World Matchplay & Punta Cana Championship
Overview
Dates: March 23, 2022 to March 27, 2022
Location: Texas, USA
Course: Austin Country Club
Course Par: 71
Course Length: 7108 yards
Prize Purse: $3700000
The WGC Match Play, currently titled as the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for sponsorship reasons, is a professional men’s golf tournament that has been held since 1999. It is the only one of the World Golf Championships to have been contested using the match play format. Since 2016, it has been held at the Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas, United States.
Previous names include WGC-Dell Match Play (2015), WGC-Cadillac Match Play (2014), WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship (2001–2013), and WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship (1999–2000). Before moving to Austin it had been hosted in Arizona eight times, California eight times, and Australia once. It is sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours and the prize money is official money on the PGA Tour, the European Tour and the Japan Golf Tour. Tiger Woods has the record number of wins with three. The winner receives a Wedgwood trophy named the Walter Hagen Cup
Results
No getting away from it, a disappointing week all round with nothing to show for our efforts. We had chances, with Cameron Young throwing away a decent opportunity to at least take Rahm to a playoff in their group, Gooch frustratingly losing out to Richard Bland, and Xander managing to lose to Lucas Herbert having been 2 up with 6 to play and the group at his mercy. Annoyingly I was torn between Xander and eventual winner Scheffler for a pick from the top of the market and went with the former on value grounds.
On balance I’m inclined to view the Matchplay as a novelty event – as we said in the preview a healthy dose of good fortune is needed, so we’ll tread warily with it in the future.
It was a similar story over in the Dominican, with our three selections all performing creditably but failing to make the places. Zero return is disappointing but it will happen from time to time, and at least we kept stakes to a low level. On we move to the Texas Open and an opportunity to recover some ground.
Preview
A break from the norm this week with the only matchplay event on the PGA Tour. It’s undoubtedly a tricky one to evaluate, with no Shotlink (strokes gained) data available from past events and no real pattern to the winners we’ve seen over the years. The roll call of winners includes some that you might well have expected (DJ, Rory) and others towards the other end of the rankings (the last three winners have all been outside the top 32 seeds).
With that in mind, how do we devise a strategy to approach the event? It’s hard to think that those towards the front of the market offer a great deal of value, particularly from an each way perspective. For anyone in the 10/1 to 16/1 price bracket, we are being asked to take between 2 and 4/1 that they win their group (which basically requires at least two points from three in the group stage), and then win two more matches just to cash the each way part (or one more if you can find a firm offering top 8 each way terms).
Just looking at the 2021 event, Xander, Cantlay, DJ, Rory, JT, Bryson, Hideki, Morikawa all found themselves going home after the group stage. And few would have predicted a semi-final lineup featuring Perez, Horschel, Scheffler and Kuchar. That’s just the nature of matchplay. There will likely be at least three or four lesser fancied players reaching the quarter finals or beyond and I’m inclined to throw most of our darts at bigger-priced players who stand a good chance of getting through their group to see if we can find one of them.
Either way we’ll need a healthy dollop of good fortune. One bad round from three, or just running into a guy who gets hot, during the group stage can be all it takes to miss out on the latter stages of the event. So for me it’s a week to keep stakes small and hope we can get at least one of our selections into the weekend shootout.
Outrights
| Player | Points | Type | UK Odds | Places | Outright US Odds |
| Xander Schauffele | 2.5 | EW | 22/1 | 8 | |
| Talor Gooch | 1.5 | EW | 40/1 | 8 | |
| Cameron Young | 1.5 | EW | 100/1 | 8 | |
| Keith Mitchell | 1.5 | EW | 66/1 | 8 |
Whilst we’ll be looking primarily towards the lower end of the market for value this week, the one seeded player I have to back is Xander Schauffele (2.5pts ew, 22/1, 8 places). Three main reasons for this selection: First, he’s due a win. Overdue a win in fact. And his performance last week (when one of very few players to contend without having putted well) shows he’s not far off. Second, his group looks extremely winnable, certainly in comparison to others ahead of him in the market. And third, he’s just a very, very solid player who is unlikely to throw in the poor day that can so easily see you heading home early in this event.
Talor Gooch (1.5pts ew, 40/1, 8 places) also has a nice-looking group, with the seeded player being Bryson, who is likely to be vulnerable on his return from injury. With the greatest of respect to Richard Bland and Lee Westwood, they all look like winnable games for Gooch, who continues to regularly impress. His friendly draw hasn’t gone unnoticed by the market, but 40/1 with 8 places seems more than fair.
You couldn’t exactly say that Cameron Young (1.5pts ew, 100/1, 8 places) has lucked out with his draw, being in the same group as world number 1 Jon Rahm, but if Rahm’s woes with the putter continue to any extent, he’ll be going home on Friday. If that happens I feel that Young’s form makes him the most likely beneficiary and 100/1 would look pretty tasty if he makes it past the group stage.
And the final pick goes to Keith Mitchell (1.5pts ew, 66/1, 8 places), who make no mistake is in a tricky group with Cantlay, SungJae Im and Seamus Power, but there are enough doubts about the others and enough in his recent form to make me believe he is capable of getting through the group stage and giving us a run into the latter stages of the event.
Match Ups
None this week.
Other Recommendations
| Player | Bet Type | Points | UK Odds | Outright US Odds |
| Sahith Theegala | ew, 6 places | 3 | 25/1 | |
| Kramer Kickok | ew, 5 places | 2 | 45/1 | |
| Michael Gligic | ew, 7 places | 1.5 | 150/1 |
Our preview this week is focused on the Matchplay as the main televised event. However there is a secondary PGA Tour event in Punta Cana where those whose ranking didn’t qualify them for the Matchplay have a great opportunity to capitalise on a weaker field and secure a precious PGA Tour win. Given that the format of the Matchplay means there’s always a chance it could be a blowout for us, we’re also recommending a couple of value selections in this event.
No getting away from it, a disappointing week all round with nothing to show for our efforts. We had chances, with Cameron Young throwing away a decent opportunity to at least take Rahm to a playoff in their group, Gooch frustratingly losing out to Richard Bland, and Xander managing to lose to Lucas Herbert having been 2 up with 6 to play and the group at his mercy. Annoyingly I was torn between Xander and eventual winner Scheffler for a pick from the top of the market and went with the former on value grounds.
On balance I’m inclined to view the Matchplay as a novelty event – as we said in the preview a healthy dose of good fortune is needed, so we’ll tread warily with it in the future.
It was a similar story over in the Dominican, with our three selections all performing creditably but failing to make the places. Zero return is disappointing but it will happen from time to time, and at least we kept stakes to a low level. On we move to the Texas Open and an opportunity to recover some ground.