Big name sleepers: Match Play perfect chance to finetune form for Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm

AUSTIN, Texas – Jon Rahm is struggling with his putter. Dustin Johnson hasn’t won in over a year and Jordan Spieth’s comeback seems to have stalled as the anniversary of his drought-ending victory nears.

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In the last few days, the above statements have all been thrown out as reasons why the current world No. 1 and a couple of multiple major winners won’t be in the mix at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. But those pushing the narrative should be wary.

While it is true that the trio are not currently playing at their peak, the change in format in Austin represents the perfect opportunity for them, and other players, to return to form as spring begins.

Without the shackles of consequences, this could be the turning point we will all look back on in the coming months. With no stroke play position on the leaderboard to protect, the three, and anyone searching a little bit of their best, can let their natural flow return.

It means firing at pins. Attempting wild recovery shots or big draws, cuts, fades and hooks. In short, it means entertainment.

Defending champion Billy Horschel says, “match play allows you to not have to be perfect,” while world No. 3 Viktor Hovland adds, “Sometimes (in stroke play) I have a tendency of being a little timid but in match play you're trying to make birdies. You're not necessarily too focused on the mistakes you might make, it's about trying to pull off the good shots.”

With a bit of luck, you might also see some harbingers for those trying to claim a green jacket in a few weeks. One might recall a certain Tiger Woods surprising a few with a T5 finish in Austin in 2019 before creating history at Augusta National.

“You can certainly play your way into some confidence. I can only speak for myself but that’s exactly why I’m here. To aim at some pins and extract some confidence from an aggressive mindset,” former Masters champion Adam Scott said from his Austin Country Club practice round. “You can go after some pins and play some shots knowing the consequence is at worst a loss of hole. It’s the exact opposite to usual. Like at THE PLAYERS, I stood on 18 there in my first round and played aggressively but put two in the water and my tournament was over. That’s not the case here.”

Playing with Johnson on Tuesday, Scott saw first-hand what the 2017 champion from this event is building towards. Johnson’s last PGA TOUR win came in November of 2020 at the postponed Masters, and the 24-time TOUR winner sits a mind-boggling 139th in this season's FedExCup. But a final round 63 at THE PLAYERS was a precursor to change.

“A player like DJ - you can put his name against anyone in this field and you’d be hard pressed finding a solid reason why he couldn’t win his match,” Scott said. “Now it is true over 18 holes everyone in this field can beat anyone in a match. The game is deep with talent, but they say you should never write off a champion, right?”

Until being slung with the tough side of the draw at The PLAYERS (T55), Rahm’s six starts in 2022 had garnered no worse than a T21 at The Genesis Invitational, with a runner-up and third-place thrown in to boot. But some uncharacteristic short misses with his putter, and some experimenting with his equipment on the greens, has tongues wagging.

Rahm has lost strokes to the field in putting in his last four starts, the first time in his PGA TOUR career he has done so in four straight contests. But any suggestion it’s an issue has the world No. 1 a little rankled.

“I'm kind of getting tired of answering the same question every single week. When you're No. 1 off the tee and top 10 in Strokes Gained: Approach, my putting stats are not going to be top 20. It's absolutely impossible unless I'm winning every single week by eight,” Rahm contests. “Is it as good as it could be? No, but I think it shows in the stats worse than it actually feels just because I'm hitting so many greens and hitting it so good … It's not as bad as it looks. It feels a lot better than it looks. Maybe I haven't gotten the results yet, but I'm not worried about it.”

Here in Austin, where Rahm is pitted in a group with Patrick Reed, Cameron Young and Sebastian Munoz, he can put his putter under the blowtorch with a little more freedom. It could be exactly what he needs even if he doesn’t think an issue exists.

“When it's do or die, you get a weird sense of freedom in the sense of you only have one option. You have to make it and that's it,” Rahm said of match play putting. “In my case, I've been able to do it a couple times. It kind of gives you a little bit of extra focus.”

Spieth snapped a long win drought a year ago at the Valero Texas Open, and has since notched three runner-up results including last year’s Open Championship and this season's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. But he’s not had a weekend round under par since that close call and struggled to a 72-79, albeit in bad weather, at his last start at THE PLAYERS.

The local favorite feels confident with his game but should anything be a little off, he sees his group rounds against Keegan Bradley, Scott and Justin Rose as a great tonic.

“You get more opportunities to play shots under pressure, especially as you come down the stretch in each match,” Spieth said about the match play format. “And then you get opportunities with a lot of freedom shots where you get to make aggressive swings when other people make mistakes. There's certainly something to that where the abnormality of it maybe helps if you're trying to get stuff back on track.”

So don’t despair if your favorite player hasn’t shown what you are accustomed to of late because chances are the week in Austin is just the boost they need.