Rahm v Koepka and Final rematch headline sweet 16 at World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play

AUSTIN, Texas – A blockbuster matchup between world No. 1 Jon Rahm and multiple major winner Brooks Koepka and a rematch of last year’s championship final between Scottie Scheffler and Billy Horschel headline a star-studded Round of 16 at the World Golf Championships–Dell Technologies Match Play.

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Rahm topped his group at Austin Country Club despite falling, 3 and 2, to Patrick Reed on Friday, surviving when Cameron Young failed to beat Sebastian Munoz to force a playoff. Koepka was a perfect 3-0 in group play, taking down Shane Lowry 1-up to secure his spot.

While the two have come face-to-face in the team play section of two Ryder Cups, they’ve never met head-to-head in singles play. Koepka and Tony Finau defeated Rahm and Justin Rose in Four-ball at the 2018 Ryder Cup, but Rahm returned serve at Whistling Straits last year.

Paired with Sergio Garcia, Rahm got the better of Koepka and Daniel Berger in Foursomes and also prevailed in Four-ball over Koepka and Jordan Spieth.

“I’m still trying to win. It's the same thing. Nothing changes,” Rahm said ahead of Saturday’s battle. The Spaniard reached the same portion of competition a year ago in Austin before falling to local favorite Scheffler and believes all opponents are hard challenges.

“You've just got to go and win it,” he said bluntly.

His opponent wasn’t biting either. “I’ve been playing good, just really haven't seen the results. This week, anything can happen,” Koepka said after finishing the group stage leading the field in total birdies and Strokes Gained: Approach.

Scheffler needed to survive a six-hole playoff against Matt Fitzpatrick to book his place in the final 16, where he gets the chance to exact some revenge on defending champion Horschel. The former University of Texas student enthralled the galleries last year only to fall at the final hurdle. This time he hopes for a different result.

“It'll be a fun match. I haven't had much time to process, but I'm just going to go home and get some rest and prepare for a good fight tomorrow,” Scheffler said, before confirming he had no plans of reviewing the tape of his loss a year ago. Back then, Scheffler was without a win on the PGA TOUR. Now he has two from the last few months.

Horschel was looking to continue his winning streak in the tournament to an eighth straight but settled for a tie against Thomas Pieters on Friday.

“Right now, I feel really confident with my game and feel really confident with what I'm doing. I know why I hit bad shots. I know why I hit the good ones,” Horschel said. “When I have that, it's just an ease you have because you know what you need to do to hit a better shot the next time.”

Scheffler wasn’t the only local favorite helping the Texan crowd find its voice, with longtime Dallas resident Will Zalatoris taking down Viktor Hovland 1-up in their match and then besting him again in a sudden-death playoff to advance from the group.

World No. 3 Hovland needed just a tie from their match to move on and the Norwegian rallied with a birdie on the 17th to be just 1 down and within a chance of doing just that. But Zalatoris made a clutch 11-foot putt to win the match before dropping in another from just inside 10 feet on the second playoff hole to survive and send Hovland home.

Zalatoris now meets Kevin Na, who had to beat Maverick McNealy in a playoff to move on. Na made a run to the quarterfinals at Austin Country Club in 2019 and the Round of 16 in 2017.

Former champion Dustin Johnson advanced out of Group 8 with his next opponent one of the surprise stories of the tournament. England’s 49-year-old journeyman Richard Bland will look to continue the form that saw him take Bryson DeChambeau, Lee Westwood and Talor Gooch out of commission.

World No. 2 Collin Morikawa made his way to the final 16 with a 1-up win over Jason Kokrak, leaving him a date with International Presidents Cup star Abraham Ancer. The 15th seed from Mexico took down Webb Simpson 2-up to secure his group.

Kevin Kisner, the 2019 champion and 2018 runner-up at Austin Country Club, earned a match against Australia’s Adam Scott after going undefeated through his group. His latest victim was Justin Thomas, who could only shake his head as Kisner put up five birdies and an eagle in the opening eight holes to take control on the way to a 4-and-3 win.

Scott hasn’t reached the final 16 of the tournament since the single elimination days back in 2005. The veteran was third in 2003, a Round of 16 loser in 2004 and a quarterfinalist in 2005. It’s just the third time he’s played the tournament in nine years, the last coming back in 2016. He survived the group stage despite losing strokes on the greens.

Japanese youngster Takumi Kanaya, the 56th seed, found his way to the Round of 16 after a dominant win over Lucas Herbert. The young Australian suffered a 5-and-4 defeat to Kanaya but still had the chance to atone via a playoff for the group. But it was Kanaya who survived when Herbert three-putted from 17 feet on the first playoff hole to be eliminated.

Kanaya rode his scrambling to contention, leading the field with an incredible +5.802 Strokes Gained: Around the Greens through his matches. The 23-year-old will now take on Canadian Corey Conners, who survived the win-and-in battle against Alex Noren, 3 and 2.

In the last of Saturday morning’s knockout matches, England’s Tyrrell Hatton will take on Seamus Power of Ireland. Hatton breezed through his group without a loss while Power was the victor in Group 4 despite losing to Keith Mitchell on Friday, 2 and 1.

By The Numbers – Round of 16

Seeds: Jon Rahm (1), Collin Morikawa (2), Scottie Scheffler (5), Dustin Johnson (8), Billy Horschel (12), Tyrrell Hatton (13), Abraham Ancer (15), Brooks Koepka (16), Will Zalatoris (24), Kevin Na (25), Kevin Kisner (29), Adam Scott (32), Corey Conners (36), Seamus Power (42), Richard Bland (54), Takumi Kanaya (56).

Holes Played: Conners (35), Power (45), Rahm (46), Kisner (48), Kanaya (49), Johnson (50), Zalatoris (50), Horschel (50), Koepka (51), Scott (52), Hatton (52), Morikawa (53), Ancer (53), Bland (53), Scheffler (54), Na (55)

Birdies/Eagles: Koepka (17), Morikawa (15), Scheffler (15), Hatton (15), Rahm (14), Kisner (14), Horschel (14), Johnson (14), Ancer (14), Na (14), Kanaya (13), Scott (12), Bland (12), Power (10), Conners (10), Zalatoris (9)

Strokes Gained: Off-The-Tee: Morikawa +3.969; Rahm +2.591; Conners +2.357; Johnson +2.032; Scheffler +1.597; Zalatoris +1.101; Ancer +0.543; Hatton +0.496; Scott +0.345; Na +0.118; Koepka -0.089; Horschel -0.663; Kisner -0.814; Power -1.002; Kanaya -2.674; Bland -3.084.

Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green: Scheffler +4.712; Kisner +3.840; Koepka +3.692; Rahm +3.416; Morikawa +3.400; Scott +1.639; Zalatoris +1.523; Kanaya +0.340; Power +0.157; Ancer -0.013; Conners -0.146; Hatton -1.448; Horschel -1.637; Johnson -2.405; Na -2.710; Bland -2.805.

Strokes Gained: Approach the Green: Koepka +3.988; Kisner +1.826; Johnson +1.550; Scott +1.389; Power +1.074; Morikawa +1.018; Scheffler +1.014; Zalatoris +0.657; Bland -0.162; Conners -0.236; Ancer -0.320; Rahm -1.218; Horschel -1.595; Hatton -2.452; Na -2.532; Kanaya -2.845.

Strokes Gained: Around the Green: Kanaya +5.802; Kisner +2.476; Scheffler +2.153; Rahm +1.524; Horschel +1.062; Hatton +1.005; Bland +0.515; Koepka +0.335; Ancer +0.325; Na +0.209; Zalatoris -0.145; Scott -0.228; Power -0.602; Morikawa -0.822; Conners -2.447; Johnson -5.537.

Strokes Gained: Putting: Johnson +6.501; Ancer +5.490; Scheffler +3.815; Na +3.141; Hatton +3.042; Rahm +2.804; Horschel +2.431; Kanaya +2.270; Koepka +1.936; Bland +1.736; Conners +1.697; Kisner +1.374; Power +0.803; Morikawa +0.277; Zalatoris -0.089; Scott -1.104.