Bracket-busting is a way of life for NCAA basketball fans but today we take on the near-impossible task of evaluating each of the 16 “Groups” that have been assembled at Austin Country Club for this 2021 version of the WGC Match Play.
So without waiting on J.B. Holmes to make a club selection, let’s get right to it:
Group 1: Dustin Johnson, Kevin Na, Robert MacIntyre, Adam Long: Form says D.J. should easily emerge from this group. Na can be quite pesky at times but his form has been off lately. If you watch the European Tour, you know that the young Scot — MacIntyre — is a solid rising star (and he’s a lefty). Adam Long? Well, that would be like a 16th seed making it to the Elite Eight on the hardcourts.
Group 2: Justin Thomas, Louie Oosthuizen, Kevin Kisner, Matt Kuchar: This is a really tough group compared to D.J.’s cupcakes. You have both the finalists and the winner from two years ago (Kisner, Kuchar) and the very dangerous Louie Oosthuizen in there. This is a tough task for J.T. He’ll have to be on his game to make the Sweet Sixteen. Wouldn’t be a surprise to see an upset in this group.
Group 3: Jon Rahm, Ryan Palmer, Shane Lowry, Sebastian Munoz: Rahm’s got good competition in this group. Texan Ryan Palmer is a threat to win this group. Not sure Lowry is playing well enough to get enough points to emerge. As for Sea Bass? Can’t see him beating those guys.
Group 4: Collin Morikawa, Billy Horschel, Max Homa, J.T. Poston: Collin is a first-timer in this event and both Horschel and Homa are big threats. J.T. Poston is simply lucky to be in the field. Wouldn’t be a shock to see either Horschel or Homa emerge here.
Group 5: Bryson DeChambeau, Tommy Fleetwood, Si Woo Kim, Antoine Rozner: One would think Bryson should easily handle these guys. Fleetwood’s putting is hit-and-miss at best, can’t see Kim winning the group and like Poston, Rozner is lucky to be there. If Bryson can’t win this group, well, no excuses Bryson.
Group 6: Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Jason Day, Andy Sullivan: Xander hasn’t been very impressive lately. Gotta like UT alum Scheffler to win this group, he’ll have a lot of fan support. Day has been playing better now that he’s feeling physically well and Sullivan is in over his head with this bunch.
Group 7: Patrick Reed, Joaquin Niemann, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Bubba Watson: If you buy into all that “Captain America” crap for Reed, well, he should win this group easily. Possible upset winner would be Niemann. Can’t see Bezuidenhout or Bubba getting out of this group. Reed’s your winner of this group.
Group 8: Tyrrell Hatton, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Matt Wallace: This is the toughest group to win, no doubt about it. A LOT of experience here. Hatton’s risen into the top 10 but he’s volatile. Westwood finally ran out of gas and missed the cut last week after back-to-back seconds. Sergio is Sergio — would you want to play him in match play? Matt Wallace has been a consistent guy in Europe. It’s gotta be between Westy and Sergio in this group and that’s based on Ryder Cup experience and performance. Sergio Garcia is the surprise winner of this group.
Group 9: Webb Simpson, Paul Casey, Mackenzie Hughes, Talor Gooch: Certainly not the toughest group. Should be either Simpson or Casey. Casey will surprise and move to the Sweet 16.
Group 10: Patrick Cantlay, Hideki Matsuyama, Carlos Ortiz, Brian Harman: Interesting group. How about Brian Harman as the surprise winner of Group 10?
Group 11: Rory McIlroy, Cameron Smith, Lanto Griffin, Ian Poulter: Rory and Ian go at it right off the bat on Wednesday. Very interesting group. Rory’s totally confused, Poulter is a match play veteran, Cameron Smith finished runnerup at The Masters and Lanto is the son of two hippies. There’s someone for everyone in this group. How about the Aussie — Smith as the group winner?
Group 12: Tony Finau, Jason Kokrak, Will Zelatoris, Dylan Fritelli: Tony was caught checking out what fourth-place money is this week. Kokrak is now a well-rounded player and Zelatoris is a rising star. If Zelatoris was a better putter, we’d take him to win this group. How about Kokrak as the upset winner of group 12?
Group 13: Viktor Hovland, Abraham Ancer, Bernd Wiesberger, Kevin Streelman: Sure, Hovland’s a rising star and has been playing well and Wiesberger is a very strong player on the European Tour. But something tells us Ancer will emerge from this group. Streelman? No.
Group 14: Daniel Berger, Harris English, Brendan Todd, Erik Van Rooyen: Berger should be able to handle the rest in his group.
Group 15: Matt Fitzpatrick, Matt Wolff, Corey Conners, Jordan Spieth: A very intriguing group and a very tough one to pick a winner. Matty Fitz looks like a solid match play guy, Spieth has enormous experience in match play, Corey Conners is the wild card and after a long layoff, not sure Wolff will be that great. Going with UT alum Spieth, who will have nice fan support.
Group 16: Sungjae Im, Victor Perez, Marc Leishman, Russell Henley: Absolutely, positively Sungjae. We’re going with the Tour Ironman. He’s the most consistent guy on Tour.
There you have it, our projected Sweet Sixteen: Dustin Johnson, J.T., Ryan Palmer, Billy Horschel, Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Brian Harman, Cameron Smith, Jason Kokrak, Abraham Ancer, Daniel Berger, Jordan Spieth, Sungjae Im.
2 Comments
baxter cepeda
I agree a top 4 will go down but not Rahm; it will be DJ coming off a 54th and 48th.
We agree on JT.
Morikawa will have his hands full with billy and Max. But he pulls it off.
Bryson should win.
Sheffler is a great pick but I like Xander waking up this week.
Nieman and Bubba should not be underestimated but Reed ‘captan America’ or not is still a premier match play man.
I love group 8 (group of death 2). Surprised you went with Sergio. We agree. Hope they focus on this group of euros a lot.
I’ll ride Casey’s late 40s good vibes trend over Webb.
Looks like I sold you on Harman but Cantlay could quietly do some damage this week.
Cam smith, lanto and Ian is a lot to handle for a searching rory. The question is who? Why not Ian for the upset special.
Zalatoris is the most overhyped man in golf. Ever probably. So I’ll take the bait. This time.
Viktor is high on my first timers list.
Berger.
God #3 spieth does his thing against sweet swinging Corey conners (wow) and Fitzpatrick.
Wolf sadly is LOST in the woods. Hope he gets it together soon. But not likely this week.
Henley showing flashes.
Tom Edrington
I picked some obvious guys and a few upsets; Match play is a bitch, for sure, TV hates it if big names get knocked out; Kuchar vs. Kisner, was a big who cares….