Dell Match Play

So last week was pretty uneventful. Matt Jones was ultimately victorious at the Honda Classic, but Sunday was pretty boring if you ask me. Matt Jones won by an impressive 5 shots and no other player in the field gave him any type of competition on Sunday. However it was great to see Jones win. He’s been in a seven year winning drought and this win was not only big for his career, but his overall confidence. It’s also huge knowing your job is secure for the next two years. As I stated last week the Bear Trap would separate the boys from the men, and it did just that. Now this week on the PGA Tour is where the real fire power will be coming out. 

This week the PGA Tour heads to Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas for the second World Golf Championship event of the year, The Dell Match Play. I especially like this event because match play is such a fun format to watch. Now for readers that don’t understand match play, match play is a hole by hole format, each hole is separate from one another. Your total score doesn’t matter at the end, the other thing that matters is whoever wins the most holes wins the match. Now for the purpose of the event, the players are placed in groups of four and the player with the most matches won from each group goes to the round of 16 which is the beginning of the elimination rounds. Match play is especially fun because it allows players to play much more aggressive and gives them the chance to play some extremely high risk golf. Austin Country Club also allows the players to play very aggressively due to the course set up itself. There's numerous par 4’s where players can get aggressive and put their tee shots very close to many of the greens. The player who I'm most intrigued to watch this week is Bryson Dechambeau. Bryson is known for his aggressive play style during regular stroke play events so it should be interesting to see how much he changes his game plan to fit the match play format. Personally I expect him to try and completely over power the golf course and take absolutely ridiculous lines out there. However there is always a flip side to that play style and in match play sometimes playing that aggressive could end your match extremely quickly. Another player to keep your eye on this week is Kevin Kisner. This man is a match play machine. His current singles record in match play is 14-5-1. At The Dell Match Play he already had one victory, a runner-up in just 4 total starts for the event. For some reason he’s just sneaky good at match play. He also has a 2-1-2 record in the 2017 Presidents Cup. I'm not saying he will win this year, but he’s a match play genius at the very least. All the things aside, my favorite part of match play is the idea that any player could win, whether you are the 1st or 64 seeded player and anybody in between. Tune in tomorrow for the chance to watch some really fun golf this week. (Mike)

My biggest take this week is that the group play component of this week is stupid. I understand why it is set up the way it is, but I still hate it. The group play allows for more golf which means more coverage which ultimately means more money. However, I think it would be far more entertaining if they seeded the players like the NCAA does with their respective basketball tournaments. I think that format puts more on the line off the start and makes it far more interesting to watch. Sure, we will see an “upset” in the group stages, but they still have two more matches to turn it around. I like the thought of the added pressure of you lose and you are done. This tournament occurs during March Madness which gives even more incentive to follow a similar format. I will still be tuned in this week to watch because match play is a great format to watch, but I would personally much rather watch a tournament format similar to the NCAA tournaments. 

Worth mentioning that it was reported that Brooks Koepka may miss 6-8 months. This not only means he would miss every major this year, but he would also be in serious doubt for the Ryder Cup. The blog has been a notorious Brooks hater, but we both want to see the best in the world competing against one another. We are rooting hard for him to come back in time for the Ryder Cup so he can help win the cup back for us. (Tyler)

Pick’s of the Week:

Mike: Now this week picks are kind of difficult because match play is so up in the air, however i'm going with the match play genius Kevin Kisner. His match play record speaks for itself, plus his record for the tournament itself bodes extremely well for him. I can’t tell you why Kisner is so good at match play, all I know is that he's a solid bet for this week.   

There isn’t your traditional cut this week, but I will say there are a few players that won't last long this week in their matches. Matthew Wolfe won’t do anything special this week he will lose 2 of his matches this week. Rory is going to lose at least 1 of his matches, Rory has just been going through some swing struggles so id expect at least one loss from him. 

Lastly, my sleeper is going to Max Homa. Max is a 32nd seed, I’m really sure why. It’s really strange that the PGA Tour hates him for some reason, but Max is a top 20 seeded player at the very worst. He’s got a chip on his shoulder so expect him to make it through group play unscathed. He will most definitely make it the weekend. (Mike)

Tyler: I am honestly not sure why I even do picks anymore because they have been miserable for plenty of weeks now. Daniel Berger withdrew last week after we had posted the blog so of course my winning pick did not win. My sleeper pick, Will Gordon, finished T-36 and Phil finished T-25 after I predicted him to miss the cut. I feel like I say this every single week but, my pick’s can only get better from here. 

My pick to win this week is Patrick Reed at 25-1 odds. Patrick Reed seems to show up with his best in big match play moments. He seems to have even more swagger when he gets going in match play. He is an easy man to hate, but he sure is fun to watch play golf. 

My sleeper this week is Webb Simpson at 38-1. He does not get himself in a lot of trouble and that gives him a chance to be in any match. If he makes some timely putts this week it is not hard to imagine him winning. I think Webb is being severely undervalued this week. 

My notable to not advance out of group play is Dustin Johnson. He has not been great in match play and even though he is the best golfer in the world right now I think it is very possible he could struggle in the match play format.