While March Madness brackets are dominating the sports world, the PGA Tour puts its spin on brackets with the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event. It is the first World Golf Championship event to be held this season (the WGC-HSBC Champions event in October 2020 in China was cancelled). With the majority of the world’s best players in Austin, Texas, who tops the WGC Dell Match Play odds?
This event was first played in 1999, but it has been played at Austin Country Club since 2016 (of course, it was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19). Austin CC is a par-71 that tips out at 7,108 yards, (wait for power rankings)
To keep with the bracket theme, 64 players will be grouped into 16 pools of four, according to the Official World Golf Rankings. All four players play each other, with a point for a win, a half-point for a tie (a halve in golf parlance), and nothing for a loss. At the end of that round-robin, the top player from each pool goes to the “Sweet 16”, where they play single-elimination against their opponents. The final and third-place matches will be played on Sunday afternoon, with the “Final Four” taking place Sunday morning.
Speaking of, you can watch the action on The Golf Channel from Wednesday to Friday from 2-8 PM ET, and the same channel on Saturday and Sunday from 10-2 PM ET. On the weekend, NBC picks up the action from 2-6 PM ET on Saturday, and 3-7 PM ET on Sunday.
All golf betting odds courtesy of the Bovada sports betting book.
WGC Dell Match Play Odds – Favorites
Jon Rahm (+1200)
Rahm is still the #1 player in the world, but he has been struggling by his standards. He also got bad luck for the weather-dominated Players Championship, finishing T55. Rahm’s debut at Austin CC was in 2017, and he lost to Dustin Johnson in the final. He lost to Scottie Scheffler in last year’s quarterfinal. This year, Rahm is in a group with Patrick Reed, Cameron Young and Sebastian Munoz.
Justin Thomas (+1200)
Thomas stumbled down the stretch to finish T3 at the Valspar Championship. He is in a tough group with 2019 champion Kevin Kisner, Marc Leishman and Luke List. His best finish in the match play is fourth in 2018. He failed to get out of the group stage last year. However, Thomas is having a fantastic year so far with five top-20s, including four top top-10s.
Scottie Scheffler (+1800)
Scheffler is one of the hottest players on the planet with two wins in his last four starts. The American has been grouped with a trio of Englishmen in Matthew Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Ian Poulter. His 2021 debut ended with a loss to Billy Horschel in the final, but Scheffler has emerged as a force on the PGA Tour.
Others: Collin Morikawa (+1200), Viktor Hovland (+1400)
WGC Dell Match Play Odds – Contenders
Dustin Johnson (+2000)
The 2017 champion hasn’t made it out of the group stage since that win, and he is grouped with Max Homa, Matthew Wolff and Mackenzie Hughes. He’s coming off a T39 at the Valspar Championship, but Johnson seems to be rounding into form at the right time, just in time to move up the Masters odds for next month.
Jordan Spieth (+2800)
Spieth tops a veteran group with Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Keegan Bradley. He has made it to the round of 16 twice at Austin CC, which is about 30 minutes away from the University of Texas, where Spieth went to school. He’s also a Texas native that would love to pick up a win here.
Daniel Berger (+2800)
Berger has been on a heater since last year’s Tour Championship, where he finished T8. He has three top-10s in six starts since, and just missed out with a T13 at the Players Championship. Berger, who is paired with Tyrrell Hatton, Si-Woo Kim and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, has never made it out of the group stage. However, this is set to be the year.
Others: Patrick Cantlay (+2000), Xander Schauffele (+2200), Brooks Koepka (+2500), Bryson DeChambeau (+2800)
WGC Dell Match Play Odds – Longshots
Patrick Reed (+3000)
Reed made it to the round of 16 in 2016 and 2018, and he’s probably a better match-play option for the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup. But you have to factor in Reed, who missed three cuts in a row before finishing T26 at the Players Championship, He can be an exceptional putter and that could come in handy, being in Rahm’s group.
Billy Horschel (+3500)
Last year’s champion had never reached the knockout stage until last year. Horschel also needed to beat Homa in a playoff just to do that. But then Horschel rolled to the title and he was playing well this season before having to withdraw from the Players Championship due to a non-COVID-19 illness. If he’s healthy, Horschel will be a threat to come out of a group with Thomas Pieter, Tom Hoge and Min Woo Lee.
Shane Lowry (+4000)
Lowry hasn’t been out of the group stage since his 2013 debut. He might not be better positioned to do it than this year. Since back-to-back missed cuts at the end of last year, Lowry has finished in the top 14 in six of his last seven starts. The other result was a T24. The gritty Irishman gets into your sports betting options because of his current form. This is even in a group with Brooks Koepka, Harold Varner III and Erik van Rooyen.
