136
8 Tyrrell Hatton 69-67-136
8 Si Woo Kim 68-68-136
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A note to underscore the substantial differences between match play and medal play: Of the 14 names listed in the top 10 above, only six – McNealy, Rahm, Ancer, Koepka, Hovland and Hatton — enter play Friday leading their groups. Conners and Noren are tied for the lead in their group. Pieters, Scheffler, Straka, Lowry, Varner and Kim trail at least one player in their groups