Who’s in, who’s out of WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play
The field is set for the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas, next week.
There will be 64 players in the bracket and there will only be five golfers who are eligible who will not be there. Austin Country Club will once again host the five-day tournament, March 24-28.
The top 11 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are set to play, including the top-ranked player in the world and Masters and FedEx Cup champion Dustin Johnson. Justin Thomas, ranked second and fresh off his Players Championship is also set to play. Jon Rahm, Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau round out the current top 5 in the ranking.
Defending champion Kevin Kisner will be back. He won the event in 2019; the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. Also, No. 69-ranked Dylan Frittelli is in the field. He gets the final spot because of the five players ranked ahead of him who will not be heading to Austin this week.
The final seeds will be determined based on the Official World Golf Ranking as of Monday, and that will finalize the bracket, which will be unveiled live on the PGA Tour’s digital platforms on Monday, March 22 at 11 a.m. ET.
Here are the notables not in the field.
Brooks Koepka
Brooks Koepka reacts after making an eagle on the par-4, 17th hole during the final round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-Arizona Republic via USA TODAY Network)
Ranked No. 12 in the OWGR, Koepka is the highest-ranked golfer not in the field. Koepka withdrew from the Players Championship three weeks ago citing a knee injury. Koepka, 30, won the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February and last played at the World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession, where he finished in a tie for second. He dealt with a neck injury all week at the WGC.
Adam Scott
Adam Scott looks on from the range during a practice round prior to the Sentry Tournament of Champions on the Plantation Course at Kapalua Golf Club on January 4, 2021 in Kapalua, Hawaii. (Photo: Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Ranked 25th, Adam Scott is 10-for-10 on cuts made this season but has just one top-10 and two top-25 finishes so far.
Justin Rose
Justin Rose plays his shot from the sixth tee during the Payne’s Valley Cup on September 22, 2020 on the Payne’s Valley course at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Justin Rose checks in at No. 38 in the OWGR. He lasted just four holes into the third round at Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando at the Arnold Palmer Invitational before pulling out citing an injured back. Waking up with spasms in his lower back, Rose, who entered the day at 5 under par, tried to play through the pain and what he described as a warmup that was “hard work.”
Gary Woodland
Gary Woodland stands on the 12th green during the second round of The Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club on February 19, 2021 in Pacific Palisades, California. (Photo: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Woodland tested positive for COVID-19 and had to withdraw from the Honda Classic. The 36-year-old lost to Rory McIlroy in the final match of the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods reacts to missing a birdie putt on the 10th hole during the first round of the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club - North. (Photo: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)
Currently No. 56 in the OWGR, Woods is now back home and recovering from a scary car crash last month in Los Angeles after serving as tournament host of the Genesis Invitational. Woods’ fractures from the crash are on the upper and lower parts of both the fibula and tibia, which was inserted with a rod to stabilize the area. Screws and pins were used to treat other injuries in the ankle and foot, while doctors sliced muscle in the area to relieve pressure and swelling in the area (a safeguard against infection). Woods was already recovering before the crash from a fifth back surgery in December.
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