March is known for its tournament brackets and single-elimination head-to-heads, and it’s not just for college basketball. The golf world takes a pause from its usual format to play its own tournament bracket at the 2022 World Golf Championship.
It’s 64 of the world’s top players going head-to-head at the Austin Country Club, just 83 miles up the road from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, where a pair of Sweet 16 games will be played. And just as with all of the college basketball games this weekend, golf has its favorites, its underdogs, and its Cinderellas.
Favorites to Win 2022 World Golf Championship
- Jon Rahm (+1400)
- Justin Thomas (+1600)
- Viktor Hovland (+1800)
- Collin Morikawa (+2000)
- Scottie Scheffler (+2000)
- Patrick Cantlay (+2200)
- Dustin Johnson (+2200)
- Xander Schauffele (+2500)
- Billy Horschel (+2800)
- Daniel Berger (+2800)
- Jordan Spieth (+2800)
Tournament Format
Beginning on Wednesday and going through Friday, the field of 64 is split into 16 seeded groups of four golfers each. And over those three days, each player in the group will play a match against each of the other three players. One point is awarded for a match win, and a half-point is awarded for a match tie.
The top point getter in each group advances to the single-elimination round of 16, to be played Saturday morning, with the quarterfinals to be played Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning is the semifinals, and by Sunday evening, we will have a 2022 World Golf Championship champion.
Best Bets to Win
Jon Rahm is the best golfer in the world, and he’s also done well at this event. In 2018 he was the runner-up here in Austin, and in 2019 he finished fifth.
Billy Horschel is the defending champion, and last year when he won, he was paying +8000. He’s down to +2800 this year, but that’s still good value for a golfer who does well on this course and in this format.
Scottie Scheffler (+2000) was the runner-up to Horschel in 2021, so he, too, feels comfortable on this course and in this format. He also has the added feature of being the hottest golfer in the world right now. Scheffler was the winner at the Phoenix Open and Arnold Palmer Invitational and sandwiched a T7 at The Genesis between those two victories.
Sergio Garcia has never won this event, but he is terrific in match play. He’s made it to at least the round of 16 nine times at Austin, including the quarterfinals a year ago, making his +5000 payday an attractive flier.
Also at +5000 is Kevin Kisner, who just finished fourth at The PLAYERS. He also had a T3 at the Sony Open, but most importantly, he finished second at this event in 2018 and then won it in 2019.
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