- Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland — Not only is McIlroy the defending champion, having won the title with a 4-and-2 victory over Gary Woodland last year at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco, but he is always a tough out in match play. He owns a 24-9-1 record in singles matches in his career, including 18-6 in this tournament, going 7-0 en route to the title last year. Rory also made a run for the title in 2012 at Dove Mountain in Arizona, winning five consecutive matches before losing in the final to Hunter Mahan, 2 and 1. His best result in the World Match Play Championship in Europe was a tie for fifth in 2009. He will face Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark in the first round on Wednesday, with Kevin Na and Smylie Kaufman also in his four-man group for the preliminary rounds.
- Jason Day, Australia — With only two days off after his victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Day must shake off any letdown and get past a tough group that includes Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland in his opening match plus Paul Casey of England and Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand. The Aussie claimed the WGC-Match Play title in 2014, outlasting Victor Dubuisson of France in a classic 23-hole final at Dove Mountain. Even though 2015 was a career year for Day, who claimed five titles, he didn’t have any success in match play. He lost all three matches in his title defense at TPC Harding Park to Charley Hoffman, Branden Grace and Zach Johnson, who also beat him in President’s Cup singles. However, Day has a 15-8 singles mark, and he reached the 2013 WGC Match Play semifinals before losing to eventual champion Matt Kuchar, 4 and 3.
- Jordan Spieth, United States — Despite having only a 5-5 record in match play as a pro, Spieth is a force to be reckoned with, as he rose to No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings since most of those matches were played. Two years ago in the WGC-Match Play at Dove Mountain, he beat Pablo Larrazabal of Spain, Thomas Bjorn of Denmark and defending champion Matt Kuchar before Ernie Els of South Africa sent him home, 4 and 2, in the quarters. Last year at TPC Harding Park, Spieth beat Mikko Ilonen of Finland and Matt Every before Lee Westwood of England won their group by beating him, 2 up. He will start against Jamie Donaldson of Wales, and good pal Justin Thomas and Victor Dubuisson of France are also in his group. Spieth has a 7-2-1 mark in team matches (fourball and foursomes) in the Ryder and President Cups.
- Adam Scott, Australia — The best golfer in the world over the last month or so, with victories in the Honda Classic and the WGC-Cadillac Championship plus a runner-up finish in the Northern Trust Open, Scott hopes to carry that form to Austin Country Club. However, he has only an 18-21 match-play singles record in his career, and last year he lost to Chris Kirk, Paul Casey of England and Francesco Molinari of Italy at TPC Harding Park to give him an eight-match losing streak in the WGC-Match Play. Scott has a first-round match against Thomas Pieters of Belgium and also must deal with Bill Haas and Chris Wood of England in his group this week. He made a run at the title in 2003, when eventual champion Tiger Woods beat him in on the 19th hole in the semifinals, and again two years later, when eventual winner David Toms defeated him in the quarterfinals, 2 and 1.
- Rickie Fowler, United States — The gritty Fowler has been a tough match-play opponent in his budding career, posting a 10-6-2 record in singles. He got past match-play ace Ian Poulter of England, Jimmy Walker, Sergio Garcia of Spain and Jim Furyk two years ago at Dove Mountain before eventual champ Jason Day of Australia beat him in the semifinals, 3 and 2. Last year, he swept Harris English, Shane Lowry of Ireland and Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland in pool play before Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa sent him packing in the round of 16, 1 up. Fowler will start off with a tough match against Jason Dufner, and he also has Byeong-Hun An of South Korea and Scott Piercy in his group at Austin Country Club. Perhaps the biggest feather in his cap was a 6-and-5 rout of Phil Mickelson in round two at Dove Mountain in 2011.
- Bubba Watson, United States — With his length off the tee and variety of shots, Watson should be a monster in match play, but he has only an 11-10-1 singles record in his career. His best run in the WGC-Match Play came in 2011 at Dove Mountain, where he defeated Bill Haas, Mark Wilson, two-time champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia and J.B. Holmes in a slugfest before Martin Kaymer of Germany got past him in the semifinals, 1 up. Last year at TPC Harding Park, Watson beat Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Keegan Bradley before Louis Oosthuizen pulled out a victory on the 19th hole to win their group. Watson opens with Patton Kizzire this time, and he also has matches against Holmes and Emiliano Grillo of Argentina in round-robin group play.
- Dustin Johnson, United States — Johnson is another guy who should have a big advantage in match play because of his prodigious drives and deft play around the greens, but he has only a 7-8 mark in match-play singles. However, he has been getting better, winning six of the past nine matches he has played in this tournament and team match play. After being ousted in the first round by Alexander Noren of Sweden and Peter Hanson of Denmark the two previous years, when the event was single elimination, last year he beat Matt Jones and Victor Dubuission of France but lost the group-play title to Charl Schwartzel on the 20th hole. v will open with Robert Streb on Wednesday and also must contend with Jimmy Walker and Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand in his group to advance to the round of 16.
- Charl Schwartzel, South Africa — Having won the Tshwane Open on the European Tour and the Valspar Championship this year, Schwartzel comes into the WGC-Match Play in top form. Also, he probably is a better match-play performer than his 13-11-1 record might indicate. He reached the round of 16 in this event twice, including last year when he beat Victor Dubuisson of France, Matt Jones of Australia and Dustin Johnson in pool play before losing to Paul Casey of England 3 and 1. Schwartzel also made it to the quarterfinals of the 2011 Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain before Luke Donald of England ended his run, 2 up. He drew Danny Lee of New Zealand for his first-round match in round-robin pool play, and Brandt Snedeker and Charley Hoffman also stand between him and the round of 16.
- Matt Kuchar, United States — Kuchar’s play so far this season has not been up to his standards, as a tie for eighth in the Northern Trust Open is his best result, but a return to match play might help get him back on track. He has a 19-11 singles record in his career, and he won the WGC-Match Play title three years ago at Dove Mountain, where he went through Hiroyuki Fujita of Japan, Sergio Garcia of Spain, Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, Robert Garrigus, Jason Day of Australia and defending champion Hunter Mahan, beating him 2 and 1 in the final. Mahan got Kuchar back last year when he handed him a 5-and-4 defeat to win their pool. Kuchar opens with Fabian Gomez of Argentina on Wednesday and also will face Justin Rose of England and Anirban Lahiri of India in the round-robin portion of the tournament.
- Paul Casey, England — Something of a sleeper pick in the WGC-Match Play this week, Casey has never won the tournament, but he finished second twice and last year took eventual champion Rory McIlroy to the 22nd hole before losing in the quarterfinals at TPC Harding Park. Before that, he beat Chris Kirk, Adam Scott of Australia, Francesco Molinari of Italy and Charl Schwartzel of South Africa. He has a 30-20-2 career match-play record, and he won the 2006 HSBC World Match Play Championship with a 10-and-8 rout of Shaun Micheel at Wentworth outside London. In 2009, he lost to Geoff Ogilvy, 4 and 3, in the WGC final, and the next year Ian Poulter beat him for the title, 4 and 2, both at Dove Mountain. Casey will play Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand in the first round of pool play and also will meet No. 2 Jason Day of Australia and Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland in a formidable group.
–Courtesy of The Sports Xchange, TSX Golf Editor Tom LaMarre
