This year’s WGC Dell Match Play will take place Wednesday, March 22 through Sunday, March 26 at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. Scottie Scheffler continued his 2022 heater with a win at this homecoming event for the Texas Longhorn, and he will defend his title in 2023. Below we will provide a betting guide for the 2023 contest, which will include WGC Dell Match Play odds as soon as they are posted by top sportsbooks.
WGC DELL MATCH PLAY ODDS
WGC Dell Match Play odds have been posted by top sportsbooks. Scottie Scheffler was the favorite to win on Monday with +800 odds.
The field for the 2023 WGC Dell Match Play will be officially announced on Friday, March 17. Given the bracket style format of this event, odds will be heavily influenced by the strength of the opening group drawn. Until then, here are the odds for John Haslbauer’s projected favorites a month out from the event.
- Scottie Scheffler +1100
- Rory McIlroy +1200
- Jon Rahm +1400
- Patrick Cantlay +1400
- Xander Schauffele +1400
AUSTIN COUNTRY CLUB
Like several of Pete Dye’s iconic designs we’ve seen over recent months, Austin Country Club is another positional, strategists’ course. Players will need to manage water, winds, undulations in sloping fairways, and deep fairway pot bunkers. It also features one of the more iconic risk/reward holes on TOUR in the 317-yard Par-4 13th, which depending on the wind direction, can either be a very gettable Eagle opportunity or a surefire way to lose a hole if you come up short in the water.
The WGC Match Play has cycled through a variety of host courses over the last few decades. Since 1999, this event has been played at La Costa Resort, Metropolitan Golf Club, Dove Mountain, and TPC Harding Park. Since 2016, it’s settled on a more regular home at Austin Country Club, although this will be the final year contested at this venue.
Match Play is often not guaranteed to make it through all 18 holes so take the totality of Austin Country Club with a grain of salt, but it does feature five Par-4s under 400 yards and an additional four Par-4s in the 450-500 yard range. The greens at Austin Country Club are Bermuda over seeded with Poa, similar to what we saw most recently at courses like TPC Sawgrass and Innisbrook Resort (Copperhead). The 0.4″ dormant Rye rough is negligible, and has allowed for more rollout from drives just off the fairway, which has led to strong results from bombers and fairway-finders alike.
Austin Country Club Course Specs
- Yards: 7,108
- Par: 71 (4x 3’s / 11x 4’s / 3x 5’s)
- Greens: Bermuda overseeded with Poa (Fast)
- Rough: 0.4″ Rye (Light)
- Average Fairway Width: 25 Yards (Narrow)
- Course Architect: Pete Dye
- Comp Courses: Stadium Course, TPC Scottsdale, TPC River Highlands, TPC Sawgrass, TPC Louisiana, Harbour Town, TPC San Antonio, Sedgefield CC, Sea Island Resort
- Hole-by-hole Breakdown:
Austin Country Club has hosted the WGC Dell Match Play each year since 2016. The Pete Dye design features desert-style firm and fast conditions on Bermuda greens and plays to about 7,100 yards in total. Course fit can be overlooked when it comes to the Match Play format, especially on a course like Austin Country Club which can neutralize the advantage of longer hitters. Performance in other individual Match Play events like the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup have proven to be strong indicators of success at the WGC Match Play.
In a limited field of the top-64 OWGR players, this has proven to be a difficult event to find value in from a betting perspective. Given the unpredictability of the Match Play format, and the uncertainty of future matchups players will face throughout the event, it’s a risky event for bettors to place pre-tournament outright wagers on. With that said, four of the last six winners have opened at 45-1 odds or longer, suggesting there is potential in mid to long range bets at the WGC Dell Match Play.
WGC DELL MATCH PLAY PAST WINNERS
The below table tracks consensus pre-tournament outright golf odds for the last 10 winners of the WGC Dell Match Play.
| Year | Winner | Pre-Tournament Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Scottie Scheffler | +1800 |
| 2021 | Billy Horschel | +8000 |
| 2020 | N/A | N/A |
| 2019 | Kevin Kisner | +5000 |
| 2018 | Bubba Watson | +4500 |
| 2017 | Dustin Johnson | +900 |
| 2016 | Jason Day | +11000 |
| 2015 | Rory McIlroy | +900 |
| 2014 | Jason Day | +1500 |
| 2013 | Matt Kuchar | +2800 |
HOW TO BET WGC DELL MATCH PLAY
One of the great things about Austin Country Club hosting the WGC Dell Match Play event again is golfers have familiarity with the course. So if previous winners like Scottie Scheffler or Billy Horschel are part of the 2023 event, these players know how to play the course. With this being the eighth-straight year for the event at the same location, there is a good chance of tracking down previous results for other players as well. The unknown is how the course will play this time around.
Keep in mind golf betting menus can have a different look when it comes to match play events. When a golfer is on the course, the focus will be on one player versus several. If the two players have a history against one another, the betting opportunities could be on the one who is due for a win or seems to have a big advantage over his opponent. Besides considering which players have the best odds, think about the ones who have a history of top-5 and top-10 performances.
With match play events, mistakes can be extremely costly and impact the golfer’s chance of winning. Bettors also might want to avoid backing slow starters as it can be difficult for them to win events like the WGC Dell March Play.