Billy Horschel took the lead over Scottie Scheffler on Sunday with a par on the seventh hole of their finals match of the Dell Technologies Match Play, then went two up when Scheffler bogeyed the ninth hole. The pair tied the next seven holes, giving Horschel a 2&1 victory for his sixth PGA Tour win.
The 34-year-old out of the University of Florida picked up 550 FedEx Cup points to rise to seventh in the standings and earned $1,820,000 for the win.
Where did all the favorites go?
Nothing demonstrates the unpredictability of the match play format than the list of players that emerged from pool play in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. Perhaps it’s more telling to look at who failed to make it to the Round of 16 at Austin Country Club.
Of the top 16 seeds, 15 of them failed to advance out of their four-player groups, with only third seed Jon Rahm making it to the knockout stages.
It didn’t get any easier for favored players, as the highest seed to make it to the semifinals was number 30 Scottie Scheffler, who had odds of +4000. He was pitted against former Match Play champion and 52nd seed Matt Kuchar at +12500.
Billy Horschel was +8000 to win the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play heading into the week.
On the other side of the draw were 31st and 32nd seeds Victor Perez at +10000 and eventual champion Billy Horschel, who paid a nice return at +8000.
The first match was close throughout, with Scheffler briefly going two holes ahead after a birdie on the par-3 11th hole in windy conditions. Kuchar won the next two holes to pull even until Scheffler again got a two on the par-3 17th to take the lead and closed out the match after both players took pars on the 18th hole.
In the other match, Horschel took control after Perez took bogeys on the 10th and 11th holes to fall two holes behind. Perez bogeyed the par-4 14th to go down by three holes but bounced back with a birdie 3 on the 15th hole to stay alive. Horschel closed out the match with a birdie on the par-5 16th hole.
How the Betting Favorites Fared at Austin Country Club
Bryson DeChambeau was the tournament betting co-favorite at +1200, along with Justin Thomas. Both players managed just one win in their three matches and failing to even get into a playoff for the group.
World number one Dustin Johnson was at +1400 and was the top seed in the tournament. He went 1-1-1 in group play, losing to Kevin Na on the 18th hole in his final match to miss out on a chance at a playoff.
Rahm was also at +1400 odds and was the only one of the top 16 seeds to make it out of the group stage. He managed to defeat 62nd-seeded Erik van Rooyen 3&2 in the Round of 16 but fell to Scheffler in the quarterfinals after Scheffler made a great birdie on the 17th hole to close out a 3&1 victory.
