The PGA TOUR finished up a four-week stay in the Sunshine State last week at The Honda Classic. After starting the week with a course-record tying 61 on Thursday in Round 1, Matt Jones was able to survive PGA National to claim his second career PGA TOUR victory. He didn’t lead after every round, but still cruised to the finish with a comfortable margin of victory of five strokes.
From start to finish. @MattJonesGolf shoots 61-70-69-68 to pick up his second TOUR win @TheHondaClassic and first in seven years. pic.twitter.com/ejnze1gDBh
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 21, 2021
This week, the PGA TOUR has two events on the schedule with the top 64 golfers heading to Austin Country Club for this year’s World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. The PGA TOUR’s version of March Madness includes 64 players divided into 16 groups. Each group consists of one player seeded No. 1 through No. 16, one player seeded No. 17 through No. 32, one player seeded No. 33 through No. 48 and one player seeded No. 49 through No. 64. Each player plays one round against the other three players in their group on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. A sudden-death playoff is used to break any ties, and the top player from each group moves on to the knockout phase. The knockout phase includes the Round of 16 and quarterfinals on Saturday, followed by the semifinals and finals along with a consolation match played on Sunday.
The Bracket Challenge is available at pgatour.com/mybracket, and you can create leagues to compete against your friends, family and co-workers. Get your picks in before play starts Wednesday for your chance to win a VIP Tournament Experience to the 2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play! The VIP Experience includes (2) VIP tickets, (2) Hotel nights, Pin Flag signed by the 2021 tournament champion and a $100 merchandise gift to spend on-site at the PGA TOUR Fan Shop.
For DFS purposes, the scoring is a little different than typical stroke-play events due to the Match Play format. Each hole won will be worth 3.0 DKFP, holes halved will be worth 0.75 DKFP and holes not played worth 1.6 DKFP. Holes lost will cost a player -0.75 DKFP. Each player gets 5.0 DKFP for matches won and 2.0 DKFP for matches halved. There are also bonuses available of 5.0 DKFP for three straight holes won and 7.5 DKFP for no holes lost in a match.
The field is made up of the top 64 players from the Official World Golf Rankings 10 days prior to the event, and only five players who qualified have opted to not participate. Tiger Woods, Gary Woodland, Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose and Adam Scott are the qualified players taking a pass this week, and they’ll be replaced by Ian Poulter ($6,700; +10000), Erik van Rooyen ($6,400; +15000), Adam Long ($6,000; +20000), J.T. Poston ($6,300; +15000) and Dylan Frittelli ($6,500; +15000). Since this event didn’t happen last year due to COVID-19, this will be the first WGC-Match Play event for 22 players, including Collin Morikawa ($10,400; +1800), Sungjae Im ($8,800; +3300), Viktor Hovland ($9,400; +2500) and Will Zalatoris ($7,900; +5000). There are also 17 different countries represented in the field.
The course at Austin Country Club is a par-71 that stretches over 7,108 yards. It breaks down into several different sections, starting with holes in the “lowlands” along Lake Austin, which is part of the Colorado River. Hole No. 8 turns things away from the water and begins a series of holes with dramatic elevation changes, including Deer Creek Canyon which is part of holes No. 11 through 13. The signature bridge views are included in many sightlines throughout the course, and another unique feature of the track is the massive limestone slabs quarried on-site that were used to build revetments through the course.
This will be the fifth time the Pete Dye design has hosted this event, with Jason Day ($8,400; +5000), Dustin Johnson ($11,500; +1200), Bubba Watson ($7,400; +10000) and Kevin Kisner ($7,600; +6600) claiming the four wins since the relocation. After the event was canceled last year, Kisner will be the defending champion after epitomizing “Cinderella” and getting the win despite entering the tournament as the No. 48 overall seed. Kisner beat No. 23 overall seed Matt Kuchar ($6,700; +12500) 3 and 2 while No. 7 overall Francesco Molinari beat No. 50 seed Lucas Bjerregaard in the consolation match. As you can tell from those seeds in the final four, there are usually plenty of wild finishes and upsets a-plenty each year.
The betting co-favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook are Bryson DeChambeau ($10,900; +1200) and Justin Thomas ($11,200; +1200) with Jon Rahm ($10,700; +1400), Rory McIlroy ($10,200; +1800), DJ and Morikawa just behind them.
In addition to the PGA TOUR’s Bracket Challenge, DraftKings is offering a number of ways you can get in on the golf action, starting with the PGA TOUR $600K Resurgence [$200K to 1st]. Flex your golf knowledge and create a six-man lineup for the opportunity to turn $10 into $200,000 for a first-place finish while a total of $600K will be awarded in prizes. You can also bet on the tournament at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Scroll down for a full stream of picks and previews!
— Analysis by Zach Thompson
2021 WGC-Match Play Playlist
2021 WGC-Match Play Details
- Host Course: Austin Country Club
- Location: Austin, Texas
- Par: 71
- Yardage: 7,082
- Greens: Bermuda
- Broadcast: Golf Channel, NBC
DraftKings Sportsbook Notable Odds To Win
Group 1
- Dustin Johnson (+1600)
- Kevin Na (+10000)
- Robert MacIntyre (+15000)
- Adam Long (+20000)
Group 2
- Justin Thomas (+1200)
- Louis Oosthuizen (+4000)
- Kevin Kisner (+6600)
- Matt Kuchar (+12500)
Group 3
- Jon Rahm (+1400)
- Ryan Palmer (+6600)
- Shane Lowry (+10000)
- Sebastian Munoz (+15000)
Group 4
- Collin Morikawa (+1800)
- Max Homa (+8000)
- Billy Horschel (+8000)
- J.T. Poston (+15000)
Group 5
- Bryson DeChambeau (+1200)
- Tommy Fleetwood (+5000)
- Si Woo Kim (+8000)
- Antoine Rozner (+15000)
Group 6
- Xander Schauffele (+2500)
- Scottie Scheffler (+4000)
- Jason Day (+5000)
- Andy Sullivan (+25000)
Group 7
- Patrick Reed (+2500)
- Joaquin Niemann (+4000)
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout (+6600)
- Bubba Watson (+10000)
Group 8
- Tyrrell Hatton (+3300)
- Sergio Garcia (+4000)
- Lee Westwood (+5500)
- Matt Wallace (+10000)
Group 9
- Paul Casey (+2500)
- Webb Simpson (+3300)
- Talor Gooch (+10000)
- Mackenzie Hughes (+15000)
Group 10
- Patrick Cantlay (+2000)
- Hideki Matsuyama (+4500)
- Brian Harman (+8000)
- Carlos Ortiz (+10000)
Group 11
- Rory McIlroy (+1800)
- Cameron Smith (+3300)
- Lanto Griffin (+10000)
- Ian Poulter (+10000)
Group 12
- Tony Finau (+2500)
- Jason Kokrak (+6600)
- Will Zalatoris (+5000)
- Dylan Frittelli (+15000)
Group 13
- Viktor Hovland (+2500)
- Abraham Ancer (+5000)
- Kevin Streelman (+12500)
- Bernd Wiesberger (+20000)
Group 14
- Daniel Berger (+3300)
- Harris English (+8000)
- Brendon Todd (+10000)
- Erik van Rooyen (+15000)
Group 15
- Jordan Spieth (+2500)
- Matt Fitzpatrick (+3300)
- Corey Conners (+5000)
- Matthew Wolff (+10000)
Group 16
- Sungjae Im (+3300)
- Russell Henley (+6600)
- Marc Leishman (+10000)
- Victor Perez (+12500)
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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