If you like playing golf matchups, then this is the week for you, as the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event takes place from Wednesday through Sunday. A total of 64 players compete in round-robin play from Wednesday through Friday in group play with the winners of the 16 groups advancing to the weekend. Almost all of the top players in the world are in the field including World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, No. 2 Rory McIlroy, No. 3 Jason Day and No. 4 Hideki Matsuyama. Let’s look at the first round matchups for Wednesday, some golfers to consider for the rest of the week and picks.
First Round Matchups – Wednesday, March 22
Branden Grace -130 vs. Andy Sullivan
Brandt Snedeker -160 vs. William McGirt
Rory McIlroy -285 vs. Soren Kjeldsen
Emiliano Grillo -110 vs. Gary Woodland
Paul Casey -165 vs. Joost Luiten
Charl Schwartzel -130 vs. Byeong Hun An
Jordan Spieth -275 vs. Hideto Tanihara
Ryan Moore -180 vs. Yuta Ikeda
Bubba Watson -125 vs. Jhonattan Vegas
Thomas Pieters -135 vs. Scott Piercy
Hideki Matsuyama -179 vs. Jim Furyk
Louis Oosthuizen -150 vs. Ross Fisher
Patrick Reed -130 vs. Jason Dufner
Kevin Kisner -135 vs. Brooks Koepka
Alexander Noren -140 vs. Thongchai Jaidee
Francesco Molinari -120 vs. Bernd Wiesberger
Matt Kuchar -140 vs. Brendan Steele
Tommy Fleetwood -120 vs. Zach Johnson
Dustin Johnson -240 vs. Webb Simpson
Martin Kaymer -126 vs. Jimmy Walker
Danny Willett -145 vs. KT Kim
Bill Haas -121 vs. Russell Knox
Justin Thomas -165 vs. Chris Wood
Matthew Fitzpatrick -125 vs. Kevin Na
Phil Mickelson -220 vs. Si Woo Kim
Daniel Berger -110 vs. JB Holmes
Jason Day -170 vs. Pat Perez
Marc Leishman -130 vs. Lee Westwood
Tyrrell Hatton -165 vs. Charles Howell III
Rafael Cabrera Bello -175 vs. Jeung-Hun Wang
Sergio Garcia -185 vs. Shane Lowry
Jon Rahm -200 vs. Kevin Chapell
First Round Matchup Picks
The price is high on Rory but he should have little difficulty getting past Kjeldsen in the first round. I also like Casey in his match against Luiten and the price at -165 is fair. I think the price on Moore is way too low, as he should dominate Ikeda. If you want to take a shot a nice underdog then I would go with Lowry against Garcia. Lowry has played well in these events in the past and he can beat Sergio in this matchup.
More Matchup Plays
It is always tough to predict who makes the weekend in a match play event, but I like the winner of Group 5 which I expect to be either Spieth or Moore. Spieth knows this course very well and he was 3-0 in group play last year. Whoever it is; Spieth or Moore, I like them on the weekend in their matches.
I also like McIlory, as he is 22-8-1 overall in this event. He is probably going to be favored in all of his matches but I see no reason to go against him.
I think you have to take a look at Jon Rahm in his matchups all week. He has played well this year and his group is not that tough. A couple of other golfers who figure to be listed at plus money in their matchups that are worth a look are Matthew Fitzpatrick and Rafa Cabrera Bello. Fitzpatrick won twice last year on the European Tour and Cabrera Bello finished third in his event last year and he went 2-0-1 in the Ryder Cup last year.
Many people will go with Dustin Johnson, as he is ranked No. 1 in the world and Johnson could win, but I am concerned that his overall record is just 7-9 in this event.
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