DraftKings Preview: WGC-Dell Match Play

The PGA TOUR heads to Austin, Texas this week for the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. This is the one event of the year that is not a standard stroke-play event. Instead, we will have a 64-man bracket-style tournament. Golfers will be placed into 16 groups of four, where each player in a group plays each of the other three players in 18-hole matches over the first three rounds (which begins on Wednesday). The winner of each group will make the Round of 16, which will take place Saturday morning. The Quarterfinals will be held later on Saturday afternoon before both the Semifinals and Championship Match take place on Sunday.

Austin Country Club will be the host course this week and is a 7,108-yard par 71, featuring Bermuda grass greens. The field is stacked this week, with 26 of the world’s top 30 set to tee it up.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here: PGA TOUR $750K Pitch + Putt [$200K to 1st](Match Play)

GOLFERS TO CONSIDER

Scottie Scheffler ($11,100)

Just because it’s obvious does not mean it’s incorrect. You obviously do not need me to tell you that Scottie Scheffler is a good play this week. He’s the highest-priced golfer in the field, the No. 1 player in the world and is coming off a commanding win at THE PLAYERS Championship.

All that being said, Scheffler is absolutely worth paying up for this week over the likes of Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy or Patrick Cantlay. Match play is a different animal than your standard stroke-play event, and it’s clear through two career starts that Scheffler has already mastered it. He’s the defending champion at this event after taking down Kevin Kisner last year, which came after finishing runner-up to Billy Horschel in 2021.

While Jon Rahm also has a decent record at Austin Country Club, he’s coming off a withdrawal at THE PLAYERS, making Scheffler the clear option if paying up this high in salary. Scheffler has now won two of the past four events he’s teed it up at, and has finished no worse than 12th since the CJ CUP back in October. He’s the premier ball-striker on the planet right now, ranking No. 1 in SG: Ball-Striking in this field over his past four, eight, 12, 16, 24, 36 and 48 rounds. Just absurd.

Scheffler is an absolute machine and fading him this week, even at this $11,100 salary, would be a foolish undertaking.

Tyrrell Hatton ($9,000)

Hatton has been absolutely rolling of late, posting three top-six finishes across his past four starts, including a runner-up at THE PLAYERS. Over this stretch, the Englishman ranks fourth in this field in SG: Tee-to-Green, third in SG: Ball-Striking and third in SG: Total. The only two golfers who rank ahead of him in Total Strokes Gained in that time are Scottie Scheffler and Jon Rahm, who rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the world right now.

Hatton has always played well at Austin Country Club, having played this event five straight years now, with three T9s and a T17 across those starts. Finishing T9 in this event means losing in the round of 16, which means Hatton has made it out of pool play three of the five times he’s played this event. His group this year consists of Russell Henley, Lucas Herbert and Ben Griffin. No disrespect to any of them, but Hatton is playing on a different level right now and has a clear path to making the round of 16 yet again.

His recent form, course history, rolling stats and lack of group strength all line up this week, making Hatton one of the best plays on the board at just $9,000 on DraftKings.

Matt Kuchar ($7,100)

Kuchar has had quite a bit of success at this event over the years, having finished T9, solo third and runner-up in his three career starts at Austin Country Club. His group this year consists of Viktor Hovland, Chris Kirk and Si Woo Kim, all of whom have not shown much success at this event outside of a T5 from Kirk back in 2016.

Austin CC is a shorter track, meaning Kuchar will not be penalized for his lack of distance off-the-tee, while he remains one of the best Bermuda grass putters in this field. Despite missing each of his past two cuts, Kuchar has struck the ball well of late, ranking 14th in this field in that department over his past eight rounds, while sitting ninth in SG: Tee-to-Green in the same time frame.

He is also significantly cheaper than everyone in his group, despite boasting the best career record at this course. Kuchar also has a career match play record of 35-18-5 (60.3%), which ranks behind only Kevin Kisner, Alex Noren, Jason Day, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy in this field among anyone with 10 or more career matches played.

You’re going to need to find some lower-priced plays this week that have a chance to make it out of pool play, and Kuchar has done so every time he’s played this event, making him a great value option at just $7,100.

Set your DraftKings fantasy golf lineups here:PGA TOUR $750K Pitch + Putt [$200K to 1st](Match Play)

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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and customer (my username is Lan1228) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.