Field Level Media's Golf Glance provides weekly news and storylines from each of the major North American golf tours.
PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: The Honda Classic (Matt Jones)
THIS WEEK: World Golf Championships -- Dell Technologies Match Play, Austin, Texas, March 24-28
Course: Austin Country Club (Par 71, 7,108 yards)
Purse: $10.5 million (Winner: $1.8M)
Defending Champion: Kevin Kisner
FedEx Cup leader: Bryson DeChambeau
HOW TO WATCH
TV: Wednesday-Friday, 2-8 p.m.
ET (Golf Channel); Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (GC), 3-7 p.m. (NBC).
PGA Tour Live: Wednesday-Friday, 10:15 a.m.-8 p.m. ET (Featured Matches); Saturday, 8:15 a.m.-2 p.m. (Featured Matches).
NOTES: This is the only official head-to-head match play event on the PGA Tour schedule.
The field is divided into 16 four-player groups for round robin competition. Players receive one point for a win in group play and a half-point for a tie, with the player with the highest point total in each group advancing to the 16-player, single-elimination matches.
... The field includes 64 of the top 69 players in the official world golf rankings. The only players to qualify who are not in the field are Brooks Koepka, Adam Scott, Justin Rose, Tiger Woods and Gary Woodland. They were replaced by Ian Poulter, Erik van Rooyen, Adam Long, J.T.
Poston and Dylan Frittelli. ... Twenty-two players will make their Match Play debuts. ... No player to win the Match Play has also gone on to win the FedEx Cup in the same season. ... The event was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. ...
Frittelli, Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler played numerous practice rounds at Austin Country Club while starring at the University of Texas.
BEST BETS: Dustin Johnson (+1400 at DraftKings) won the event in 2017 and his six career WGC titles are second only to Woods' 18.
... Justin Thomas (+1400) is coming off a win at The Players and has won two career WGC events, although his best finish in the Match Play was fourth place in 2018. ... Jon Rahm (+1400) has failed to advance from group play in the past two events. He did lose weight in 1 weeks to Johnson in the final in 2017 and enters with six top-10s in 10 starts this season. ...
Bryson DeChambeau (+1400) has a win and a T3 in his past two starts. ... Patrick Reed (+2800) is a noted Ryder Cup star who thrives in the match play atmosphere. He also leads the Tour in strokes gained putting. ... Kevin Kisner (+7000) hasn't posted a top-20 finish in five 2021 starts.
Not only is he the defending champion, but Kisner was the runner-up in 2018 and offers longshot odds.
THIS WEEK: Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship, Dominican Republic, March 25-28
Course: Corales Golf Course (Par 72, 7,670 yards)
Purse: $3 million (Winner: $540,000)
Defending Champion: Hudson Swafford
HOW TO WATCH
TV: Thursday-Friday, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
ET; Saturday, 2-5 p.m. (GC), Sunday, 2:30-5:30 p.m. (All times Golf Channel)
NOTES: The event was canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. ... Players who finished within the top 10 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List at the end of 2020 earned spots in alternate-field PGA Tour events this year.
Points leader Will Zalatoris qualified for the Match Play event. ... The Tom Fazio-designed course is one of the longest on the Tour. ... The winning score has been 18 under each of the three years the event has been on the Tour schedule.
NEXT WEEK: Valero Texas Open, San Antonio, April 1-4
LPGA Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: LPGA Drive On Championship (Austin Ernst)
THIS WEEK: Kia Classic, Carlsbad, Calif., March 25-28
Course: Aviara Golf Club, Carlsbad, Calif.
(Par 72, 6,609 yards)
Purse: $1.8 million (Winner: $270,000)
Defending Champion: Nasa Hataoka
Race to the CME Globe leader: Nelly Korda
HOW TO WATCH
TV: Thursday-Friday, 6-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel, tape delayed); Saturday-Sunday, 3-6 p.m.
(GC)
Livestream: Thursday-Sunday, 3 -6 p.m. (NBC Sports App, GolfChannel.com)
NOTES: The event returns after being canceled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. ... The 144-player field will be cut to the top-70 and ties following 36 holes. ... Mirim Lee (2017) and Cristie Kerr (2015) share the tournament scoring record of 20-under 268.
... Danielle Kang leads the Team USA Solheim Cup standings with 311.0 points, followed by Korda (267.5) and Ernst (182.5). Angela Stanford (131.5) currently holds the final automatic spot on the team. Emily Kristine Pedersen (108.38) leads the Team Europe standings for the Sept.
4-6 event.
NEXT EVENT: ANA Inspiration, Rancho Mirage, Calif., April 1-4
Champions Tour
LAST TOURNAMENT: Cologuard Classic (Kevin Sutherland)
THIS WEEK: OFF
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Sutherland
NEXT TOURNAMENT: Chubb Classic, Newport Beach, Calif., April 16-18
--Field Level Media