Young will seize Day, be last man standing
For years, many golf fans — dare I even say the majority — have pined for a match play format to a more grandiose event, maybe the PGA Championship or as a season finale to determine the FedEx Cup champion. Or at least, they think they’re pining for that in what can be described as a careful-what-you-wish-for scenario.
After all, the idea sounds exciting until we’re left watching two guys play golf on a Sunday afternoon, especially if they aren’t two of those whom we’d most like to watch in the first place.
The annual WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play is, to use a journalistic term, the inverted pyramid of golf tournaments. We start with a strong lede that includes all of the pertinent who, what, when, where, why and how information, then strays toward the other details as it continues to progress.
Or put another way, it’s the only week of the year when Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are better television viewing experiences than Saturday and Sunday. For every Dustin Johnson/Jon Rahm championship match that we’ve seen over the years, there’s been a Kevin Sutherland/Scott McCarron.
With all of that in mind, let’s take it from the final 16 (all winners of individual four-man groups) to a potential championship final.
Round of 16
Scottie Scheffler over Tommy
Fleetwood: Course history shows a huge advantage here for Scheffler, not to mention recent form and overall talent level. Jason Day over Viktor
Hovland: If this one does happen, expect a backand-forth, ball-striking fiesta that could go extra holes, with Day potentially outlasting his opponent in the end.
Sam Burns over Nick Taylor: The Cinderella story ends here for Taylor, as Burns starts building some momentum. Taylor Montgomery over Max Homa: I love Homa, you love Homa. But we also don’t love chalk and this thing is starting to feel a little too chalky. Give me the guy who loves playing match play to pull off an upset.
Cameron Young over Keith Mitchell: Armed with a new caddie in Paul Tesori, that new-caddie bump could be a real thing for Young this week.
Tony Finau over Ryan Fox :Ifhe does indeed advance this far, expect Finau to become a very popular Masters bet, even if those odds do grow shorter.
Rory McIlroy over Lucas Herbert: As unconfident as I am in Herbert even reaching this point, I’m more confident in the fact that he won’t make it past McIlroy if he does.
Sahith Theegala over Tom Hoge :In what could and should be a close match, Theegala’s short game puts him over the top.
Quarterfinals
Day over Scheffler: Hey, chalk is meant to be erased. Scheffler can’t win everything, and Day won’t back down if he gets this far.
Burns over Montgomery: Here’s hoping that Valspar finish was less a course-horse scenario and more a signal that Burns is ready to play his best golf once again.
Young over Finau: Two similar styles of play, with big drives and deft wedges struck throughout a match featuring plenty of birdies on both sides.
Theegala over McIlroy: After doing just enough to make us think he might finally win that elusive Masters title, McIlroy does just enough to leave a little doubt it could happen.
Semifinals
Day over Burns: The resurgence is upon us, as Day is primed and ready to turn his high-level consistency into a serious title contention.
Young over Theegala: Maybe this is more wishful thinking than anything, but it would be great to witness two of the PGA Tour’s most talented second-year players going head-tohead with a championship berth on the line.
Championship
Young over Day: It’s almost shocking that the man with nine top-three results worldwide in the past year-and-a-half hasn’t yet come out on top, but it’s coming soon. Only having to beat one other player in each match might be the secret formula to finally making that dream come true.