The second World Golf Championship event of the season begins on Wednesday in Austin, Texas, where a world class field will assemble for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Dustin Johnson took home the Walter Hagen Cup last year, beating Jon Rahm 1UP in the final, and became the tenth American winner of this event since it began in 1999.
Austin Country Club, hosting the tournament for the third season running, has a par of 71 and measures 7,073 yards. The drivable 317-yard par four 13th is one of a few iconic holes on the Pete Dye-designed track, with the impressive Pennybacker Bridge providing a stunning backdrop on the 12th hole. The par four eighth and 14th holes will provide stern tests, with neither hole scoring better than eight per cent for birdies or better over the last two seasons.
After crunching all the numbers, our stats guru has selected three players worth considering for your Fantasy Team this week…
Favourite: Rory McIlroy
Nobody will arrive in Texas this week feeling quite as confident as the 2015 champion. After winning his 23rd worldwide title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday, McIlroy has momentum on his side as he goes in search of a second WGC-Dell Match Play title. The Northern Irishman has won 71 per cent of his 33 matches in this event, second only to Matt Kuchar (72 per cent) of those players who have played at least 20 matches. McIlroy beat Hideki Matsuyama, Paul Casey and Jim Furyk on his way to victory in 2015, beating Gary Woodland 4&2 in the final. There’s no reason the match play vibes shouldn’t return again this week.
His Ryder Cup Singles record is also strong, with two victories in his four previous appearances. After winning in Florida at the weekend, there won’t be a player in the field who's relishing the task of beating the four-time Major winner. The fact that big-hitters like Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, Jason Day and McIlroy himself have played well here in the past will also give him belief he can win back-to-back for the first time on tour since 2014.
Form horse: Alex Noren
When you think of Alex Noren, you’d be right to immediately recall his superb BMW PGA Championship win last season or his six-stroke triumph at the 2016 Nedbank Golf Challenge. However, his match play record is increasingly gaining him a reputation as somewhat of a specialist in the format. The Stockholm-native finished runner-up in the 2016 Paul Lawrie Match Play and has won five of his eight matches in this event; victories over Brooks Koepka, Bernd Wiesberger, Francesco Molinari and Thongchai Jaidee guided him to the quarter-finals in Austin last year.
Noren has recent match play experience after helping Thomas Bjørn’s European team to victory in the EurAsia Cup. The Swede won his Singles match to take his non-WGC match play record to seven victories out of nine matches. Renowned as one of the most consistent players on tour, Noren could use that trait to edge out a few tight contests this week and improve on last year's fifth placed finish.
Wildcard: Kiradech Aphibarnrat
With a match play win under his belt already this season, Kiradech Aphibarnrat could be set to sneak under the radar this week. The Thai won the ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth, coming out on top in the Sunday match play for his first victory since 2015, which was also in the head-to-head format at the Paul Lawrie Match Play. His superb record in this format should make him a serious dark horse and he’ll tee it up on Wednesday on the back of an impressive top five at the WGC-Mexico Championship.
Aphibarnrat’s victory in Australia was hard-earned; he played 35 holes and five rounds of match play on Sunday in Perth. That perseverance should serve him well in Austin, on a course he hasn’t played since 2016. However, his performance two years ago was impressive, beating Jimmy Walker and Robert Streb, but losing out on a place in the knockout round to Dustin Johnson. If you’re looking for an outside bet this week, the man known as ‘Arm’ could be the one to watch.
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