WGC Dell Technologies Match Play 2018 Preview

This week's joint PGA Tour and European Tour offering is the World Golf Championship: Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas.

The second WGC of the year is often one of the most enjoyable and sees the world's best pit their match play wits against each other in the final high-profile event pre-Augusta.

Each and every man in the field will be going all out to play their best golf possible this week with The Masters so close you can almost smell the azaleas.

The $10M tournament purse provides a little extra motivation too.

Last year in Texas

Spaniard Jon Rahm pushed eventual champion Dustin Johnson all the way to a final hole decider in his debut appearance at the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play back in 2017.

The win at Austin Country Club secured back-to-back-to-back wins (yep, three) and was his second WGC title on the bounce.

Catch the highlights of DJ's 2017 semi-final and final (including an 8-iron from 201 yards) below:

The Venue

Course: Austin Country Club
Yardage: 7,108 yds
Par: 71

Austin Country Club has played host to this particular event since 2016 and the Pete Dye design provides two distinctly different nines.

The front nine plays through terrain typical of the surrounding Texas hill country, while the back nine plays alongside Lake Austin and has more of a 'lowlands' feel.

The Field

Four players in the field return to action this week looking to go back-to-back. Last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational champion Rory Mcilroy is joined by three other winners last time out - Phil Mickelson (WGC Mexico), Justin Thomas (Honda Classic) and Paul Casey (Valspar Championship).

Jason Day is somewhat of a matchplay specialist and will fancy his chances this year after withdrawing early on during the 2017 tournament due to family reasons. Meanwhile, Sergio Garcia will play at his first tournament since the birth of his daughter Azalea Adele Garcia.

Beautiful Azalea Adele Garcia was born on March 14 at 1:54am. So proud and impressed with my wife @TheAngelaAkins and the way she handled the pregnancy and delivery! Love you both so much😍😍 pic.twitter.com/IGu1tV1QlA

— Sergio Garcia (@TheSergioGarcia) March 14, 2018

Possible Winners

Dustin Johnson seems to have a knack of winning World Golf Championship events and has already proven his ability to win this particular edition, but predicting a win for the current world number one seems a little boring.

Here's a few predictions that are a little more daring.

Leading contender: Paul Casey

In managing to win the Valspar Championship Casey proved to the golfing world (and himself) that's he's more than just a consistently good player.

Catch the Valspar victory highlights below:

It's that final statement that we like the sound of best though. He's generally solid, and minimising mistakes can take any golfer a long way in match play.

Though more than 10 years ago, he boasts a tournament win in the match play format (HSBC World Match Play).

Worth a look: Rafa Cabrera-Bello

Rafa is a golfer on the up. The Spaniard is making steady progress on the PGA Tour and can take comfort in a third-place finish in this event back in 2016 (played at the same course).

Last year's Scottish Open champion has a big win coming. Could it be this week? We expect a good showing at least.

Who wins the second WGC event of the year? Who needs a good performance heading into The Masters? Let us know below.

Are you ready for the new season kicking off? Give your golf game a boost by joining Hole19 on iOS or Android below. You can also learn more about the game-enhancing benefits of Hole19 Premium.