Dell Technologies Match Play Preview

Story posted March 22, 2023 in CommRadio, Sports by Amanda Vogt

The world of golf will experience its own taste of the madness this week with the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play.

Played at Austin Country Club in Texas, 64 players are organized into 16 groups of four that will face off in matches starting Wednesday with the winner determined Sunday.

First, the golfers will have to play through the players in their group; whoever finishes those three matches with the most points, will advance to the round of 16 for single-elimination matches.

In terms of those group-stage points, one is awarded for a win and half a point for tied matches.

The event’s field is full of talent including 42 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings. 

Scottie Scheffler, who won this event in 2022, holds the number one seed this time around.

Head-to-head matches like these are always very interesting and there could be several upsets.

Players must be firing darts pretty much the entire day because it is not like a typical event where there are 54 additional holes to come back.

As anticipation toward the Masters only continues to increase, an event like this one can give players huge confidence boosts, especially if they beat out their better competitors.

There is a lot of golf to be played before a winner is ever crowned in this event which is why it is also important to have a short-term memory; one bad round better not translate into a second considering only one group member reaches the round of 16.

Rory McIlroy, who sometimes struggles with compounding mistakes could struggle if he gets down early; however, when he is locked in, everyone better watch out because he won’t mess around.

The Irishman won back in 2015, and after a disappointing effort at the Players, this would be the time for him to bounce back — or at least show signs of improvement with Augusta around the corner.

Spectators and viewers from home should pay special attention to Jon Rahm this week considering the past few weeks he had on tour.

At the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Rahm scored low in round one, but in the remaining three, he struggled significantly. The following week at the Players Championship, the Spaniard withdrew due to illness prior to his round two start time.

Placed in the two-seed based on his Official World Golf Ranking, Rahm will have a lot to prove to rewrite his wrongs of the past two weeks.

Unfortunately, this will be the last year that the WGC Dell Match Play event is included in the schedule. A few weeks prior PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced it will be replaced by a different event that will be hosted in Houston.

So, for all you golf fans out there, go enjoy the madness one last time this March.

Amanda Vogt is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email her at aev5215@psu.edu