AUSTIN, Texas -- The final edition of the 2023 WGC-Dell Match Play opened with a bang Wednesday as top seeds fell, big names rolled and of course (of course!) Jordan Spieth made a preposterous shot that even he said was "bullshit" to win his match.
Two of the top three players in the world won their respective matches, but the other one (a three-time PGA Tour winner this season alone) fell to a resurgent Rickie Fowler. However, most of the rest of the top players are in good shape following Day 1. That's a good thing, too, given how often Round 1 winners have moved on to the Round of 16.
Since the format switch in 2015, 79.5% of the players who have advanced from pool play won their opening match. #WGCMatchPlay
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) March 22, 2023
Let's take a look at some of the superlative matches and then see how the groups stand going into the second day of play.
Upset of the day
It wasn't the strongest match (that came earlier in the day), but Fowler and Rahm combined to make 10 birdies as Fowler defeated the No. 2 player in the world in a surprising outcome. Fowler is the No. 4 seed in his pod and needs to reach the quarterfinals to play his way into the Masters. Day 1 was a great first step toward that.
"Jon didn't play well," said Fowler. "He'd be the first to tell you that. So, I was expecting it to be him playing a bit better or a lot better than he did today. Like I said, fortunate to come out with a win on that one. Between Billy [Horschel] and Keith [Mitchell], both great ball strikers, both great players. I just saw they're going to the 18th as we came in. So, those are both going to be tough matches. I need to clean some things up, but if I can keep it stress-free and maybe make a few more putts, it would be nice."
Walking in a walk off
If you gave me 10 guesses as to who would have won their first match in a walk-off chip-in, I would have guessed Jordan Spieth for the first seven. And I would have been correct all seven times. Spieth beat Mackenzie Hughes on the 15th hole 4 & 3 with this shot.
RIDICULOUS 😯@JordanSpieth holes out to win his match 👏 pic.twitter.com/0FBSz88OPi
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 22, 2023
Spieth went on to call the shot "bullshit" in his post-round interview, which was hilarious. He was more measured in his post-round press conference.
"I've been trying to work on just kind of hitting and playing and not talking so much," said Spieth. "I did an OK job of that. I would say I didn't do a great job of that on my last hole. I was like, 'What am I doing hitting it over here?' and then I ended up holing the shot. It doesn't necessarily affect how I play, but it is a lot less energy used up, it feels like, over the last couple weeks."
Best match
There were 13 birdies and two eagles in the Sahith Theegala-Min Woo Lee match. Lee won with a birdie at the last, and the two combined to shoot a best ball 58, which is outrageous.
"I think it would be one of the best rounds all day, and it sucked that one of us had to win," said Lee. "But it was wonderful, and that's what you want in match play. We both played really well."
Biggest bloodbath
Sungjae Im dusted Maverick McNealy 8 & 6 even though he was only 1 under through 12 holes. I'm not sure I've ever seen a more bizarre match play card than this one.
Star that needed it
Rory McIlroy came in with a bit of uneven play over the last month or so, but he played 17 holes in 5 under and held off Scott Stallings 3 & 1. He discussed two amended clubs in his bag this week: a driver with a different shaft and a Scotty Cameron putter.
"Driver was good," he said. "Driver was really good. I'm much happier with where I am there. Obviously, off the tee is such an important part of the game for me. Putter was good. Struggled a little bit with the speed, so I'll probably go work on that a little bit this afternoon. But overall pretty happy with my win."
In a solo performance, Rick Gehman breaks down all 32 matches from Day 1 of the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin Country Club. 64 golfers in 26 minutes! Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Impressive performance
With new caddie Paul Tesori on the bag, Cam Young made nine 3s to start his day. He defeated Davis Thompson on the 16th hole. They were challenging Lee and Theegala for round of the day as they were 13 under through 16 holes as well.
"I've obviously been around [Tesori] a lot," said Young. "Webb [Simpson] and I played a practice round together 22 times this past year, so I've been around him a ton, so it's really comfortable. I think he just brings a ton of energy, which is good for me. I'm kind of pretty flat-lined. But it's been great so far. Obviously did well today, so I'm excited for the rest of the week."
2023 WGC-Dell Match Play standings
Group 1
Scottie Scheffler (1-0-0)
Tom Kim (1-0-0)
Alex Noren (0-1-0)
Davis Riley (0-1-0)
Group 2
Jon Rahm (0-1-0)
Billy Horschel (0-0-1)
Keith Mitchell (0-0-1)
Rickie Fowler (1-0-0)
Group 3
Rory McIlroy (1-0-0)
Keegan Bradley (0-0-1)
Denny McCarthy (0-0-1)
Scott Stallings (0-1-0)
Group 4
Patrick Cantlay (1-0-0)
Brian Harman (1-0-0)
K.H. Lee (0-1-0)
Nick Taylor (0-1-0)
Group 5
Max Homa (1-0-0)
Hideki Matsuyama (1-0-0)
Kevin Kisner (0-1-0)
Justin Suh (0-1-0)
Group 6
Xander Schauffele (1-0-0)
Tom Hoge (0-1-0)
Aaron Wise (1-0-0)
Cam Davis (0-1-0)
Group 7
Will Zalatoris (0-1-0)
Ryan Fox (1-0-0)
Harris English (0-1-0)
Andrew Putnam (1-0-0)
Group 8
Viktor Hovland (0-1-0)
Chris Kirk (0-1-0)
Si Woo Kim (1-0-0)
Matt Kuchar (1-0-0)
Group 9
Collin Morikawa (1-0-0)
Jason Day (1-0-0)
Adam Svensson (0-1-0)
Victor Perez (0-1-0)
Group 10
Tony Finau (1-0-0)
Kurt Kitayama (0-1-0)
Adrian Meronk (1-0-0)
Christiaan Bezuidenhout (0-1-0)
Group 11
Matt Fitzpatrick (0-1-0)
Sahith Theegala (0-1-0)
Min Woo Lee (1-0-0)
J.J. Spaun (1-0-0)
Group 12
Jordan Spieth (1-0-0)
Shane Lowry (0-1-0)
Taylor Montgomery (1-0-0)
Mackenzie Hughes (0-1-0)
Group 13
Sam Burns (1-0-0)
Seamus Power (0-1-0)
Adam Scott (1-0-0)
Adam Hadwin (0-1-0)
Group 14
Tyrrell Hatton (0-1-0)
Russell Henley (0-1-0)
Lucas Herbert (1-0-0)
Ben Griffin (1-0-0)
Group 15
Cameron Young (1-0-0)
Sepp Straka (0-1-0)
Corey Conners (1-0-0)
Davis Thompson (0-1-0)
Group 16
Sungjae Im (1-0-0)
Tommy Fleetwood (0-1-0)
J.T. Poston (1-0-0)
Maverick McNealy (0-1-0)
