2018 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

The 2018 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play was the 20th WGC Match Play, played March 21–25 at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. It was the second of four World Golf Championships in 2018.

2018 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

Tournament information
Dates	March 21–25, 2018
Location	Austin, Texas, U.S. 30.343°N 97.797°W / 30.343; -97.797
Course(s)	Austin Country Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour Japan Golf Tour
Format	Match play – 18 holes
Statistics
Par	71
Length	7,108 yards (6,500 m)
Field	64 players
Prize fund	$10,000,000 €8,168,600
Winner's share	$1,700,000 €1,388,662
Champion
Bubba Watson
def. Kevin Kisner 7 & 6
Location map
Austin Location in the United States Show map of the United States Austin Location in Texas Show map of Texas
← 2017 2019 →

Field

The field consisted of the top 64 players available from the Official World Golf Ranking on March 11.^[1] However, the seedings were based on the World Rankings on March 18.

Justin Rose (ranked 5th on March 12, personal reasons),^[2] Rickie Fowler (7th, personal reasons), Brooks Koepka (8th, wrist injury),^[3] Henrik Stenson (15th, personal reasons),^[4] Adam Scott (56th, personal reasons), and Joost Luiten (67th, wrist injury) did not compete, allowing entry for Kevin Na (ranked 65th), Charles Howell III (66th), Keegan Bradley (68th), Luke List (69th), and Julian Suri (70th).

Format

In 2014 and earlier editions, the championship was a single elimination match play event. A new format was introduced in 2015, and the championship now starts with pool play, with 16 groups of four players playing round-robin matches, on Wednesday through Friday. The top 16 seeded players are allocated to the 16 groups, one in each group. The remaining 48 players are placed into three pools (seeds 17–32, seeds 33–48, seeds 49–64). Each group has one player randomly selected from each pool to complete the group.^[5]

All group play matches are limited to 18 holes with one point awarded for a win and one-half point for a halved match. Only one player advances to the weekend from each of the 16 groupings. After all 3 rounds are played, if 2 or more players are tied for first place in their group, then they play a sudden-death stroke play playoff, beginning on hole 1 and moving beyond if necessary.^[5]

The winners of each group advance to a single-elimination bracket on the weekend, with the round of 16 and quarterfinals on Saturday, and the semi-finals, finals, and consolation match on Sunday.^[5]

Pool A – Top 16 seeds Seed Rank Player 1 1 Dustin Johnson 2 2 Justin Thomas 3 3 Jon Rahm 4 4 Jordan Spieth 5 6 Hideki Matsuyama 6 7 Rory McIlroy 7 10 Sergio García 8 11 Jason Day 9 12 Tommy Fleetwood 10 13 Paul Casey 11 15 Marc Leishman 12 16 Tyrrell Hatton 13 17 Alex Norén 14 18 Phil Mickelson 15 19 Pat Perez 16 20 Matt Kuchar

Pool B Seed Rank Player 17 21 Rafa Cabrera-Bello 18 22 Brian Harman 19 23 Patrick Reed 20 24 Xander Schauffele 21 25 Francesco Molinari 22 26 Charley Hoffman 23 27 Branden Grace 24 28 Gary Woodland 25 29 Louis Oosthuizen 26 30 Daniel Berger 27 31 Ross Fisher 28 32 Kiradech Aphibarnrat 29 33 Tony Finau 30 34 Patrick Cantlay 31 35 Matt Fitzpatrick 32 36 Kevin Kisner

Pool C Seed Rank Player 33 37 Kevin Chappell 34 38 Li Haotong 35 39 Bubba Watson 36 40 Brendan Steele 37 41 Webb Simpson 38 42 Adam Hadwin 39 43 Thomas Pieters 40 44 Satoshi Kodaira 41 45 Dylan Frittelli 42 45 Jason Dufner 43 47 Chez Reavie 44 48 Jhonattan Vegas 45 49 Kyle Stanley 46 50 Cameron Smith 47 51 Yuta Ikeda 48 52 Patton Kizzire

Pool D Seed Rank Player 49 53 Charl Schwartzel 50 54 Kim Si-woo 51 55 Russell Henley 52 56 Bernd Wiesberger 53 57 Yūsaku Miyazato 54 58 Zach Johnson 55 60 Alexander Lévy 56 62 James Hahn 57 63 Peter Uihlein 58 64 Ian Poulter 59 65 Charles Howell III 60 67 Luke List 61 68 Kevin Na 62 69 Shubhankar Sharma 63 70 Keegan Bradley 64 72 Julian Suri

Rank – Official World Golf Ranking on March 19, 2018.

Results

Pool play

Players were divided into 16 groups of four players and played round-robin matches Wednesday to Friday.

• Round 1 – March 21
• Round 2 – March 22
• Round 3 – March 23

Group 1 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Wiesberger 3 & 1 D. Johnson Kisner vs Hadwin – halved 2 Hadwin 4 & 3 D. Johnson Kisner 5 & 4 Wiesberger 3 Kisner 4 & 3 D. Johnson Hadwin vs Wiesberger – halved Seed Player W L H Points Finish 32 Kevin Kisner 2 0 1 2.5 1 38 Adam Hadwin 1 0 2 2 2 52 Bernd Wiesberger 1 1 1 1.5 3 1 Dustin Johnson 0 3 0 0 4

Group 2 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Thomas 2 up List Molinari 3 & 1 Kizzire 2 Thomas 3 & 1 Kizzire Molinari 3 & 2 List 3 Thomas 7 & 5 Molinari Kizzire 4 & 2 List Seed Player W L H Points Finish 2 Justin Thomas 3 0 0 3 1 21 Francesco Molinari 2 1 0 2 2 48 Patton Kizzire 1 2 0 1 3 60 Luke List 0 3 0 0 4

Group 3 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Rahm vs Bradley – halved Aphibarnrat 3 & 2 Reavie 2 Reavie 1 up Rahm Aphibarnrat 1 up Bradley 3 Aphibarnrat 4 & 3 Rahm Reavie vs Bradley – halved Seed Player W L H Points Finish 28 Kiradech Aphibarnrat 3 0 0 3 1 43 Chez Reavie 1 1 1 1.5 2 63 Keegan Bradley 0 1 2 1 3 3 Jon Rahm 0 2 1 0.5 4

Group 4 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Spieth 2 & 1 Schwartzel Reed 3 & 2 Li 2 Spieth 4 & 2 Li Reed 2 up Schwartzel 3 Reed 2 & 1 Spieth Schwartzel 3 & 2 Li Seed Player W L H Points Finish 19 Patrick Reed 3 0 0 3 1 4 Jordan Spieth 2 1 0 2 2 49 Charl Schwartzel 1 2 0 1 3 34 Li Haotong 0 3 0 0 4

Group 5 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Matsuyama 2 & 1 Miyazato Smith 2 up Cantlay 2 Smith 1 up Matsuyama Cantlay 1 up Miyazato 3 Cantlay 4 & 3 Matsuyama Smith vs Miyazato – halved Seed Player W L H Points Finish 46 Cameron Smith 2 0 1 2.5 1 30 Patrick Cantlay 2 1 0 2 2 5 Hideki Matsuyama 1 2 0 1 3 53 Yūsaku Miyazato 0 2 1 0.5 4

Group 6 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Uihlein 2 & 1 McIlroy Harman vs Vegas – halved 2 McIlroy 2 & 1 Vegas Harman 3 & 2 Uihlein 3 Harman 5 & 3 McIlroy Uihlein 4 & 3 Vegas Seed Player W L H Points Finish 18 Brian Harman 2 0 1 2.5 1 57 Peter Uihlein 2 1 0 2 2 6 Rory McIlroy 1 2 0 1 3 44 Jhonattan Vegas 0 2 1 0.5 4

Group 7 Round Winner Score Loser 1 García 1 up Sharma Schauffele 1 up Frittelli 2 García 2 up Frittelli Schauffele 2 & 1 Sharma 3 García 3 & 1 Schauffele Frittelli 1 up Sharma Seed Player W L H Points Finish 7 Sergio García 3 0 0 3 1 20 Xander Schauffele 2 1 0 2 2 41 Dylan Frittelli 1 2 0 1 3 62 Shubhankar Sharma 0 3 0 0 4

Group 8 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Day 4 & 2 Hahn Oosthuizen 1 up Dufner 2 Dufner 3 & 1 Day Hahn 3 & 1 Oosthuizen 3 Oosthuizen 2 up Day Dufner 3 & 2 Hahn Seed Player W L H Points Finish 25 Louis Oosthuizen 2 1 0 2 1 42 Jason Dufner 2 1 0 2 2 8 Jason Day 1 2 0 1 T3 56 James Hahn 1 2 0 1 T3 Oosthuizen advanced in sudden-death playoff over Dufner – 1 hole

Group 9 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Poulter 3 & 2 Fleetwood Chappell 3 & 2 Berger 2 Fleetwood 7 & 6 Chappell Poulter 2 & 1 Berger 3 Fleetwood 2 & 1 Berger Poulter con Chappell Seed Player W L H Points Finish 58 Ian Poulter 3 0 0 3 1 9 Tommy Fleetwood 2 1 0 2 2 33 Kevin Chappell 1 2 0 1 3 26 Daniel Berger 0 3 0 0 4 Chappell conceded his match with Poulter after 9 holes (Poulter 3 up) and withdrew from the tournament.

Group 10 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Casey 1 up Henley Stanley 1 up Fitzpatrick 2 Casey 3 & 2 Stanley Henley 2 & 1 Fitzpatrick 3 Fitzpatrick 3 & 2 Casey Stanley 1 up Henley Seed Player W L H Points Finish 45 Kyle Stanley 2 1 0 2 1 10 Paul Casey 2 1 0 2 2 51 Russell Henley 1 2 0 1 T3 31 Matt Fitzpatrick 1 2 0 1 T3 Stanley advanced in a sudden-death playoff vs Casey winning with birdie on the 2nd hole.

Group 11 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Suri 3 & 2 Leishman Watson 5 & 3 Grace 2 Watson 3 & 2 Leishman Grace 2 & 1 Suri 3 Leishman vs Grace – halved Watson vs Suri – halved Seed Player W L H Points Finish 35 Bubba Watson 2 0 1 2.5 1 23 Branden Grace 1 1 1 1.5 T2 64 Julian Suri 1 1 1 1.5 T2 11 Marc Leishman 0 2 1 0.5 4

Group 12 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Hatton 3 & 2 Lévy Steele 1 up Hoffman 2 Hatton 3 & 2 Steele Lévy 1 up Hoffman 3 Hoffman 3 & 2 Hatton Steele 3 & 1 Lévy Seed Player W L H Points Finish 12 Tyrrell Hatton 2 1 0 2 1 36 Brendan Steele 2 1 0 2 2 55 Alexander Lévy 1 2 0 1 T3 22 Charley Hoffman 1 2 0 1 T3 Hatton advanced in sudden-death playoff over Steele – 1 hole

Group 13 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Norén 4 & 2 Na Finau 2 & 1 Pieters 2 Norén 5 & 4 Pieters Finau 3 & 2 Na 3 Norén 1 up Finau Pieters vs Na – halved Seed Player W L H Points Finish 13 Alex Norén 3 0 0 3 1 29 Tony Finau 2 1 0 2 2 39 Thomas Pieters 0 2 1 0.5 T3 61 Kevin Na 0 2 1 0.5 T3

Group 14 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Howell III 3 & 2 Mickelson Cabrera-Bello 2 & 1 Kodaira 2 Mickelson 1 up Kodaira Howell III 3 & 1 Cabrera-Bello 3 Mickelson 1 up Cabrera-Bello Howell III 2 & 1 Kodaira Seed Player W L H Points Finish 59 Charles Howell III 3 0 0 3 1 14 Phil Mickelson 2 1 0 2 2 17 Rafa Cabrera-Bello 1 2 0 1 3 40 Satoshi Kodaira 0 3 0 0 4

Group 15 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Perez vs Kim – halved Woodland vs Simpson – halved 2 Simpson 2 & 1 Perez Kim 5 & 3 Woodland 3 Woodland 1 up Perez Kim 2 up Simpson Seed Player W L H Points Finish 50 Kim Si-woo 2 0 1 2.5 1 24 Gary Woodland 1 1 1 1.5 T2 37 Webb Simpson 1 1 1 1.5 T2 15 Pat Perez 0 2 1 0.5 4

Group 16 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Kuchar vs Z. Johnson – halved Ikeda 2 & 1 Fisher 2 Kuchar 1 up Ikeda Fisher 2 up Z. Johnson 3 Kuchar 6 & 4 Fisher Ikeda vs Z. Johnson – halved Seed Player W L H Points Finish 16 Matt Kuchar 2 0 1 2.5 1 47 Yuta Ikeda 1 1 1 1.5 2 27 Ross Fisher 1 2 0 1 T3 54 Zach Johnson 0 1 2 1 T3

Final 16 bracket

First round March 24 – morning

Quarter-finals March 24 – afternoon

Semi-finals March 25 – morning

Final March 25 – afternoon

32

Kevin Kisner

1 up

16

Matt Kuchar

32

Kevin Kisner

8&6

58

Ian Poulter

25

Louis Oosthuizen

58

Ian Poulter

2&1

32

Kevin Kisner

19 h

13

Alex Norén

19

Patrick Reed

13

Alex Norén

5&3

13

Alex Norén

4&2

46

Cameron Smith

46

Cameron Smith

2&1

12

Tyrrell Hatton

32

Kevin Kisner

35

Bubba Watson

7&6

2

Justin Thomas

6&5

50

Kim Si-woo

2

Justin Thomas

2&1

45

Kyle Stanley

7

Sergio García

45

Kyle Stanley

3&1

2

Justin Thomas

35

Bubba Watson

3&2

28

Kiradech Aphibarnrat

1 up

Third place

59

Charles Howell III

28

Kiradech Aphibarnrat

13

Alex Norén

5&3

35

Bubba Watson

5&3

2

Justin Thomas

18

Brian Harman

35

Bubba Watson

2&1

Prize money breakdown

Place	Description	US ($)
1	Champion	1,700,000
2	Runner-up	1,072,000
3	Third place	695,000
4	Fourth place	559,000
T5	Losing quarter-finalists x 4	306,000
T9	Losing round of 16 x 8	163,000
T17	Those with 2 points in pool play x 12	97,917
T29	Those with 1.5 points in pool play x 7	77,429
T36	Those with 1 point in pool play x 16	65,500
T52	Those with 0.5 points in pool play x 7	54,214
T59	Those with 0 points in pool play x 6	50,250
	Total	10,000,000

• Source:^[6]