A first-round Texan showdown between Ryder Cup teammates Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed headlined the Monday night release of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, set to begin Wednesday at Austin Country Club.
The 64 players in this week’s field were determined by their world ranking and were divided into 16 groups, each with four players. Each group’s winner will advance to the weekend’s sudden-death single-elimination bracket.
Austin Country Club is playing host to the Match Play event for the third consecutive year. Jason Day beat Louis Oosthuizen in the 2016 final; this year the two are in the same group. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson won last year.
The first name in each group was determined by their world ranking. The next three were drawn randomly from three tiers: players ranked 17-32 (Pool B), 33-48 (Pool C), and 49-64 (Pool D). Player seeds are in parentheses.
GROUP 1: Dustin Johnson (1), Kevin Kisner (32), Adam Hadwin (38), Bernd Wiesberger (52)
GROUP 2: Justin Thomas (2), Francesco Molinari (21), Patton Kizzire (48), Luke List (60)
GROUP 3: Jon Rahm (3), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (28), Chez Reavie (43), Keegan Bradley (63)
GROUP 4: Jordan Spieth (4), Patrick Reed (19), Haotong Li (34), Charl Schwartzel (49)
GROUP 5: Hideki Matsuyama (4), Patrick Cantlay (30), Cameron Smith (46), Yusaku Miyazato (53)
GROUP 6: Rory McIlroy (6), Brian Harman (18), Jhonattan Vegas (44), Peter Uihlein (57)
GROUP 7: Sergio Garcia (7), Xander Schauffele (20), Dylan Frittelli (41), Shubhankar Sharma (62)
GROUP 8: Jason Day (8), Louis Oosthuizen (25), Jason Dufner (42), James Hahn (56)
GROUP 9: Tommy Fleetwood (9), Daniel Berger (26), Kevin Chappell (33), Ian Poulter (58)
GROUP 10: Paul Casey (10), Matthew Fitzpatrick (31), Kyle Stanley (45), Russell Henley (51)
GROUP 11: Marc Leishman (11), Branden Grace (23), Bubba Watson (35), Julian Suri (64)
GROUP 12: Tyrrell Hatton (12), Charley Hoffman (22), Brendan Steele (36), Alexander Levy (55)
GROUP 13: Alex Noren (13), Tony Finau (29), Thomas Pieters (39), Kevin Na (61)
GROUP 14: Phil Mickelson (14), Rafa Cabrera Bello (17), Satoshi Kodaira (40), Charles Howell III (59)
GROUP 15: Pat Perez (15), Gary Woodland (24), Webb Simpson (37), Si Woo Kim (50)
GROUP 16: Matt Kuchar (16), Ross Fisher (27), Yuta Ikeda (47) Zach Johnson (54)
The 2018 #DellMatchPlay bracket is set.
Play against your friends, family & co-workers or go on your own and challenge the nation in our Bracket Challenge!
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— WGC-Dell Match Play (@DellMatchPlay) March 20, 2018
