AUSTIN (Texas) — Dell Match Play has been on the horizon for a while.
It was nice to know you.
Austin will bid farewell to Sunday’s last round, which was a bittersweet farewell to a dear friend.
The World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play was quickly a popular date on the schedule for players, sponsors, and fans. Or did.
Austin Country Club’s venerable Austin Country Club hosted major champions like Dustin Johnson and Jason Day, who won the Walter Hagen Cup on Sundays. Kevin Kisner, an ultimate grinder, was also present at the event. It’s always a success because of its quirky format and depth of field.
There is little chance that this will happen when there are 64 of the top 77 players in the world and the nine ineligible LIV golfers. The tournament has been a great success and is almost universally loved by the players.
Match Play:Sunday’s Final 4, tee times
It makes no sense that WGC-Dell’s Match Play will be ending for good after Sunday. How strange is this for a city that loves to keep it strange, especially when the PGA Tour has no plans to replace it with any other match play event?
Rickie Fowler said, “I would love to still see there be a match play at some point.” Rickie Fowler didn’t make the group play cut. “I prefer 64 knockout (from start). It’s still fun. It’s not something we would want every week, due to how volatile it can be. However, I would love to see it in the future on Tour.
Fowler’s feelings have been shared by most in the field, and many who were involved with the event.
Dale Morgan, ACC golf pro emeritus, said that it was a bittersweet moment. “We’ve had an amazing run and we’re going for a great champion. Who knows? Perhaps we will have another tournament with a completely different format one day.”
It gave all it could, and that includes the $6 million Dell Children’s Medical Center donated to First Tee. It has been reported that 10,000 people have passed through the gates each day to play golf royalty.
We’re used to saying good-bye to Austin institutions like Threadgill’s and Armadillo World Headquarters and Hut’s and Players, but it’s still very sad to see the loss of something so special. The city is losing a great sporting event just as the Austin metropolitan area is thriving with international events and high-caliber sports like South by Southwest, Formula One racing and MLS soccer.
We do have pickleball, at least. We hope Muny will join us.
We have seen our fair share of history.
The tournament helped to launch Scheffler, who was practically a local player. This was a meteoric rise for Scheffler, a Longhorn ex who spawned a Dell title and a runner up finish. He defeated J.T. Poston won his ninth consecutive match here with three last-minute birdies. He will now advance to the Elite Eight. There’s a lot going on these days.
Scheffler was within 2 inches of winning the 17th hole. He also beat Day 2 & 1 to win his 10th consecutive match and advance to Sunday’s semifinals. Sam Burns, an ex-colleague at LSU and good friend, will face Scheffler. He defeated Mackenzie Hughes 3 & 2, to increase his record to 5 for his tournament debut. Scheffler was beaten by Burns in the Colonial last year, when he lost to him in a playoff. He had a 38-foot putt from the green.
Scheffler described Burns as “very competitive.” “I have been taking him on my pickleball team recently. Pickleball is for me not difficult because he usually gets on the opposing team.
Scottie is almost as well-known as Bijan Robinson, the Texas runningback/Austin mayor, who traded cell phone numbers with Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay’s new quarterback. Mayfield followed Scheffler on nine of Scheffler’s win over Poston.
Robinson said, dressed in bright orange and wearing a bright burnt orange shirt that he had brought to support Scottie. Robinson said, “He’s from Texas and I’m just an avid sports fan.” I love to play golf.
Day broke in the event in 2016, with a thrilling wire-to-wire win. He also set a record of 7-0 during his five-day assault. But Day had to withdraw from the race in tears, as he was battling lung cancer. He beat Louie Oosthuizen to the title in 2016, and his sponsor Michael Dell walked nine back and expressed concern that King Louie might win, but Day won 5 and 4, to spare him any further worry.
Sergio Garcia and Matt Kuchar fought for a while over what’s a conceded or uncontested putt. But they eventually embraced and made up.
We witnessed Dustin Johnson take down Jon Rahm and bomb the layout. However, we don’t recall if he made it to the 18th hole. He was so dominant.
We applauded Tommy Fleetwood’s par-3 fourth-hole ace last year, and Garcia’s this year.
Scheffler and Jordan Spieth were serenaded by “Texas Fight”, from Lake Austin party boats.
Scheffler, who has won 10 consecutive matches here, said that even if I didn’t win, he would be sad to leave. “This tournament is great and the fans are amazing. It’s great to play in front them. Yes, this place is going to be missed a lot.
We even saw the Tiger Woods Effect as golf’s No. We were greeted by a red-shirted citizen who graced us with his presence and wow us with a birdie from 82 yards to beat Rory McIlroy in Sweet 16. He lost to Lucas Bjerregaard 1-up in the 2019 quarterfinals. McIlroy is alive and well in this year’s marathon. He will face Cameron Young (15th seed), who has five runner up finishes but has yet to win on Tour.
Scheffler’s amazing play continued this week without a single hiccup. Scheffler was one of five top 16 seeds, including three of the five past champions, to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals. The top 15 seeded semifinalists in the Dell are all four of the semifinalists.
We also saw Bubba Watson’s pink balls on the golf course, and we were also able to witness Ian Poulter’s candor, Paul Casey’s friendliness, and Brooks Koepka’s roughness.
McIlroy spoke out in favor controlling unfathomable distances using a tamer ball of golf. He then blasted his tee shot off the 18th green to the fringe, just right of the green, to edge 46th seed Lucas Herbert. Herbert played brilliantly after an awful time at the Players.
This is the unpredictability that comes with this unforgiving format.
McIlroy, after he had spoken to Herbert, said that the 18th hole was “good to me over this week.” It would be nice to not have to play it.
As Spieth failed to putt or hit a watery tee shot, we cringed and left frustrated.
We were amazed to see match play master Bill Horschel not trail in a match until Saturday’s fourth round, and advance to the Sweet 16. We said goodbye to Kevin Kisner (2022 champion, 2022 runner up), who won just one of three match play matches.
After Sunday’s drama, it’s time to say farewell to one of Austin’s most kid-friendly sporting events. Austin Country Club will be the last place that the PGA Tour visits. That’s a fascinating subject.
The following factors contributed to the relationship’s decline over the last year:
- LIV Golf had a profound impact on the culture and business practices of golf.
- PGA Tour gets greedy
- The ACC membership became envious and tired of the course being closed for four weeks a calendar year to allow for course preparation and the tournament.
- Golfers became tired of Horschel and Kisner schooling them
- Patrick Reed must be to blame for this, right?
- There are some myths about high-ranking tournaments
- It was over.
- Or, you can say that nothing lasts forever
You can choose what you want. Don’t forget to blame Billy or Kiz. It’s the Saudis fault.
It is most likely a combination confluences. After a $3 million offer from ACC, the Tour obstructed negotiations for months. Some powerful ACC poohbahs refused to renew the contract and never accepted any proposal for a vote. It’s a private club. Then there’s the drastic upheaval brought on by the no-cut, 54-hole, turn-up-the-loud-music, who-cares-who’s-watching-or-if-anybody-at-all-is-watching grinch that is LIV golf.
It is a shame, regardless of who the culprits are.
It was a thrilling event with amazing play and fascinating people. This tournament has inspired many 8-year-olds to take up the game in hopes of becoming Scheffler.
Equally sad is the fact that next year, no match-play event will be scheduled by the PGA Tour.
This once-in-a blue moon format is vital for golf. It will prepare Americans to play in the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.
We do understand that it isn’t the most popular television show, as only four players are allowed to play in the final and semifinal.
Day is the one who loves this event more than Scheffler, who fought Day head-to-head during the quarterfinals.
“I do (love it). Day stated that it is a fantastic match play course. It just looks so good. You can see the holes in the water. This is going to be a sad day.”
For seven consecutive days, Austinites will be able to follow the shots of these top-flight golfers live and then wonder why they don’t get as far as McIlroy Monday.
Before bowing down against McIlroy Herbert stated, “It’s just lots of positives to look into the future.” It’s just unfortunate that I was up against McIlroy, the best player in the game today.
True. They are almost everywhere you look when you go on the course.
But it’s only for one more.
By: Kirk Bohls
Title: Bohls: PGA Tour bidding Austin Country Club a fond – and too soon – farewell
Sourced From: golfweek.usatoday.com/2023/03/26/wgc-dell-match-play-austin-country-club-farewell/
Published Date: Sun, 26 Mar 2023 13:00:28 +0000
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