WGC-Dell Technology Matchplay, Austin, Texas (March 22-26, 2017)

This week on the PGA Tour marks the two week mark until the start of the Masters, and the best of the best in the world are gathered in Texas for the next two weeks for a stretch of unique tournament golf. This stretch is designed to best prepare them for the conditions found at Augusta National, the host of the annual Masters tournament.  It all starts at Austin Country Club for this special matchplay formatted tournament. Similar to last week at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the events happening off the course are seeming to steal the headlines. The format of the tournament is also a spot of controversy this week.

The PGA Tour has kept this matchplay style event on the tour since 1999, matchplay being a playing of matches between two players against each other with the player at the end of the match who has won the most amount of holes being declared the winner. This is opposed to the conventional method of the entire field competing against each other with a score relative to par, which is refreshing for a

Image of Jason Day as he explains to the media about his future absence from golf.

number of reasons. Golf was originally played as a one on one kind of game where winning was a very defined thing, and every match very intense and personal. Another reason is simply the application of a new style of play. Week in and week out, these tour players grind at a very individual level that can be very hard to maintain mentally and physically. Weeks like this allow for players to destress and work different parts of their golf brain.

As far as the player headlines this week, Jason Day, the number two player in the world had an emotional media day this Tuesday announcing that he was withdrawing from the tournament and from professional golf in general for a while to be with his terminally ill mother who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer earlier this year. Because of Day’s influence in the world of golf, his absence will be missed, especially at the masters tournament where he was a big favorite.

AUSTIN, TX – MARCH 22: Phil Mickelson reacts after putting on the 15th hole of his match during round one of the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play at the Austin Country Club on March 22, 2017 in Austin, Texas.

With Phil Mickelson playing so well this week and going into the Masters, everyone is sure to be a little more excited about the next couple weeks. The Masters is always the true start of Spring and a place to remember great golf of the past. I truly can’t wait! Anyway, tune in this weekend to catch the end of the tournament. It is sure to be a fight to the death come Sunday.

 

One thought on “WGC-Dell Technology Matchplay, Austin, Texas (March 22-26, 2017)

  1. It was interesting to read your post becuase I did not realise that there was a controversal issue on how golf is played. I always thought that golf was scored by comparing all player’s numbers to par, so I was surrprised to read that golf can also be played as a series of matches between two players. The few golf tournaments I have watched have always compared a player’s score to par. I am curious if one way of playing golf is more popular than the other and where the different ways to score/play originated from. Now I am also curious whether certain tournaments are traditionally scoring players compared to par or if they follow more of a matches between two players. I my only golf experience is minigolf and a driving range, so I would not know, but is it easier or better to use one method over the other for scoring in golf? Either way, I learned something new about golf today.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *