As usual at the WGC-Dell Match Play, the first round of Wednesday’s finals was rife with silly moments, great matches and (in contrast to last year) plenty of success for the players. Best racquet in the world. The funniest moment of the day involved a formal rule reconfiguration of the playing field (we’ll look at that in detail below), and Austin Country Club proved itself to be a great venue once again. for this event style.
The players were forced to make difficult decisions and had to launch long shots to end the game. Let’s take a look at the results from Wednesday and what they mean for the rest of the week as the first WGC event of 2022 kicks off at Austin Country Club and we advance to the Round of 16 on Saturday morning.
Results
Group 1: Jon Rahm 4 and 2 against Sebastian Munoz
Group 1: Cameron Young 1 surpasses Patrick Reed
Group 2: Collin Morikawa 2 and 1 before Robert MacIntyre
Group 2: Sergio Garcia 4v3 vs Jason Kokrak
Group 3: Viktor Hovland beat Sepp Straka 1 match
Group 3: Zalatoris 5 and 4 will beat Cameron Tringale
Group 4: Patrick Cantlay draw with Keith Mitchell
Group 4: Seamus Power 5 and 4 beat Sungjae Im
Group 5: Scottie Schefler 2 and 1 against Ian Poulter
Group 5: Matt Fitzpatrick is 1 ahead of Tommy Fleetwood
Group 6: List of Luke 3 and 2 on Justin Thomas
Group 6: Kevin Kisner 4 and 3 ahead of Marc Leishman
Group 7: Xander Schauffele 3 and 2 beat Takumi Kanaya
Group 7: Lucas Herbert 4 and 3 before Tony Finau
Group 8: Dustin Johnson 3 and 2 ahead of Mackenzie Hughes
Group 8: Max Homa 3 and 1 before Matthew Wolff
Group 9: Bryson DeChambeau vs Richard Bland
Group 9: Talor Gooch 3 and 2 beat Lee Westwood
Group 10: Alex Noren is 1 ahead of Louis Oosthuizen
Group 10: Corey Conners def. Paul Casey (conceded)
Group 11: Jordan Spieth goes 2 ahead of Keegan Bradley
Group 11: Adam Scott: 2 points more than Justin Rose
Group 12: Billy Horschel 3 and 2 on Min Woo Lee
Group 12: Thomas Pieters 2 and 1 before Tom Hoge
Group 13: Tyrrell Hatton: 3 and 2 before Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Group 13: Si Woo Kim takes the lead against Daniel Berger 2
Group 14: Maverick McNealy 8 and 6 over Joaquin Niemann
Group 14: Kevin Na is 1 point ahead of Russell Henley
Group 15: Abraham Ancer 3 and 1 before Bubba Watson
Group 15: Webb Simpson overtakes Brian Harman
Group 16: Brooks Koepka 3 and 2 ahead of Erik van Rooyen
Group 16: Harold Varner 2 and 1 Shane Lowry
Two lessons
1. Golfers who play a good game stay warm: There are three names on this list. Last year’s finalists, Scottie Scheffler and Billy Horschel, both played hard on Wednesday and started 1-0 at their respective pools. Horschel was champion last year and is a threat in this format, and Scheffler has now beaten Jon Rahm and Ian Poulter each twice in his last six individual fights (including last year’s event). and Ryder Cup 2020 last September, where he knocked out Rahm). The other golfer who shined was Alex Noren, who lifted his Austin Country Club match record to 13-3-0 (!!) with a reverse 1 win over Louis Oosthuizen.
2. Shining stars: After last year’s event when only one big name (Rahm) made it to the Round of 16, the top players in the world performed better this time. Of the tournament’s top 16 seeds, only Justin Thomas, Joaquin Niemann and Oosthuizen lost. The Cinderellas were fun until they composed the entire Round of 16. This road where the Brooks Koepka vs. Rahm and Collin Morikawa vs. Abraham Ancer is much more interesting to look at.
Scenes of the day
I don’t know if that’s technically the stroke of the day, but Dustin Johnson made a 420 yard drive, which is 40 yards off the spacious long driveway at the 16th hole that gave me chills. spines.
Golf channel
Quote of the day
Maverick McNealy entered the event at the 11th hour and was completely glued to Niemann 8 and 6. He was pretty explosive after his match, and then he revealed where his name came from, which is absolutely not. related to whatever he’s achieved on Wednesday but I still find it quite interesting.
“[My brothers and I are] All are named after American cars,” he said. Ford Maverick, Dodge Dakota, I think Dodge Colt and International Scout. ”
Pillow fight of the day
The Bryson DeChambeau-Richard Bland match leaves a lot to be desired. They combined to make nine bogeys, losing almost two strokes combined and the whole match ended in a draw. Still, it was an impressive return to the PGA Tour for DeChambeau. He took his first hit on a University of Texas information tent, took his second hit, and made a triptych from 100 feet in search of a bogey. On the second hole, he took his approach shot, and the return to the content throne is officially complete.
Match of the day
It should be Oosthuizen and Noren. Oosthuizen ranks sixth in the field in terms of strokes gained, made seven and lost. Noren is an absolute monster in this format, and he returned Wednesday when he performed four birds, an eagle, and just a condor. Scheffler-Poulter deserves a mention here because of the way it ended. Scheffler made his last three holes on a 17-foot putt, a 19-foot putt and a 9-foot putt to knock the Englishman out.
Failure of the day
That should be the Luke List rather than Thomas. Not only is JT the 6th seed, but he’s also played one of the best golf courses in the world over the past few months. However, he shot more than 1 shot and made only one birdie (on the first hole of the day).
Rick Gehman and Kyle Porter react to Wednesday’s action at Austin Country Club. The boys also look forward to round 2 on Thursday at the WGC Match Play. Follow and listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Like a normal sport
On the drivable par-4 13 hole at Austin Country Club, Thomas Pieters took a hit toward the blue coastal water that lingered on top of a fountain. Normally this means he gets relief, but since the penalty area is painted right next to the sprinkler, and the ball technically hits the red line, he’s not entitled to the relief, which makes he is not satisfied. This in itself was silly enough, but later in the day the same thing happened to DeChambeau, and he to be get relief. Right after he held the fountain head, a PGA Tour official went out and sprayed paint on the line. Moving on the sideline mid-match is definitely something that only happens in this absurd sport!
Best Tweets
That sequence of events also led to this awesome tweet from former Detroit Lions QB Dan Orlovsky, who accidentally ran to the back of the final area on severl during a game against the Minnesota Vikings.
