The longest week of the golf season concludes on Sunday when we find out the winner of the WGC Dell Matchplay as the semi-finals and then the final is played out across Austin Country Club on another lengthy day of action.
The theme of the week has been shocks and surprises which leaves us with four semi-finalists, none of whom sat in the top 30 in the world going into the week. That means for somebody Sunday is going to be a huge day in their career.
Saturday Recap
We saw some sizzling golf on Saturday with few better than Scottie Scheffler who threw 16 birdies at the golf course in the 31 holes he played in two convincing wins over Ian Poulter and Jon Rahm respectively. Victor Perez wasn’t far behind him though as he saw off Robert MacIntyre and Sergio Garcia with the minimum of fuss. Matt Kuchar also threw birdies at the course in wins over Jordan Spieth and Brian Harman while Billy Horschel battled his way through.
It was a profitable day in the match betting on Saturday but it was a frustrating day at the same time. The profit was delivered by Matt Kuchar in his win on the final hole against Jordan Spieth and when Bubba Watson was 4up on Brian Harman after six holes we looked to be cruising to victory there too. Little did we know we were about to run into a burst of eight birdies in succession which soon put paid to that. Add to the mix that Poulter had no chance of living with Scheffler to bring the place part of the outright in and it was an annoying day.
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Sunday Betting
The semi-finals and the final will be played out on the one day on Sunday. The usual time restrictions will deny us the opportunity to bet on the final and indeed the consolation match which comes before it. We can however get stuck into the two semi-finals and that is exactly what we will do for the remainder of this preview.
Victor Perez vs Billy Horschel
Match tees off at 15.05 BST
The opening semi-final might well be a battle between two sides who lines up for their respective countries at Whistling Straits later in the year as Victor Perez takes on Billy Horschel for a place in the final later in the day.
Both are treading new territories in their careers here. While both have won on their respective tours, neither have won a WGC event or anything like it really, perhaps with the exception of the FedExCup which Horschel won in 2014. Perez is a really improved player and he is playing some brilliant golf this week. He is yet to see the final hole in a competitive match and in his last three matches he has nailed 16 birdies and dropped just one shot. That is hard to beat. Horschel has been solid if a little unspectacular this week and relied on Fleetwood smacking one off the property in overtime to progress through his quarter final. He has had a largely more comfortable draw this week and his bare numbers aren’t as good as those of Perez. Horschel can turn it on but his putter can be very cranky. I’m yet to see a weakness in the game of the Frenchman this week and at odds against he has to be backed to progress.
Matt Kuchar vs Scottie Scheffler
Match tees off at 15.20 BST
The second semi-final is an all-American clash and it should be an absolute cracker between two men who scorched this track on Saturday offering up birdies for fun as Matt Kuchar meets the local lad Scottie Scheffler.
There is plenty at stake here. Not only are they playing for a WGC title but the winner of this semi-final could well be lining up for USA in the Ryder Cup later in the year. That is the by-product of winning but all they will be thinking about is coming through this semi-final. Scheffler didn’t drop a shot in two matches on Saturday and made 16 birdies along the way. If he plays that well again Kuchar has his work cut out but the 2019 finalist was in this position two years ago when he played a rookie big hitter in Lucas Bjerregaard who lit the course up on the Saturday and he saw him off so he has good memories to fall back on. Kuchar himself carded 12 birdies on Saturday and only one terrible drive on nine in the last 16 had him out of position.
I’m not convinced Kuchar wins this match but his experience at this stage of the event and in matchplay overall combined with the fact he’s won matches from behind this week and beaten the likes of Justin Thomas, Louis Oosthuizen, Kevin Kisner and Jordan Spieth along the way make me think he’s overpriced at 13/10 in a two horse race.
Tips
Back V.Perez to beat B.Horschel (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
Back him here:
Back M.Kuchar to beat S.Scheffler for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Coral
Back him here:
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