Getty Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy
The PGA Tour’s most recent event is a bit of a tip of the cap to March Madness and the 2019 NCAA Tournament. It’s not new, but it is one of the most intriguing and enjoyable tournaments on the schedule in the eyes of many. The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event is held at the Austin Country Club and features a bracket format with a nice purse of $10.25 million and $1.745 million going to the eventual winner. Beyond that, each player who makes it to the Final Four will receiver more than $500,000 in prize money.
The action starts off with 16 different groups spread across the bracket and each includes four golfers. This features some of the best golfers in the world, including the likes of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and a number of others.
As far as how the groups are determined, there are four pools which are based on the Official World Golf Ranking. One player from each section is placed into the different groups to create the full bracket.
WGC Match Play Groups & Players Who Advanced
As Golf.com detailed, the four groups break down as follows:
- Group A: Players ranked 1-6
- Group B: Players Ranked 17-32
- Group C: Players Ranked 33-48
- Group D: Players Ranked 49-64
The first round features round-robin play as all four members of the group will face each other to decide who advances. One player from each group moves to the Round of 16 and any ties in group play are decided in a hole-by-hole playoff.
When the first round wrapped up, there were a few surprising names who advanced to the Round of 16. As PGATour.com shows, Kevin Na (No. 57), Lucas Bjerregaard (50), Kevin Kisner (48), Branden Grace (40), Henrik Stenson (37), HaoTong Li (36), Tyrrell Hatton (35) all emerged from their groups.
Along with those names, Justin Rose (2), Rory McIlroy (4), Francesco Molinari (7), Paul Casey (10), Tiger Woods (13), Marc Leishman (17), Louis Oosthuizen (19), Matt Kuchar (23) and Sergio Garcia (26) rounded out the players to advance. With the Round of 16 set, we saw the upsets continue to roll in.
Na continued his improbable run by knocking off Rose while Kisner and Bjerregaard also picked up victories. This meant three players ranked No. 48 or below were in the final eight and fighting for a chance to make the semifinals which begin on Sunday.
WGC Match Play Purse & Prize Money
The jumps in pay from the opening round up to the final eight and then the last four remaining are all fairly drastic. With that said, each player does take home some money, all the way through the golfer who wraps up the action in spot No. 64. Payouts are courtesy of Golf Digest.
| PLACE | PRIZE MONEY |
| 1st | $1,745,000 |
| 2nd | $1,095,000 |
| 3rd | $712,000 |
| 4th | $574,000 |
| 5th | $315,000 |
| 6th | $315,000 |
| 7th | $315,000 |
| 8th | $315,000 |
| 9th | $167,000 |
| 10th | $167,000 |
| 11th | $167,000 |
| 12th | $167,000 |
| 13th | $167,000 |
| 14th | $167,000 |
| 15th | $167,000 |
| 16th | $167,000 |
| 17th | $125,000 |
| 18th | $117,000 |
| 19th | $111,000 |
| 20th | $106,000 |
| 21st | $103,000 |
| 22nd | $100,000 |
| 23rd | $97,000 |
| 24th | $95,000 |
| 25th | $93,000 |
| 26th | $91,000 |
| 27th | $89,000 |
| 28th | $87,000 |
| 29th | $85,000 |
| 30th | $83,000 |
| 31st | $81,000 |
| 32nd | $79,000 |
| 33rd | $77,000 |
| 34th | $76,000 |
| 35th | $75,000 |
| 36th | $74,000 |
| 37th | $73,000 |
| 38th | $72,000 |
| 39th | $71,000 |
| 40th | $70,000 |
| 41st | $69,000 |
| 42nd | $68,000 |
| 43rd | $67,000 |
| 44th | $66,000 |
| 45th | $65,000 |
| 46th | $64,000 |
| 47th | $63,000 |
| 48th | $62,000 |
| 49th | $61,000 |
| 50th | $60,000 |
| 51st | $59,000 |
| 52nd | $58,000 |
| 53rd | $57,000 |
| 54th | $56,000 |
| 55th | $55,000 |
| 56th | $54,000 |
| 57th | $53,500 |
| 58th | $53,000 |
| 59th | $52,500 |
| 60th | $52,000 |
| 61st | $51,500 |
| 62nd | $51,000 |
| 63rd | $50,500 |
| 64th | $50,000 |
READ NEXT: Rory McIlroy Nationality: What Country is PGA Tour Pro From?