The final edition of the WGC-Dell Match Play started off with a bang with many high seeds falling in the first round of play. Even though the round-robin style format lasts until Friday, losing the first match may lessen a player’s chances of moving on to Saturday.
As expected, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy had no troubles in the first round cruising over their opponents at Austin Country Club.
The biggest upset of the day belongs to Rickie Fowler, who upset Jon Rahm.
Rahm seems to have cooled since withdrawing from the Players Championship. While Rahm isn’t out of contention, he will need to bounce back with a few wins to have a shot this weekend.
Since the format switch in 2015, 79.5% of the players who have advanced from pool play won their opening match. #WGCMatchPlay
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) March 22, 2023
WGC-Dell Match Play Upsets
As with March Madness, during bracket season, busters are inevitable.
After Round 1, there were a lot of top seeds that fell, busting several brackets in the process.
Only two of the top three players in the world won their first matches.
Since the first three days are round-robin matches, losing the first match has become significant. Nearly 80 percent of players that have advanced to the single elimination round, won their opening match.
After a really hot start to the season, Jon Rahm fell on Day 1 to a resurgent Rickie Fowler.
Fowler is the lowest seed in his group and needs to make it to the quarterfinals in order to move into the top 50 in the World Rankings and qualify for the Masters. Fowler completed the upset by beating Rahm 2&1.
Rahm’s loss marks his first time ever losing the opening match at WGC-Dell Match Play in six starts.
In total for Round 1, there were 14 upsets with big seeds falling like Rahm, No.11 Matt Fitzpatrick, No.7 Will Zalatoris, No. 8 Viktor Hovland, No. 14 Tyrell Hatton, and more.
Scroll down below to check out all the upsets that happened at Round 1 of the WGC-Dell Match Play.
Every Upset at WGC-Match Play Round 1
- J.J Spaun (61) vs Matt Fitzpatrick (11) — 5&3
- Min Woo Lee (41) vs Sahith Theegala (26) — 1UP
- Aaron Wise (40) vs Tom Hoge (23) — 1UP
- Benjamin Griffin (62) vs Tyrrell Hatton (14) — 3&1
- Lucas Herbert (46) vs Russell Henley (31) — 1UP
- Adrian Meronk (45) vs Kurt Kitayama (19) — 2&1
- Andrew Putnam (56) vs Will Zalatoris (7) — 3&2
- Corey Conners (36) vs Sepp Straka (27) — 6&5
- Rickie Fowler (49) vs Jon Rahm (2) — 2&1
- Taylor Montgomery (47) vs Shane Lowry (21) — 2&1
- Adam Scott (33) Seamus Power (30) — 1UP
- Matt Kuchar (59) vs Viktor Hovland (8) — 3&1
- Kim Si-woo (34) vs Chris Kirk (28) — 4&3
- J.T Poston (43) vs Tommy Fleetwood (24) — 3&2
*Bold Text Indicates the Winner
WGC- Match Play Leaderboard
Group 1
- Scottie Scheffler (1-0-0)
- Tom Kim (1-0-0)
- Alex Noren (0-1-0)
- Davis Riley (0-1-0)
Group 2
- Jon Rahm (0-1-0)
- Billy Horschel (0-0-1)
- Keith Mitchell (0-0-1)
- Rickie Fowler (1-0-0)
Group 3
- Rory McIlroy (1-0-0)
- Keegan Bradley (0-0-1)
- Denny McCarthy (0-0-1)
- Scott Stallings (0-1-0)
Group 4
- Patrick Cantlay (1-0-0)
- Brian Harman (1-0-0)
- K.H. Lee (0-1-0)
- Nick Taylor (0-1-0)
Group 5
- Max Homa (1-0-0)
- Hideki Matsuyama (1-0-0)
- Kevin Kisner (0-1-0)
- Justin Suh (0-1-0)
Group 6
- Xander Schauffele (1-0-0)
- Tom Hoge (0-1-0)
- Aaron Wise (1-0-0)
- Cam Davis (0-1-0)
Group 7
- Will Zalatoris (0-1-0)
- Ryan Fox (1-0-0)
- Harris English (0-1-0)
- Andrew Putnam (1-0-0)
Group 8
- Viktor Hovland (0-1-0)
- Chris Kirk (0-1-0)
- Si Woo Kim (1-0-0)
- Matt Kuchar (1-0-0)
Group 9
- Collin Morikawa (1-0-0)
- Jason Day (1-0-0)
- Adam Svensson (0-1-0)
- Victor Perez (0-1-0)
Group 10
- Tony Finau (1-0-0)
- Kurt Kitayama (0-1-0)
- Adrian Meronk (1-0-0)
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout (0-1-0)
Group 11
- Matt Fitzpatrick (0-1-0)
- Sahith Theegala (0-1-0)
- Min Woo Lee (1-0-0)
- J.J. Spaun (1-0-0)
Group 12
- Jordan Spieth (1-0-0)
- Shane Lowry (0-1-0)
- Taylor Montgomery (1-0-0)
- Mackenzie Hughes (0-1-0)
Group 13
- Sam Burns (1-0-0)
- Seamus Power (0-1-0)
- Adam Scott (1-0-0)
- Adam Hadwin (0-1-0)
Group 14
- Tyrrell Hatton (0-1-0)
- Russell Henley (0-1-0)
- Lucas Herbert (1-0-0)
- Ben Griffin (1-0-0)
Group 15
- Cameron Young (1-0-0)
- Sepp Straka (0-1-0)
- Corey Conners (1-0-0)
- Davis Thompson (0-1-0)
Group 16
- Sungjae Im (1-0-0)
- Tommy Fleetwood (0-1-0)
- J.T. Poston (1-0-0)
- Maverick McNealy (0-1-0)
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