Group draw turns Spieth, Reed into friendly foes

AUSTIN — Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed go from being partners to opponents in match play.

Spieth and Reed, who have a 7-2-2 record as partners in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, were drawn in the same fourman group Monday night for the Dell Technologies Match Play.

The World Golf Championship begins Wednesday at Austin Country Club, where Spieth played when he was at the University of Texas.

Spieth has a 9-9-1 record in match play as a pro, going 0-5 in his singles matches at the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup. He is 9-4-1 in the Match Play. Reed has an 8-6-2 record, and is best known for taking down Rory McIlroy in the last Ryder Cup at Hazeltine.

Spieth and Reed won’t play each other until Friday. Also in their group are former Masters champion Charl Schwartzel and Li Haotong of China.

Round-robin play starts Wednesday, with the winners of 16 groups advancing to a weekend of single elimination.

Dustin Johnson, the defending champion, is the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive year. He has longtime friend Kevin Kisner, Adam Hadwin of Canada and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria in his group.

The opening session Wednesday has some compelling matches.

Phil Mickelson, who has not played since winning the Mexico Championship, opens against Charles Howell III in the first round. Howell has two PGA Tour victories, one of them in a playoff over Mickelson at Riviera.

Tommy Fleetwood faces Ian Poulter in an all-England match. Poulter has to advance out of his group to have any chance of moving into the top 50 and qualifying for the Masters. This is the final week for players to earn a Masters invitation through top 50 in the world ranking.

Rory McIlroy, coming of a victory Sunday at Bay Hill, gets Peter Uihlein in the opening match. Also in McIlroy’s group are Brian Harman and Jhonattan Vegas.

Matt Kuchar will face Zach Johnson in the opening round. They were partners one time, losing a foursomes match in the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014.

Among those skipping the event are Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott, mainly for scheduling reasons. Also missing is U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka as he recovers from a wrist injury.