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WGC Dell Tech Match Play: Round of 16

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AUSTIN – The World Golf Championship Dell Technologies Match Playtees-off this morning for the “Round of 16” where it’s now “One and Done” in true Match Play style. By this afternoon, the tournament will be down to its “Elite Eight’ a.k.a “the quarterfinals. in other words, we’re in for a full day of golf at the Austin Country Club.

The highlight of the morning matches just might be the rematch of the 2021 Championship Match between Billy Horschel and Scottie Scheffler.

Some Fun Facts: Eight of the 16 groups were won by the top seed, tying the most since the group-play format was introduced in 2015. … Three of the four past champions at Austin Country Club in this week’s field advanced to the Round of 16 (Horschel, Dustin Johnson, Kevin Kisner). … Horschelbecame the second defending champion to advance past group play since 2015.

Round of 16 Matches

8:35 a.m. – Scottie Scheffler (5) vs. Billy Horschel (12)

8:46 a.m. – Tyrrell Hatton (13) vs. Seamus Power (42)

8:57 a.m. – Dustin Johnson (8) vs. Richard Bland (54)

9:08 a.m. – Jon Rahm (1) vs. Brooks Koepka (16)

9:19 a.m. – Kevin Kisner (29) vs. Adam Scott (32)

9:30 a.m. – Will Zalatoris (24) vs. Kevin Na (25)

9:41 a.m. – Corey Conners (36) vs. Takumi Kanaya (56)

9:52 a.m. – Collin Morikawa (2) vs. Abraham Ancer (15)

(All times are ET)

After this morning’s “Round of 16,” the Quarterfinals are scheduled for this afternoon. Sunday morning is the Semifinals and Sunday afternoon is the Championship and Consolation (3rd Place) Match.

Heading Towards a “Sweet 16” at WGC

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AUSTIN – The World Golf Championship Dell Technologies Match Play preliminary rounds began Wednesday and conclude today. After today’s rounds at the Austin Country Club, 16 players will move on to compete in the “Round of 16” starting Saturday morning.

Paul Casey (back spasms) played two holes Wednesday and conceded his match to Corey Conners. Casey warmed-up for Thursday’s match and the back issues continued, so he forfeited to Alex Noren. Casey has withdrawn from the tournament.

After today’s final preliminary round, play will continue Saturday morning with the “Round of 16” and then the Quarterfinals are scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning is the Semifinals and Sunday afternoon is the Championship and Consolation (3rd Place) Match.

Main Event: WGC Dell Technologies Match Play

COURSE: Austin Country Club, Austin, Texas

ARCHITECT: Pete Dye

YARDS/PAR: 7,108 yards/Par 71

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $12,000,000/$2,100,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Billy Horschel

PAST RESULTS: (link)

PAST CHAMPIONS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 550

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup @DellMatchPlay

The Basics:

Tournament website: Dell Technologies Match Play Championships

WGC Match Play Tee Times – Dell Tech Match Play Tee Times start today with matches beginning at 10:10am (ET) and go to 2:15pm (ET).

Weather: Today’s forecast in Austin, Texas is for sunny skies and 59-84 degree temperatures as day progresses. There’s a 0% chance of rain. Winds only 4-5 mph. Sunny skies for all weekend.

WGC Dell Technologies Match Play

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AUSTIN – From 64 to 32. That’s the way Match Play at Bracket-ville works. But, it’s NOT one and done like the college basketball game. It’s a series of three matches and best record survives and advances. The World Golf Championship Dell Technologies Match Play preliminary round stage began Thursday and continues today and tomorrow.

The theme of Thursday’s Match Play? A slow stream of UPSETS but when the final tally was complete, higher seeds managed to win at a 20-10-2 clip over their lower-seeded opponents. The top five seeds are undefeated (4-0-1) with the highest-seeded player to lose first match being No. 6 Justin Thomas losing to Luke List, 3 and 2.

Eleven players making their WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play tournament debut combined for a 5-5-1 record. Wins were had by: Lucas Herbert, Maverick McNealy, Seamus Power, Harold Varner III, and Cameron Young.

Kevin Kisner broke a tie with Matt Kuchar for most matches won since the event moved to Austin Country Club in 2016 (17) while defending champion Billy Horschel opened with a 3-and-2 victory over Min Woo Lee.

Paul Casey conceded his match against Corey Conners (thru 2 holes) due to back spasms. It was the first match conceded at the event since Kevin Chappell conceded a match against Ian Poulter in 2018 (third match of group play). Casey still has scheduled matches vs. Alex Noren and Louis Oosthuizen, a tough road back.

After Friday’s final preliminary round, Saturday morning will be the ‘Round of 16” and Saturday afternoon will move-on to the Quarterfinals. Sunday morning is the Semifinals and Sunday afternoon is the Championship and Consolation (3rd Place) Match.

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Meanwhile, the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic teed-off this morning at 6:45am (ET) and tee-times go to 1:09pm (ET).

In the Dominican Republic: Puerto Rico native and local favorite Rafael Campos will be making his fifth start at the Corales Puntacana and second of the season (T-59/Puerto Rico Open). Last season, Campos posted two Top-3 results on Tour in a 29-day span with T-3 at 2021 Puerto Rico Open and T-2 at 2021 Corales Puntacana Championship.

Joel Dahmen earned first Tour title at 2021 Corales Puntacana Championship and seeks to become the event’s first repeat winner. He’s qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs the last four consecutive seasons and enters the week after a T-39 at the Valspar Championship.

WGC Dell Tech Match Play/Corales Puntacana Golf

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AUSTIN – How about some EXTRA golf this weekend with the World Golf Championship Dell Technologies Match Play starting today and the Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic tomorrow?

In Texas, with tee-off in less than an hour from this posting, Kevin Kisnerand Matt Kuchar have each won 16 matches since the tournament moved to Austin Country Club in 2016, tied for the most of any player in that span. Kisner, the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play champion, is the No. 29 seed and is grouped with Justin Thomas, Marc Leishman and Luke List.

Matt Kuchar not in field this week.

Sergio Garcia (28-22-1) has played in 51 matches, the most in tournament history, and is the 43rd seed (Group 2).In the Dominican Republic, This event marks the first of a four-year extension for the Dominican Republic’s only PGA Tour event. The event was played twice in the 2020-21 PGA Tour Season after the 2020 tournament was postponed to September due to COVID-19, marking the first of three events to be contested twice in 2020-21.

All of the past winners at the Corales Puntacana Championship, including both champions when the event was played on the Korn Ferry Tour(Dominic Bozzelli in 2016, and Nate Lashley in 2017 are back at Corales Golf Course in search of a second victory in the event.

Among the highlights of the field this weekend, the 2020 Corales Puntacana Championship winner Hudson Swafford is the only player in the field that has won on the PGA Tour this season (The American Express). He can become the fifth multiple winner of the season with a victory. If Swafford wins (or another player that has won this season wins the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play), it would be the fourth consecutive week on Tour with a champion that had already won this season.

Rookie Davis Riley Leads Valspar Championship

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PALM HARBOR – Davis Riley, a PGA Tour rookie, holds the lead/co-lead after any round for the first time in his PGA career and seeks his first win on Tour in his 25th career start. He shot a career-low, bogey-free 9-under (62) Saturday and his (195 ) total set the 54-hole Valspar Championship record.

After setting the Valspar Championship 36-hole scoring record and tying the 18-hole tournament low score, Matthew NeSmith sits two shots back heading into today’s final round.

There have been six rounds of (64) or better this week, the most through three rounds at the Valspar Championship with the previous best of five at the 2004 event.

Valspar Leaderboard After 54 Holes:

Davis Riley 65-68-62—195 (-18)

Matthew NeSmith 67-61-69—197 (-16)

Justin Thomas 66-66-66—198 (-15)

Sam Burns 64-67-67—198 (-15)

Adam Hadwin 64-66-70—200 (-13)

Full Leaderboard (link)

NeSmith Leads at Valspar

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PALM HARBOR – Seeking his first career PGA Tour title, Matthew NeSmith birdied six of his last nine holes to tie the Valspar Championship’s low 18-hole score of 10-under (61) (Padraig Harrington from R-1 in 2012). NeSmith remains the only player bogey-free through 36 holes.

The 2017 Valspar Championship winner, Adam Hadwin, sits solo-second in bid to become the event’s fourth multiple winner while Sam Burns is in serious contention to join Paul Casey (2018-19) as only players to successfully defend a Valspar Championship title.

Justin Thomas opened with consecutive rounds of 66 or better for the seventh time on Tour but is four back. He has converted for the win on 3-of-6 previous occasions.

In search of his fourth career PGA Tour title and first since the 2017 RBC Canadian Open, 18-hole co-leader Jhonattan Vegas followed a 7-under (64) in R-1 with an even-par (71) and sits T-10 at 7-under (135).

As the second round came to a finish, 72 players at 3-under (139) or better made the cut from a field of 142 professionals and two amateurs.

Valspar Leaderboard After 36 Holes:

Matthew NeSmith 67-61—128 (-14)

Adam Hadwin 64-66—130 (-12)

Sam Burns 64-67—131 (-11)

Scott Stallings 65-66—131 (-11)

Justin Thomas 66-66—132 (-10)

Full Leaderboard (link)

PGA Tour: Four-Way Tie at Valspar

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PALM HARBOR – Four players, including defending champion Sam Burns, share the first-round lead, tying the most in Valspar Championship history (2014). Burns holds the best first-round position by a defending champion in Valspar Championship history and he became the second defending champion to hold the first-round lead/co-lead in a Tour event this season. The other? Kevin Na, Sony Open in Hawaii.

Co-leaders Burns (2021) and Adam Hadwin (2017) seek to become the fourth multiple winners of the event.

Dustin Johnson opened with a 4-under 67 in his 300th PGA Tour start while Lee Hodges became the first player during the Shotlink era to birdie the first five holes of a round at the event.

After battling the weather and sub-par rounds a week ago, 89 players posted under-par scores in the first round, a Valspar Championship record upending the 76 in 2012.

Valspar Leaderboard After 18 Holes:

Jhonattan Vegas 64 (-7)

Sam Burns 64 (-7)

Adam Hadwin 64 (-7)

David Lipsky 64 (-7)

Four players 65 (-6)

Full Leaderboard (link)

Valspar Tees-Off with Sunny Skies

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PALM HARBOR – Happy St. Patrick’s Day as the PGA Tour tees-it-up at the Valspar Championship at Innesbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Florida. After a rain-soaked, thundershower-laced and one-day delayed PLAYERS, the PGA Tour is looking forward to sunny skies today.

Since Sunday, 10 players have withdrawn from the Valspar as of this morning (see list below).

This week’s Valspar Championship returns to its traditional March date and will wrap up the PGA Tour’s four-tournament Florida Swing after previously being contested in May, 2021. The three winners in Florida so far have included a first-time winner (Sepp Straka, The Honda Classic) and two players who entered the week in the Top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking and picked up their second wins of the season (Scottie Scheffler/Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and Cameron Smith/The PLAYERS Championship).

Five of the Top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are scheduled to compete in the Valspar Championship, the most for the tournament since 2015 (5). This is the seventh event this season with at least five of the Top 10 players and second consecutive. No. 2 Collin Morikawa, No. 3 Viktor Hovland, No. 8 Justin Thomas, No. 9 Xander Schauffele, and rounding it out, No. 10 Dustin Johnson.

There have been 11 Holes-in-One at the Valspar.

Among all the players in the field this weekend, only Denny McCarthy and Sam Ryder have made the cut in the three prior Florida Swing events. Meanwhile, Shane Lowry has pocketed the most FedEx Cup points during the three Florida events with 357. Viktor Hovland registered 298 points.

The 2020 FedEx Cup champion Dustin Johnson is making his 300th career start on the Tour this week. In his first 299 starts, Johnson collected 24 wins (8.0%), and 113 Top-10s (37.8%). DJ has won on Tour in each of the last 14 seasons (2008 through 2020-21), which is tied with Tiger Woods for the third-longest streak to start a career.

 

Smith Takes The PLAYERS

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH – Cameron Smith won The 2022 PLAYERS Championship, earning his fifth PGA Tour title and second win of the season as the PLAYERS became the first PGA TOUR event with an unscheduled Monday finish since the 2021 FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Embed from Getty Images

Smith became the third consecutive winner of the event to enter the week in the Top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking and 13th since the inception of the official rankings in 1986.

Smith also became the fifth Australian to win The PLAYERS, joining Steve Elkington (1991, 1997), Greg Norman (1994), Adam Scott (2004) and Jason Day (2016).

Smith moved from No. 10 to No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings, the highest position of his career. He’s led the field in SG: Putting in all three of his individual titles on the Tour (2020 Sony Open in Hawaii, 2022 Sentry Tournament of Champions, and this, the 2022 PLAYERS Championship).

 

PLAYERS | Final Leaderboard

Cameron Smith 69-71-69-66—275 (-13)

Anirban Lahiri 67-73-67-69—276 (-12)

Paul Casey 70-69-69-69—277 (-11)

Kevin Kisner 68-74-68-68—278 (-10)

Keegan Bradley 72-71-68-68—279 (-9)

No Matter Rain, Sleet, Snow or Wind

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PONTE VEDRA BEACH – The 2022 PLAYERS Championship went from rain and thunderstorms to high winds and darkness. Today, more windy conditions are in store for the best PGA Tour players in the world.

Due to dangerous weather on Saturday morning, the second round did not start until 12 Noon (ET) and then due to darkness, the second round was suspended at 6:29pm (ET) with 48 of 71 players in the first wave having completed the second round. But, 45 of 72 players in the second wave began the second round Saturday and none of them completed.

Second-round play resumed at 8:15 am (ET) this morning. Keep in mind, the USA adjusted to Daylight Savings Time overnight which will allow for extended play this evening.

Current second-round scoring average is 75.625 (71.902 in R1). There were 29 total balls hit in the water at No. 17 on Saturday (10 during completion of round one, 19 during round two).

Bubba Watson (68) and Justin Thomas (69) recorded the only bogey-free rounds among those who completed round two and of the 48 players who completed 36 holes, Watson and Thomas (T-15) sit highest on the leaderboard.

Henrik Stenson withdrew following Saturday’s suspension of play

PGA Tour officials are planning to complete play on Monday.

The last Monday finish at THE PLAYERS came in 2005, with Fred Funk as champion.