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The PGA Tour makes its first of five stops in Texas this week for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, the third WGC of the season. For the third year the event is being held at Austin Country Club after a one-year stint at TPC Harding Park and a five-year stretch at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Arizona. It’s the fourth year of the tournament’s intriguing new pool play format, separating 64 of the top players in the world into groups of four and having them play round-robin matches, with the top 16 advancing into a single-elimination bracket.
The Match Play’s new format has produced some must-watch television over the last three years, most recently in 2017 when Dustin Johnson defeated Jon Rahm 1 up in an epic final match for his fifth WGC victory. Both players are back in this year’s field, Johnson once again the 1-seed and Rahm the 3-seed, as well as the event’s last two winners, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy. McIlroy is coming in fresh off his impressive win at Bay Hill, where he carded a final-round 64 en route to a three shot victory.
Also in the field this week is Jordan Spieth, who looks to get his season on the right track in his home state. The three-time major champion hasn’t had much success in this format though, having made it to the final 16 only once in the last three years, and failing to advance when he did in 2016. He faces a difficult task to get there this week, grouped with Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teammate Patrick Reed as well as Charl Schwartzel and China’s rising star Haotong Li.
RELATED: Match Madness – Breaking down the 2018 WGC-Match Play groups
TV Coverage
The Golf Channel will carry live coverage on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET. They’ll also carry coverage on the weekend from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and NBC will take over afterwards.
Wednesday Tee Times
Group 1
12:48 p.m. — Dustin Johnson (1) vs. Bernd Wiesberger (52)
12:59 p.m. — Kevin Kisner (32) vs. Adam Hadwin (38)
Group 2
9:52 a.m. — Justin Thomas (2) vs. Luke List (60)
10:03 a.m. — Francesco Molinari (21) vs. Patton Kizzire (48)
Group 3
2:16 p.m. — Jon Rahm (3) vs. Keegan Bradley (63)
2:27 p.m. — Kiradech Aphibarnrat (28) vs. Chez Reavie (43)
Group 4
11:20 a.m. — Jordan Spieth (4) vs. Charl Schwartzel (49)
11:31 a.m. — Patrick Reed (19) vs. HaoTong Li (34)
Group 5
10:36 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama (5) vs. Yusaku Miyazato (53)
10:47 a.m. — Patrick Cantlay (30) vs. Cameron Smith (46)
Group 6
1:32 p.m. — Rory McIlroy (6) vs. Peter Uihlein (57)
1:43 p.m. — Brian Harman (18) vs. Jhonattan Vegas (44)
Group 7
3:00 p.m. — Sergio Garcia (7) vs. Shubhankar Sharma (62)
3:11 p.m. — Xander Schauffele (20) vs. Dylan Frittelli (41)
Group 8
12:04 p.m. — Jason Day (8) vs. James Hahn (56)
12:15 p.m. — Louis Oosthuizen (25) vs. Jason Dufner (42)
Group 9
11:42 a.m. — Tommy Fleetwood (9) vs. Ian Poulter (58)
11:53 a.m. — Daniel Berger (26) vs. Kevin Chappell (33)
Group 10
2:38 p.m. — Paul Casey (10) vs. Russell Henley (51)
2:49 p.m. — Matthew Fitzpatrick (31) vs. Kyle Stanley (45)
Group 11
1:10 p.m. — Marc Leishman (11) vs. Julian Suri (64)
1:21 p.m. — Branden Grace (23) vs. Bubba Watson (35)
Group 12
10:14 a.m. — Tyrrell Hatton (12) vs. Alexander Levy (55)
10:25 a.m. — Charley Hoffman (22) vs. Brendan Steele (36)
Group 13
10:58 a.m. — Alex Noren (13) vs. Kevin Na (61)
11:09 a.m. — Tony Finau (29) vs. Thomas Pieters (39)
Group 14
1:54 p.m. — Phil Mickelson (14) vs. Charles Howell III (59)
2:05 p.m. — Rafa Cabrera Bello (17) vs. Satoshi Kodaira (40)
Group 15
9:30 a.m. — Pat Perez (15) vs. Si Woo Kim (50)
9:41 a.m. — Gary Woodland (24) vs. Webb Simpson (37)
Group 16
12:26 p.m. — Matt Kuchar (16) vs. Zach Johnson (54)
12:37 p.m. — Ross Fisher (27) vs. Yuta Ikeda (47)
RELATED: Fear and Loathing (or something like that) at the WGC-Dell Match Play Selection Show
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