March Madness is generating all the buzz in the sporting world right now, but the PGA Tour will counter with a thrilling tournament of its own this week in the 2016 WGC-Dell Match Play.
This year’s tournament will follow 2014’s installment of round-robin action before the knockout stage, leaving even the world’s best golfers in an outright-peculiar spot of actually winning the entire event. Throw in the fact that the Austin Country Club is hosting its first-ever PGA Tour event that’s also held on a different calendar date compared to last year, and we have ourselves one highly-unpredictable spectacle on our hands indeed.
Nevertheless, we’ve still managed to cover a handful of favorites and dark horses for you to consider below for this week’s tournament on the Pete Dye-designed course. And if you’re looking for even more sound betting advice, head on over to our sleeper and expert picks features right after this.
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2016 WGC-Dell Match Play Preview
Favorites
Jason Day
It was only a matter of time before Jason Day won his first start of 2016, and it could not have come at a better time than this past week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Apart from his stellar form of late, the Queensland native also has great history from match play tournaments of recent past. Having won the WGC tournament in 2014 along with a third-place finish in 2013 certainly puts Day atop our list of favorites this week.
Rickie Fowler
If its consistency and not momentum that you look for in a golfer, you can’t go wrong with Rickie Fowler. With six top-8 finishes in his last seven starts, including a win at Abu Dhabi and a second-place finish at the Phoenix Open, the 27-year-old phenom is as reliable a pick as they come.
Fowler’s stats this season speak volumes of his success; he’s currently third in scoring average and fourth in greens-in-regulation percentage. The former Rookie of the Year also posted back-to-back top 10s in the last two WGC Match Play events with a third-place finish in 2014, making him more than just another solid candidate at walking away from Austin with a title in hand.
Sleepers
Rory McIlroy
How can we not mention last year’s defending champ at this week’s tournament? Rory McIlroy’s one golfer you’d want to bank on in these WGC Match Play affairs as he has three top-20 finishes over the past four outings at this event, not to mention his second-place finish from 2012.
Although the Irishman is fresh off a subpar T27 finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he still finished tied for third at the WGC-Cadillac Championship a couple of weeks prior and has three top-20 finishes over his last five starts. McIlroy is still seeking his first win since May of 2015, so you can count on him to tap into his competitive edge in knockout events to end his relatively lengthy title drought.
Jordan Spieth
Where’s the magnificent Jordan Spieth that we’ve come to know from 2015? The Texas native has three-straight top-25 finishes to date, but he also failed to crack the top 10 in all four of his most recent starts.
Considering that week’s tournament will be played in Spieth’s very own college town, expect the 22-year-old sensation to regain his mojo to the delight of the Austin crowd. In addition, Spieth will be defending his Masters crown in a couple of weeks’ time, meaning that he’ll definitely strive to enter Augusta in prime shape and avoid another let down at all costs this week.
Long Shot
Patton Kizzire
Thanks to Henrik Stenson’s decision to sit this week’s tournament out due to a conflict in schedule, 30-year-old Patton Kizzire gets a rare opportunity to shine on a grand PGA Tour stage instead. Little did we know that the Auburn product is actually 39th overall in this season’s FedExCup rankings, which makes him quite a trendy pick for an unlikely upset.
However, there’s a lot more going against Kizzire’s favor than for him. He’ll be making his debut not just in the WGC Match Play tournament, but in a World Golf Championships event in general. And in spite of a solid T8 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open at the end of January, Kizzire has failed to breach the top 30 in each of his four starts since then.
Writer’s Prediction
Rickie Fowler finally wins his first title in the 2016 season of the PGA Tour.
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