The Group Stage draw has resulted in some intriguing battles for the opening three days of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play.
For the opening day of the contest, there is none more so than Ryder Cup teammates Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter, who have both previously won this tournament.
McIlroy vs Poulter
Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter are the very first match to tee off at the 2021 WGC Dell – Technologies Match Play on Wednesday at 9.30am local time, and the contest between the Ryder Cup teammates is guaranteed to be a fun one. Although they have success together as a pairing in Ryder Cups, they haven’t ever met in this tournament, which Poulter won in 2010 and McIlroy won in 2015.
McIlroy is in the better form of the two and enters his group as the top seed, but despite heading to Austin off the back of two missed cuts, Poulter’s 5-0-0 record in Ryder Cup singles isn’t one to be ignored. The Englishman actually beat champion Kevin Kisner in their group stage match in 2019, but after they finished level on points, it was Kisner who made it through following a sudden-death play-off. Meanwhile, McIlroy topped his group with three victories, but was beaten in the round of 16 by Tiger Woods.
In total, both players have made it to the last four of the WGC Match Play on three separate occasions.
Fitzpatrick vs Spieth
One of the most intriguing match-ups of the opening round, which pegs two players against each other who have shown a lot of good form heading into this event.
Interestingly, Fitzpatrick enters the group as the top seed, but despite three top 10s and a tie for 11th in his last four starts, the Englishman still feels like the underdog against the three-time Major champion.
“Although I’m supposedly the higher seed, I feel a bit of the underdog in this one,” said Fitzpatrick, who is yet to make it out of the group stages in this event in four appearances.
Texan native Spieth, who has shown signs of his old self so far in 2021 (including three top-fives in his last five starts), reached the semi-finals in 2013, and has made it out of the group stages once in five other attempts.
Hatton vs Wallace
What more could you want from a first-round afternoon match-up than the promise of fireworks with the stars of this year's 'Angry Golfers'?
Statistically, Hatton is the favourite here: He's the highest-ranked seed in his group, topped his group in both 2018 and 2019, and his form heading into this tournament includes a victory in Abu Dhabi, a tie for sixth at the Saudi International and three further top 25s in his last six starts.
Meanwhile, Wallace also had a good start to the year with a top 10 in Abu Dhabi, but struggled in his next three starts before a tie for 18th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. He's also making just his second start in the Match Play, having lost all three matches in 2019, but you can never rule a player like Wallace out when it comes to a format like match play.
Westwood vs Garcia
Another battle of Ryder Cup partners, this afternoon match-up promises to be an interesting one between two players who are enjoying something of a resurgent spell of form.
Westwood missed the cut last week, but the 2020 Race to Dubai champion has gone head to head with Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas over the past few weeks with back-to-back runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour.
Garcia, who will pass Tiger Woods' record for all-time matches played in this contest this week, has also enjoyed recent form - finishing in a tie for ninth last week following a confident showing in the European Tour's Desert Swing. He is also a part-time resident in Austin, so this is something of a home game.
As for how they compare, statistically Garcia has the advantage: The pair met in the group stages in 2016 and it was the Spaniard who came out on top of that battle, defeating Westwood one- up. While Westwood's best result in this contest was a fourth-place finish in 2015. Garcia has reached the last 16 on seven separate occasions - which included making it to the quarter-finals in 2019
