The PGA Tour travels to Austin Country Club this week for the 2021 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Read on to see my predictions for who will win the tournament, as well as my top 10, dark horse, and player to fade predictions.
Winner: Paul Casey- Casey has played well of late, with 5 straight top 15 finishes, including a win in the Dubai Desert Classic and 2 top 5’s during that stretch. Casey has also played well in this tournament, finishing in the top 10 in 2 of the last 3 years, as well as finishing runner up in 2009 and 2010 when this event was held at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain. Casey has played on multiple Ryder Cup teams and knows how to handle the pressure that goes along with match play situations, which is why I predict a victory from him come Sunday.
Top 10: Jon Rahm- Seemingly lost amongst the headlines created by Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, Rahm has been playing great golf the past few months, finishing in the top 10 in 6 of his last 8 worldwide starts dating back to October. Rahm also has stellar match play experience, finishing runner up in this tournament to Dustin Johnson in 2017 and beating Tiger Woods in his Sunday Singles match at the 2018 Ryder Cup. If Rahm can advance out of the round robin portion of the event, a top 10 is all but a lock.
Dark horse: Jason Kokrak- After going into a bit of a slump following his first career PGA Tour win at The CJ Cup last year, Kokrak’s game is back on track, with 3 straight top 10 finishes. Having not played at Austin Country Club before, Kokrak may face a bit of a learning curve early on, but with his strong play of late, I believe he will at least advance out of round robin play, besting Tony Finau, Dylan Frittelli, and Will Zalatoris to face the winner of Group 5 in the Round of 16.
Player to fade: Webb Simpson- Simpson is giving off mixed signals, coming off a T-6 finish at the World Golf Championships- Workday Championship at The Concession and a missed cut at THE PLAYERS Championship. With that being said, Simpson has not fared well in this event since it moved to Austin Country Club, finishing outside the top 50 twice in 3 starts and never advancing out of the round robin round. Pair that with a 2-2-2 Sunday Singles record in 6 Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup appearances, Simpson is an easy fade for me, as I predict him to finish outside the top 32.