Fantasy Golf Sleeper Report – 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play

2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Fantasy Sleeper Report

The Valspar Championship trophy will forever be etched with the name Taylor Moore, who richly deserved his maiden PGA TOUR win at Innisbrook on Sunday.

But if the TOUR was to produce their own blooper reel of the 2022/23 season, the clangers dropped by playing partners Jordan Spieth and Adam Schenk when contending for the trophy will surely be front and center.

Embed from Getty Images

In the space of a manic 30 minutes or so, we saw 3-woods dumped into the pond, left-handed recovery shots from behind trees, chunked chips and the fluffiest of putting misses from Spieth that ultimately condemned him to the near-miss file.

If he and Schenk lost the plot while tackling the Copperhead course’s fabled ‘Snake Pit’, Moore made serene progress with clutch putts, sublime bunker play and sensible ball-striking.

At one point, Spieth and Schenk were almost playing match play golf against one another – a handy segue to lead us into this week’s tournament.

The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play is the PGA TOUR’s sole foray into the match play format – sadly for many, it might be added. And it’s a shame that it comes within such proximity of The Masters, too, with the attention-diversion the first major of the year guarantees.

Winning this event takes some effort too, with three days of group games followed by the bracket stage over the weekend – our finalists will play 72 holes in less than 36 hours, which shows the physicality required.

There’s a necessity to overcome the typical gremlins of a Pete Dye layout too, with Austin Country Club another stellar addition to his canon. It’s tree-lined and winds its way around Lake Austin, with some lofty elevation changes only adding to the complexity.

There’s risk-and-reward holes a-plenty, forced carries, drivable Par 4s….oh, and small, lightning-fast greens protected by Dye’s favored pot bunkers. In short, everything we need for a highly-entertaining spectacle.

The top 64 players in the world get an invite to the WGC Match Play – well, the guys at LIV Golf have been blackballed, obviously, but this is still a high quality field missing only Justin Thomas and Justin Rose from those who are eligible to play.

They’ll all face the daunting task of trying to wrestle the trophy away from Scottie Scheffler, who has made back-to-back finals of this event and who gives the distinct impression of being very hard to stop over the course of 18 holes in this format.

That said, the likes of Billy Horschel and Kevin Kisner have won this event in recent times, so there’s opportunities for some of the TOUR’s less headline-making players to star. 

So who out of the longer-odds picks do we expect to thrive? Here’s our WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play sleeper shortlist:

[membership level=”0″]

You must be a Premium Member to view our exclusive fantasy golf picks.

Already a member?  Sign in Here.

[/membership]

[membership level=”1,2,3″]

Hideki Matsuyama – 50/1 – One of the traits of a good match play protagonist, in theory at least, is being solid in all departments.

Hideki Matsuyama doesn’t exactly have the best match play record, which is a surprise when you think about how good his ball striking and recovery games are.

The Japanese star looked in much better order at the PLAYERS Championship, gaining strokes on the field in every department, and so maybe he will finally arrest his below-par match play performances this week?

Keith Mitchell – 60/1 – If you were playing match play, what kind of an opponent would make you fearful?

Someone who hits the ball a long way off the tee – and finds plenty of fairways while he’s at it – would surely be high up on the list, so Keith Mitchell could be a formidable opponent this week.

His approach play has been good of late, his short game is pretty solid and he gained +1.38 strokes on the field putting at TPC Sawgrass. Mitchell could surprise a few this week.

Rickie Fowler – 60/1 – Now with a slightly older head on his shoulders, Rickie Fowler can put his past match play experiences to good use this week.

Regular readers will know we’ve been waxing lyrical about Rickie’s game lately, and a return to working with Butch Harmon has clearly paid dividends – his ball-striking gains are off the charts.

That has manifested itself in four top-20 finishes in his last five outings, and against high-calibre opposition too at THE PLAYERS and Genesis, to name just two. His tee-to-green game can put his opponents under all sorts of pressure this week.

Tom Hoge – 70/1 – On paper, Tom Hoge is not the kind of opponent that will strike fear into the heart of his opponent.

But write him off at your peril, because there are few players in world golf who are hitting their irons and wedges as well as Hoge has done in the past 12 months or so.

Heading to Texas on a high after finishing T3 at the PLAYERS Championship, Hoge follows in the lineage of neat-and-tidy players that have performed well in this event and specifically at Austin CC.

Chris Kirk – 80/1 – If you know your history of this event, you’ll know that plotters, plodders and grinders are able to gain an edge on even the most talented of opponents.

Chris Kirk has the ideal game for Pete Dye tracks at the best of time, but his no-frills style is perfectly suited for match play, where keeping your ball under control really is at a premium.

Experience can be another positive in the match play arena, and while Kirk hasn’t played in this tournament for some time, you suspect he’ll be able to hit the ground running given his rich vein of form that included victory at the Honda Classic.

 [/membership]

Want more of this week’s fantasy predictions? Check out our full fantasy preview for the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play here.

Fantasy Golf Predictions This Season (2023-2023)

Cover photo via Instagram