Jordan Spieth tops field of 64 who have qualified for Dell Match Play

 

AUSTIN, Texas – Welcome back to Austin, Jordan Spieth.

 

The former Texas Longhorn star came in at No. 1 in the world golf rankings that were released Monday. Spieth and the other top 63 players officially have qualified for next week's World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play at Austin Country Club.

 

The 64 eligible players have until 5:00 p.m. Friday to commit to the tournament or give up their spot to the next highest-ranking player. According to the PGA Tour, two players among the top 64 already know they won't be in Austin.

 

Sweden's Henrik Stenson, who is ranked seventh, has said he can't be in Austin because of a schedule conflict. Jim Furyk, who is No. 15, is recovering from wrist surgery.

 

With Stenson and Furyk out, Patton Kizzire (No. 65) and Thorbjorn Olesen (No. 66) will move into the field.

 

Kizzire's tie for 33rd at the Valspar Championship this past weekend helped him move up three spots from No. 68 to 65 while Olesen slipped from No. 65 to 66.

 

Eligible players have the chance to improve their seeds in this week in events worldwide heading into the Dell Match Play, with its top prize of $1,612,432. The total purse is $9.5 million.

 

So here's what will happen next:

 

When the updated world rankings are released next Monday, the top 16 players will receive a No. 1 seed – similar to the NCAA's annual March Madness – for the match-play event. During a bracket show later that night that will be broadcast live from the Paramount Theater by the Golf Channel, each four-man group of match-play competitors will be announced.

 

Starting March 23, the four players in each of 16 groups will face off in round-robin matches at Austin Country Club. The player with the best record in his group will move on the round of 16, which starts March 26. The quarterfinals will be later that day, with the semifinals and finals to follow on March 27.

 

Spieth, who won the Masters and U.S. Open in 2015, will be the crowd favorite at ACC and the player most familiar with the course.

 

The past two winners of the Dell Match Play – Rory McIlroy and Jason Day – are ranked No. 2 and 3 in this week's rankings. Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler round out the top five.

 

Thomas Pieters was the only player to jump into the top 64 over the weekend, when he finished third at the European Tour's True Thailand Classic. Pieters' result lifted the Belgian – who starred at the University of Illinois – 10 spots in the world rankings from No. 66 to 56.

 

Here is the field as of now:

 

1. Jordan Spieth

 

2. Rory McIlroy

 

3. Jason Day

 

4. Bubba Watson

 

5. Rickie Fowler

 

6. Adam Scott

 

7. Henrik Stenson (will not play, schedule conflict)

 

8. Justin Rose

 

9. Dustin Johnson

 

10. Patrick Reed

 

11. Danny Willett

 

12. Branden Grace

 

13. Sergio Garcia

 

14. Hideki Matsuyama

 

15. Jim Furyk (will not play, recovering from wrist surgery)

 

16. Louis Oosthuizen

 

17. Brandt Snedeker

 

18. Phil Mickelson

 

19. Brooks Koepka

 

20. Zach Johnson

 

21. Carl Schwartzel

 

22. Kevin Kisner

 

23. J.B. Holmes

 

24. Jimmy Walker

 

25. Shane Lowry

 

26. Paul Casey

 

27. Kevin Na

 

28. Matt Kuchar

 

29. Marc Leishman

 

30. Byeong Hun An

 

31. Bill Haas

 

32. Andy Sullivan

 

33. Justin Thomas

 

34. Russell Knox

 

35. Danny Lee

 

36. Emiliano Grillo

 

37. Bernd Wiesberger

 

38. Thongchai Jaidee

 

39. David Lingmerth

 

40. Victor Dubuisson

 

41. Chris Wood

 

42. Martin Kaymer

 

43. Soren Kjeldsen

 

44. Billy Horschel

 

45. Ryan Moore

 

46. Kiradech Aphibarnrat

 

47. Matthew Fitzpatrick

 

48. Scott Piercy

 

49. Robert Streb

 

50. Smylie Kaufman

 

51. Jaco Van Zyl

 

52. Anirban Lahiri

 

53. Jamie Donaldson

 

54. Daniel Berger

 

55. Rafael Cabrera

 

56. Thomas Pieters

 

57. Charley Hoffman

 

58. Jason Dufner

 

59. Fabian Gomez

 

60. Chris Kirk

 

61. Matt Jones

 

62. Graeme McDowell

 

63. Lee Westwood

 

64. Marcus Fraser

 

Alternates: 65. Patton Kizzire; 66. Thorbjorn Olesen; 67. Ian Poulter; 68. Gary Woodland; 69. Ryan Palmer

 

This article was written by Suzanne Halliburton from Austin American-Statesman and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.