WGC-Dell Match Play payouts and points: Sam Burns earns $3.5 million and 550 FedExCup points

Given how Scottie Scheffler has been performing recently, the fact that he was the defending champion of the World Golf Championship-Dell Technologies Match Play and that the host course was Austin Country Club, a track with which Scheffler, a local University of Texas product, is extremely familiar, it would have been understood if BetMGM’s only option to win was, simply, “Scottie Scheffler or the field.”

Of course, that doesn’t make for good business in the outright market, but could you have blamed the book?

Lo and behold, Scheffler gave it a reasonable run before falling to his good friend, Sam Burns, in Sunday’s semifinal. In what was the longest match of the Knockouts, the duo required 21 holes to determine the outcome.

Burns went on to dust Cameron Young in the finale, 6 and 5. Rory McIlroy defeated Scheffler in the consolation match, 2 and 1.

When Austin CC assumed the role as the host of the Match Play in 2016, it aligned with the first edition of what was a seven-year format in which ties in the Group Stage were recorded as just that, ties. It helped keep action alive deeper into the tournament, which leveled the playing field in the context of seeds.

This year was the first edition at Austin CC in which each of the semifinalists opened as a top seen in his Group. Scheffler was the top seed of the tournament, McIlroy was third, Burns was 13th and Young was 15th. Consider that just two years ago, third-seeded Jon Rahm was the only golfer among the top-16 overall seeds who survived the Group Stage.

Of this year’s semifinalists, the longest shot to win pre-tournament converted. Burns was +3500 on the eve of Wednesday’s first round. Young was +3300. Scheffler was the favorite at +800, while McIlroy was third-shortest at +1400.

Rahm, who was second-shortest this year at +1100, went 1-2-0 in the Group Stage and didn’t advance.

NOTE: Payouts and Points includes pre-tournament odds to win at BetMGM for all golfers who made the cut. Odds were sourced on Tuesday, March 21. For live odds, visit BetMGM.

The PGA TOUR is committed to protecting our fans. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, the National Council on Problem Gambling operates a confidential toll-free hotline that you can reach by phone or text at 1-800-522-4700.