2016 WGC-Dell Match Play

The 2016 WGC-Dell Match Play was the 18th WGC-Dell Match Play Championship, played March 23–27 at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. It was the second of four World Golf Championships in 2016. The Championship was won by Jason Day, it was his second WGC-Match Play win in three years.^[1][2]

2016 WGC-Dell Match Play

Tournament information
Dates	March 23–27, 2016
Location	Austin, Texas, U.S.
Course(s)	Austin Country Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour European Tour Japan Golf Tour
Format	Match play – 18 holes
Statistics
Par	71
Length	7,073 yards (6,468 m)
Field	64 players
Prize fund	$9,500,000 €8,374,981
Winner's share	$1,620,000 €1,428,155
Champion
Jason Day
def. Louis Oosthuizen 5 & 4
← 2015 2017 →

Austin

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Location in the United States

Austin

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Location in Texas

Field

The field consisted of the top 64 players available from the Official World Golf Ranking on March 13.^[3] However, the seedings are based on the World Ranking on March 20.^[4]

Henrik Stenson (ranked 7 on March 13, personal reasons)^[5] and Jim Furyk (ranked 15, wrist surgery)^[5] did not compete, allowing entry for Patton Kizzire (ranked 65) and Thorbjørn Olesen (ranked 66).

Nationalities in the field

North America (26)	South America (2)	Europe (21)	Oceania (6)	Asia (5)	Africa (4)
United States (26)	Argentina (2)	England (7)	Australia (5)	India (1)	South Africa (4)
		Northern Ireland (2)	New Zealand (1)	Japan (1)
		Scotland (1)		South Korea (1)
		Wales (1)		Thailand (2)
		Ireland (1)
		Austria (1)
		Belgium (1)
		Denmark (2)
		France (1)
		Germany (1)
		Spain (2)
		Sweden (1)

Past champions in the field

Player	Country	Year won	Record	Advanced to	Finish
Jason Day	Australia	2014	7–0–0	Championship	1
Rory McIlroy	Northern Ireland	2015	4−2−1	Third-place match	4
Matt Kuchar	United States	2013	2−1−1	Round of 16	T9

Format

In 2014 and earlier editions, the championship was a single elimination match play event. A new format was introduced in 2015, and the championship now starts with 16 groups of four players playing round-robin matches, on Wednesday through Friday. The top 16 seeded players are allocated to the 16 groups, one in each group. The remaining 48 players are placed into three pools (seeds 17–32, seeds 33–48, seeds 49–64). One player is randomly selected from each pool to complete each group.^[6]

In 2015, there were no halved matches in group play with extra holes played to determine the winner for each match if necessary. In 2016, all group play matches were limited to 18 holes with one point awarded for a win and one-half point for a halved match. Ties for first place in a group were broken by a sudden-death stroke play playoff, beginning on hole 1.^[6]

The winners of each group advanced to a single-elimination bracket on the weekend, with the round of 16 and quarterfinals on Saturday, and the semifinals, finals, and consolation match on Sunday.^[6]

Pool A – Top 16 seeds Seed Rank Player 1 1   Jordan Spieth 2 2   Jason Day 3 3   Rory McIlroy 4 4   Bubba Watson 5 5   Rickie Fowler 6 6   Adam Scott 7 8   Justin Rose 8 9   Dustin Johnson 9 10   Patrick Reed 10 11   Danny Willett 11 12   Branden Grace 12 13   Hideki Matsuyama 13 14   Sergio García 14 15   Zach Johnson 15 17   Brandt Snedeker 16 18   Louis Oosthuizen

Pool B Seed Rank Player 17 19   Phil Mickelson 18 20   Brooks Koepka 19 21   Charl Schwartzel 20 22   Kevin Kisner 21 23   J. B. Holmes 22 24   Jimmy Walker 23 25   Paul Casey 24 26   Shane Lowry 25 27   Marc Leishman 26 28   Kevin Na 27 29   An Byeong-hun 28 30   Matt Kuchar 29 31   Andy Sullivan 30 32   Bill Haas 31 33   Justin Thomas 32 34   Russell Knox

Pool C Seed Rank Player 33 35   Emiliano Grillo 34 36   Danny Lee 35 37   Bernd Wiesberger 36 38   Thongchai Jaidee 37 39   Kiradech Aphibarnrat 38 40   David Lingmerth 39 41   Victor Dubuisson 40 42   Billy Horschel 41 43   Chris Wood 42 44   Matt Fitzpatrick 43 45   Søren Kjeldsen 44 46   Martin Kaymer 45 47   Ryan Moore 46 48   Smylie Kaufman 47 49   Scott Piercy 48 50   Anirban Lahiri

Pool D Seed Rank Player 49 51   Robert Streb 50 52   Jaco van Zyl 51 53   Jamie Donaldson 52 54   Rafa Cabrera-Bello 53 55   Daniel Berger 54 56   Chris Kirk 55 57   Thomas Pieters 56 58   Charley Hoffman 57 59   Fabián Gómez 58 60   Jason Dufner 59 61   Lee Westwood 60 62   Marcus Fraser 61 63   Matt Jones 62 64   Graeme McDowell 63 65   Patton Kizzire 64 66   Thorbjørn Olesen

Rank – Official World Golf Ranking on March 20, 2016.^[4]

Results

Pool play

Players were divided into 16 groups of four players and played round-robin matches Wednesday to Friday.

• Round 1 – March 23
• Round 2 – March 24
• Round 3 – March 25

Notes: Round 1

Of the 32 matches played, 9 were "upsets" with the lower seeded player beating the higher seeded player and 6 matches were halved. These included top seeds #5 Rickie Fowler, #8 Dustin Johnson, #11 Branden Grace, and #12 Hideki Matsuyama losing matches and #4 Bubba Watson, #6 Adam Scott, and #10 Danny Willett halving matches.^[7]

Notes: Round 2

Of the 32 matches played, 5 were upsets with the lower seeded player beating the higher seeded player and 7 matches were halved. These included top seeds #10 Danny Willett and #13 Sergio García losing matches and #5 Rickie Fowler, #7 Justin Rose, and #15 Brandt Snedeker halving matches. There were 13 players that had perfect 2–0–0 records, including the top three seeds: Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, and Rory McIlroy.^[8]

Notes: Round 3

Of the 32 matches played, 10 were upsets with the lower seeded player beating the higher seeded player and 4 matches were halved. These included top seeds #4 Bubba Watson, #6 Adam Scott, and #7 Justin Rose losing matches and #3 Rory McIlroy and #5 Rickie Fowler halving matches. Four groups went to sudden-death playoffs, each involving two players, with three ending after one hole and the fourth ending on the second hole. Six golfers advanced with perfect 3–0–0 records: #1 Jordan Spieth, #2 Jason Day, #9 Patrick Reed, #14 Zach Johnson, #16 Louis Oosthuizen, and #30 Bill Haas. Two golfers conceded their matches early, Paul Casey conceded to Jason Day after six holes due to illness and Daniel Berger conceded Matt Fitzpatrick at the start of the match due to a wrist injury suffered on the 18th hole on Thursday, when he clipped the rock wall and missed the ball while trying to hit his second shot. Eight of the top 16 seeds advanced while three of the bottom 16 seeds advanced including #63 Patton Kizzire. Eleven Americans advance to the round of 16.^[9][10]

Group 1 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Spieth 3 & 2 Donaldson Dubuisson 3 & 2 Thomas 2 Spieth 5 & 4 Dubuisson Donaldson 2 up Thomas 3 Spieth 3 & 2 Thomas Donaldson 1 up Dubuisson Seed Player W L H Points Finish 1   Jordan Spieth 3 0 0 3 1 51   Jamie Donaldson 2 1 0 2 2 39   Victor Dubuisson 1 2 0 1 3 31   Justin Thomas 0 3 0 0 4

Group 2 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Day 3 & 2 McDowell Jaidee 2 & 1 Casey 2 Day 5 & 3 Jaidee Casey vs McDowell – halved 3 Day Conceded Casey Jaidee vs McDowell – halved Seed Player W L H Points Finish 2   Jason Day 3 0 0 3 1 36   Thongchai Jaidee 1 1 1 1.5 2 62   Graeme McDowell 0 1 2 1 3 23   Paul Casey 0 2 1 0.5 4 Casey conceded his match with Day after six holes (the match was all-square) due to illness.

Group 3 Round Winner Score Loser 1 McIlroy 1 up Olesen Na 2 & 1 Kaufman 2 McIlroy 3 & 1 Kaufman Na 3 & 2 Olesen 3 McIlroy vs Na – halved Olesen 2 & 1 Kaufman Seed Player W L H Points Finish 3   Rory McIlroy 2 0 1 2.5 1 26   Kevin Na 2 0 1 2.5 2 64   Thorbjørn Olesen 1 2 0 1 3 46   Smylie Kaufman 0 3 0 0 4 McIlroy advanced in sudden-death playoff over Na – 2 holes

Group 4 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Watson vs Kizzire – halved Grillo 3 & 2 Holmes 2 Watson 2 up Grillo Holmes vs Kizzire – halved 3 Holmes 1 up Watson Kizzire 2 up Grillo Seed Player W L H Points Finish 63   Patton Kizzire 1 0 2 2 1 4   Bubba Watson 1 1 1 1.5 T2 21   J. B. Holmes 1 1 1 1.5 33   Emiliano Grillo 1 2 0 1 4

Group 5 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Dufner 2 & 1 Fowler An vs Piercy – halved 2 Fowler vs Piercy – halved An 2 up Dufner 3 Fowler vs An – halved Piercy 1 up Dufner Seed Player W L H Points Finish 27   An Byeong-hun 1 0 2 2 1 47   Scott Piercy 1 0 2 2 2 58   Jason Dufner 1 2 0 1 T3 5   Rickie Fowler 0 1 2 1 An advanced in sudden-death playoff over Piercy – 1 hole

Group 6 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Scott vs Pieters – halved Haas 2 & 1 Wood 2 Scott 3 & 2 Wood Haas 4 & 2 Pieters 3 Haas 1 up Scott Pieters 3 & 2 Wood Seed Player W L H Points Finish 30   Bill Haas 3 0 0 3 1 6   Adam Scott 1 1 1 1.5 T2 55   Thomas Pieters 1 1 1 1.5 41   Chris Wood 0 3 0 0 4

Group 7 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Rose 2 up Gómez Kuchar 6 & 5 Lahiri 2 Rose vs Lahiri – halved Kuchar vs Gomez – halved 3 Kuchar 3 & 2 Rose Lahiri 4 & 2 Gómez Seed Player W L H Points Finish 28   Matt Kuchar 2 0 1 2.5 1 7   Justin Rose 1 1 1 1.5 T2 48   Anirban Lahiri 1 1 1 1.5 57   Fabián Gómez 0 2 1 0.5 4

Group 8 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Streb 3 & 2 D Johnson Aphibarnrat 2 & 1 Walker 2 D Johnson 5 & 4 Aphibarnrat Walker 4 & 3 Streb 3 D Johnson 2 & 1 Walker Aphibarnrat 1 up Streb Seed Player W L H Points Finish 8   Dustin Johnson 2 1 0 2 1 37   Kiradech Aphibarnrat 2 1 0 2 2 22   Jimmy Walker 1 2 0 1 T3 49   Robert Streb 1 2 0 1 D Johnson advanced in sudden-death playoff over Aphibarnrat – 1 hole

Group 9 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Reed 1 up Berger Mickelson 5 & 4 Fitzpatrick 2 Reed 4 & 3 Fitzpatrick Mickelson 1 up Berger 3 Reed 5 & 4 Mickelson Fitzpatrick Conceded Berger Seed Player W L H Points Finish 9   Patrick Reed 3 0 0 3 1 17   Phil Mickelson 2 1 0 2 2 42   Matt Fitzpatrick 1 2 0 1 3 53   Daniel Berger 0 3 0 0 4 Berger conceded his match to Fitzpatrick due to a wrist injury.

Group 10 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Willett vs Van Zyl – halved Koepka 3 & 2 Horschel 2 Horschel 3 & 2 Willett Koepka 5 & 4 Van Zyl 3 Willett 4 & 3 Koepka Van Zyl 3 & 1 Horschel Seed Player W L H Points Finish 18   Brooks Koepka 2 1 0 2 1 10   Danny Willett 1 1 1 1.5 T2 50   Jaco van Zyl 1 1 1 1.5 40   Billy Horschel 1 2 0 1 4

Group 11 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Kirk 3 & 1 Grace Knox vs Lingmerth – halved 2 Grace 4 & 3 Lingmerth Knox 2 & 1 Kirk 3 Grace 5 & 4 Knox Kirk 3 & 2 Lingmerth Seed Player W L H Points Finish 54   Chris Kirk 2 1 0 2 1 11   Branden Grace 2 1 0 2 2 32   Russell Knox 1 1 1 1.5 3 38   David Lingmerth 0 2 1 0.5 4 Kirk advanced in sudden-death playoff over Grace – 1 hole

Group 12 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Cabrera-Bello 1 up Matsuyama Kisner 2 & 1 Kjeldsen 2 Matsuyama 4 & 2 Kjeldsen Cabrera-Bello 4 & 3 Kisner 3 Matsuyama 3 & 2 Kisner Kjeldsen vs Cabrera-Bello – halved Seed Player W L H Points Finish 52   Rafa Cabrera-Bello 2 0 1 2.5 1 12   Hideki Matsuyama 2 1 0 2 2 20   Kevin Kisner 1 2 0 1 3 43   Søren Kjeldsen 0 2 1 0.5 4

Group 13 Round Winner Score Loser 1 García 1 up Westwood Leishman vs Moore – halved 2 Moore 1 up García Westwood 1 up Leishman 3 García 5 & 4 Leishman Moore 3 & 1 Westwood Seed Player W L H Points Finish 45   Ryan Moore 2 0 1 2.5 1 13   Sergio García 2 1 0 2 2 59   Lee Westwood 1 2 0 1 3 25   Marc Leishman 0 2 1 0.5 4

Group 14 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Z Johnson 4 & 3 Fraser Kaymer 1 up Lowry 2 Z Johnson 8 & 6 Kaymer Lowry vs Fraser – halved 3 Z Johnson 4 & 3 Lowry Kaymer 4 & 3 Fraser Seed Player W L H Points Finish 14   Zach Johnson 3 0 0 3 1 44   Martin Kaymer 2 1 0 2 2 24   Shane Lowry 0 2 1 0.5 T3 60   Marcus Fraser 0 2 1 0.5

Group 15 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Snedeker 2 & 1 Hoffman Schwartzel 1 up Lee 2 Snedeker vs Lee – halved Schwartzel 3 & 2 Hoffman 3 Snedeker 5 & 3 Schwartzel Hoffman 4 & 2 Lee Seed Player W L H Points Finish 15   Brandt Snedeker 2 0 1 2.5 1 19   Charl Schwartzel 2 1 0 2 2 56   Charley Hoffman 1 2 0 1 3 34   Danny Lee 0 2 1 0.5 4

Group 16 Round Winner Score Loser 1 Oosthuizen 2 & 1 Jones Sullivan 3 & 2 Wiesberger 2 Oosthuizen 2 & 1 Wiesberger Sullivan 3 & 1 Jones 3 Oosthuizen 4 & 2 Sullivan Wiesberger vs Jones – halved Seed Player W L H Points Finish 16   Louis Oosthuizen 3 0 0 3 1 29   Andy Sullivan 2 1 0 2 2 35   Bernd Wiesberger 0 2 1 0.5 T3 61   Matt Jones 0 2 1 0.5

Final 16 bracket

Round of 16 March 26 – morning

Quarterfinals March 26 – afternoon

Semifinals March 27 – morning

Final March 27 – afternoon

1

Jordan Spieth

16

Louis Oosthuizen

4&2

16

Louis Oosthuizen

2&1

8

Dustin Johnson

8

Dustin Johnson

3&2

9

Patrick Reed

16

Louis Oosthuizen

4&3

52

Rafa Cabrera-Bello

27

An Byeong-hun

52

Rafa Cabrera-Bello

Conc

52

Rafa Cabrera-Bello

2&1

45

Ryan Moore

63

Patton Kizzire

45

Ryan Moore

4&3

16

Louis Oosthuizen

2

Jason Day

5&4

30

Bill Haas

54

Chris Kirk

2&1

54

Chris Kirk

3

Rory McIlroy

4&3

3

Rory McIlroy

1up

14

Zach Johnson

3

Rory McIlroy

2

Jason Day

1up

28

Matt Kuchar

Third place

18

Brooks Koepka

1up

18

Brooks Koepka

3

Rory McIlroy

2

Jason Day

3&2

52

Rafa Cabrera-Bello

3&2

2

Jason Day

3&2

15

Brandt Snedeker

Notes: Round of 16

There were three upsets: #1 Jordan Spieth lost to #16 Louis Oosthuizen, 4 & 2; #52 Rafa Cabrera-Bello won when #27 An Byeong-hun conceded the match after 12 holes due to a neck injury (Cabrera-Bello was leading 4 up); #54 Chris Kirk defeated #30 Bill Haas, 2 & 1. Three of the top-8 seeds remained.^[11] Spieth's loss means that Day regains the world number one position.

Quarterfinals

There were two upsets: #16 Oosthuizen defeated #8 Dustin Johnson, 2 & 1, and #52 Cabrera-Bello defeated #45 Ryan Moore, 2 & 1. None of the 11 Americans in the round of 16 made the semifinals.^[11]

Breakdown by country

Country	64	R16	QF	SF	F	Ch
Australia	5	1	1	1	1	1
South Africa	4	1	1	1	1
Northern Ireland	2	1	1	1
Spain	2	1	1	1
United States	26	11	4
South Korea	1	1
England	7
Argentina	2
Denmark	2
Thailand	2
Austria	1
Belgium	1
France	1
Germany	1
India	1
Ireland	1
Japan	1
New Zealand	1
Scotland	1
Sweden	1
Wales	1

Prize money breakdown

Place	Description	US ($)
1	Champion	1,620,000
2	Runner-up	1,180,000
3	Third place	660,000
4	Fourth place	530,000
T5	Losing quarter-finalists x 4	290,000
T9	Losing round of 16 x 8	152,000
17	Those with 2.5 points in pool play x 1	112,000
T18	Those with 2 points in pool play x 10	90,900
T28	Those with 1.5 points in pool play x 10	74,500
T38	Those with 1 point in pool play x 13	63,000
T51	Those with 0.5 points in pool play x 10	52,000
T61	Those with 0 points in pool play x 4	47,750
	Total	9,500,000

• Source:^[12]

References

1. Murray, Ewan (March 28, 2016). "Jason Day defeats Louis Oosthuizen to win WGC Match Play". The Guardian. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
2. Corrigan, James (March 28, 2016). "Jason Day defeats Louis Oosthuizen to win WGC Match Play final". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
3. "Week 11 – 2016" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. March 13, 2016.
4. "Week 12 – 2016" (PDF). Official World Golf Ranking. March 20, 2016.
5. "Henrik Stenson skipping Dell Match Play due to scheduling". ESPN. Associated Press. March 2, 2016.
6. . PGA Tour. February 11, 2016. Archived from the original on February 28, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
7. "Jordan Spieth outlasts Jamie Donaldson to open Match Play". ESPN. March 24, 2016.
8. "Jordan Spieth avoids match-play drama, nears round of 16". ESPN. Associated Press. March 24, 2016.
9. "Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth advance at Match Play". ESPN. Associated Press. March 25, 2016.
10. "Paul Casey, Daniel Berger withdraw from Dell Match Play". ESPN. March 25, 2016.
11. "Louis Oosthuizen ousts Jordan Spieth at WGC-Match Play". ESPN. Associated Press. March 26, 2016.
12. "Past Results – World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play". Retrieved March 30, 2021.

External links

• Official website
• Coverage on the European Tour's official site
• Austin Country Club

Coordinates: 30°20′35″N 97°47′49″W / 30.343°N 97.797°W / 30.343; -97.797