WGC Dell Match Play: Brackets, Groups and Matches

WGC-Dell Match Play: Everything you need to know about the brackets, groups and matches 

Austin Country Club will host the WGC Dell Match Play for the fourth time this week as the World’s top 64 players compete for the title won by Bubba Watson last year. 

Tiger Woods returns for the first time since 2013, Dustin Johnson looks to repeat his 2017 feat of winning both the WGC Mexico and Match Play back-to-back, and players like Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth hope to regain some form with just a couple of weeks left to go until the Masters. 

There are 10 first-time players teeing up this week, including Bryson DeChambeau and Keith Mitchell, who claimed the Honda Classic a few weeks ago. 

Below, we break down how the bracket works, who is in which group, and when each match takes place. 

Course: Austin Country Club | Par 71 | 7,108 yards
Fed Ex Cup points: 550
Purse: $10,250,000
Former Champions in the field: Bubba Watson (’18), Dustin Johnson (’17), Jason Day (’16, ’14), Rory McIlroy (’15), Matt Kuchar (’13), Iain Poulter (’10), Tiger Woods (’08,’04’03), Henrik Stenson (’07)

How the bracket works 

Following a round-robin group stage from Wednesday to Friday, the top player from each group will progress to the final 16 players, split in to two sides of the draw (brackets). 

The sudden death stage (last 16) starts on Sunday morning, and the Championship match will finish on Sunday afternoon. 

Bracket 1: Groups 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16
Bracket 2: Groups 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15

Bracket 1: 
Winner of Group 1 vs Winner of Group 16
Winner of Group 8 vs Winner of Group 9
–
Winner of Group 5 vs Winner of Group 12
Winner of Group 4 vs Winner of Group 13

Bracket 2:
Winner of Group 2 vs Winner of Group 15
Winner of Group 7 vs Winner of Group 10
–
Winner of Group 6 vs Winner of Group 11
Winner of Group 3 vs Winner of Group 14

Stats you should know

– Three of the four champions under the new format were top-two overall seeds in the tournament: Rory McIlroy in 2015 (top seed), Jason Day in 2016 (second), and Dustin Johnson in 2017 (top seed). Last year, Bubba Watson was the 35th seed. 

– Tiger Woods will make his first start in this tournament since 2013. Woods is the event’s all-time leader in matches won (33), matches played (43), largest margin of victory (9 and 8 against Stephen Ames in 2006), and most consecutive matches won (13, from 2003 to 2005).

– Dustin Johnson has won more holes (77) than any other player since this tournament moved to Austin Country Club in 2016. Bubba Watson has won the most matches in that span, with 11.

– Expect upsets: There have been 48 groups in the three years this event has been held at Austin CC. In that span, only 37.5 percent of the players to advance have been the highest-ranked players in the group (or from ‘Pool A’), 25 percent have been the second-highest, while 18.8 percent have been either third-highest or lowest.

TV Times – UK

Wednesday & Thursday
Featured Groups: Live WGC, Sky Sports Main Event (14:15), Sky Sports Golf (14:15)
Main coverage: Sky Sports Golf (18:00), Sky Sports Main Event (18:00), Sky Sports Main Event (22:30)

Friday
Featured Groups: Live WGC, Sky Sports Golf (14:15), Sky Sports Main Event (17:00)
Main Coverage: Sky Sports Main Event (18:00), Sky Sports Golf (18:00), Sky Sports Main Event (22:00)

Saturday
Sky Sports Golf (14:00), Sky Sports Main Event (15:15)

Sunday
Sky Sports Golf (15:00), Sky Sports Main Event (19:00)

The Groups

Click here for round 1 and round 2 tee times 

GROUP 1:

1. DUSTIN JOHNSON (14-12) 
24. HIDEKI MATSUYAMA (7-7-1)
40. BRANDEN GRACE (6-8-1)
55. CHEZ REAVIE (1-1-1)

MATCHES

Wednesday: Johnson vs. Reavie; Matsuyama vs. Grace
Thursday: Johnson vs. Grace; Matsuyama vs. Reavie
Friday: Johnson vs. Matsuyama; Grace vs. Reavie

GROUP 2

2. JUSTIN ROSE (10-11-1)
22. GARY WOODLAND (8-6-1)
34. EDDIE PEPPERELL (0-0)
53. EMILIANO GRILLO (1-4-1) 

MATCHES

Wednesday: Rose vs. Grillo; Woodland vs. Pepperell
Thursday: Rose vs. Pepperell; Woodland vs. Grillo
Friday: Rose vs. Woodland; Pepperell vs. Grillo

GROUP 3

3. BROOKS KOEPKA (8-4).
27. ALEX NOREN (11-4-0)
36. HAO TONG LI (0-3-0)
60. TOM LEWIS (0-0) 

MATCHES

Wednesday: Koepka vs. Lewis; Noren vs. Li
Thursday: Koepka vs. Li; Noren vs. Lewis
Friday: Koepka vs. Noren; Li vs. Lewis

GROUP 4

4. RORY MCILROY (24-11-2)
32. MATTHEW FITZPATRICK (4-5-0)
47. JUSTIN HARDING (0-0) 
64. LUKE LIST (0-3-0) 

MATCHES

Wednesday: McIlroy vs. List; Fitzpatrick vs. Harding
Thursday: McIlroy vs. Harding; Fitzpatrick vs. List
Friday: McIlroy vs Fitzpatrick; Harding vs. List

GROUP 5

5. JUSTIN THOMAS ( 6-7-0) 
31. KEEGAN BRADLEY (1-7-2)
33. MATT WALLACE (0-0) 
50. LUCAS BJERREGAARD (0-0)

MATCHES

Wednesday: Thomas vs. Bjerregaard; Bradley vs. Wallace
Thursday: Thomas vs. Wallace; Bradley vs. Bjerregaard
Friday: Thomas vs. Bradley; Wallace vs. Bjerregaard

GROUP 6

6. BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU (0-0) 
17. MARC LEISHMAN (5-8-2)
39. KIRADECH APHIBARNRAT (6-3-0) 
59. RUSSELL KNOX (2-3-1) 

MATCHES

Wednesday: DeChambeau vs. Knox; Leishman vs. Aphibarnrat
Thursday: DeChambeau vs. Aphibarnrat; Leishman vs. Knox
Friday: DeChambeau vs. Leishman; Alphibarnrat vs. Knox

Group 7

7. FRANCESCO MOLINARI (4-11-0)
21. WEBB SIMPSON (8-8-1)
45. THORBJORN OLESEN (2-4-0) 
63. SATOSHI KODAIRA (0-3-0)

MATCHES

Wednesday: Molinari vs. Kodaira; Simpson vs. Olesen
Thursday: Molinari vs. Olesen; Simpson vs. Kodaira
Friday: Molinari vs. Simpson; Olesen vs. Kodaira

Group 8

8. JON RAHM (6-3-1)
23. MATT KUCHAR (24-9-3)
43. J.B. HOLMES (6-7-2)
54. SI WOO KIM (3-2-2)

MATCHES

 Wednesday: Rahm vs. Kim; Kuchar vs. Holmes
Thursday: Rahm vs. Holmes; Kuchar vs. Kim
Friday: Rahm vs. Kuchar; Holmes vs. Kim

Group 9

9. XANDER SCHAUFFELE (2-1-0)
29. RAFA CABRERA BELLO (9-6-1)
35. TYRRELL HATTON (4-3-0)
62. LEE WESTWOOD (17-19) 

MATCHES

Wednesday: Schauffele vs. Westwood; Cabrera Bello vs. Hatton
Thursday: Schauffele vs. Hatton; Cabrera Bello vs. Westwood
Friday: Schauffele vs. Cabrera Bello; Hatton vs. Westwood

Group 10

10. PAUL CASEY (25-14-1)
25. CAMERON SMITH (3-1-1)
42. CHARLES HOWELL III (10-11-0) 
58. ABRAHAM ANCER (0-0)

MATCHES

Wednesday: Casey vs. Ancer; Smith vs. Howell
Thursday: Casey vs. Howell; Smith vs. Ancer
Friday: Casey vs. Smith; Howell vs. Ancer

Group 11

11. TOMMY FLEETWOOD (6-5-0) 
19. LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN (19-10-0)
41. KYLE STANLEY (4-3-0) 
49. BYEONG-HUN AN (1-4-2)

MATCHES

Wednesday: Fleetwood vs. An; Oosthuizen vs. Stanley
Thursday: Fleetwood vs. Stanley; Oosthuizen vs. An
Friday: Fleetwood vs. Oosthuizen; Stanley vs. An

Group 12

12. JASON DAY (22-11-0) 
20. PHIL MICKELSON (24-14-0)
37. HENRIK STENSON (14-9)
52. JIM FURYK (19-18-1)

MATCHES

Wednesday: Day vs. Furyk; Mickelson vs. Stenson
Thursday: Day vs. Stenson; Mickelson vs. Furyk
Friday: Day vs. Mickelson; Stenson vs. Furyk

Group 13

13. TIGER WOODS (33-10) 
18. PATRICK CANTLAY (2-1-0)
44. BRANDT SNEDEKER (7-8-1) 
61. AARON WISE (0-0) 

MATCHES

Wednesday: Woods vs. Wise; Cantlay vs. Snedeker
Thursday: Woods vs. Snedeker; Cantlay vs. Wise
Friday: Woods vs. Cantlay; Snedeker vs. Wise

Group 14

14. TONY FINAU (2-1-0)
30. IAN POULTER (27-15-0)
48. KEVIN KISNER (8-4-1)
56. KEITH MITCHELL (0-0) 

MATCHES

Wednesday: Finau vs. Mitchell; Poulter vs. Kisner
Thursday: Finau vs. Kisner; Poulter vs. Mitchell
Friday: Finau vs. Poulter; Kisner vs. Mitchell

Group 15

15. BUBBA WATSON (20-8-3)
28. JORDAN SPIETH (11-5-1)
38. BILLY HORSCHEL (4-4)
57. KEVIN NA (5-8-2)

MATCHES

Wednesday: Watson vs. Na; Spieth vs. Horschel
Thursday: Watson vs. Horschel; Spieth vs. Na
Friday: Watson vs. Spieth; Horschel vs. Na

Group 16

16. PATRICK REED (9-6-1)
26. SERGIO GARCIA (22-18-1)
46. SHANE LOWRY (3-7-2)
51. ANDREW PUTNAM (0-0) 

MATCHES

Wednesday: Reed vs. Putnam; Garcia vs. Lowry
Thursday: Reed vs. Lowry; Garcia vs. Putnam
Friday: Reed vs. Garcia; Lowry vs. Putnam