Sleeper Picks: John Deere Classic

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AUSTIN, Texas – If the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play had a Moving Day, Thursday would be it. Here’s a look at some of the notable Day 2 matches at Austin Country Club, plus our expert picks for each one. MATCH PLAY: Scores | Group Standings | Bracket NOTABLE MATCHES Phil Mickelson (20) vs. Jim Furyk (52) – The oldest two guys in the field (48 years old each) will go head-to-head, with Furyk fresh off a come-from-behind win over two-time champion Jason Day while Mickelson in a can’t-lose scenario after his loss to Henrik Stenson. With 39 matches apiece in their career at the event, Mickelson now boasts a 24-15-0 record, with Furyk now 20-18-1. Dustin Johnson (1) vs. Branden Grace (40) – The top-seeded Johnson cruised to a 4 and 3 win over Chez Reavie on Wednesday, but he will have his work cut out for him against the South African. Grace took care of International Presidents teammate Hideki Matsuyama 4 and 3. Grace and Johnson met in the 2017 Presidents Cup singles where they halved. “It’s going to be a tough match …. It’s going to be good,â€� Grace said. “If I keep doing the same things that I’ve done today, ball-striking was a big key … I’ll head to the putting green. I missed one or two little short ones. So if I can get that under control, I’ll be there.â€� Rory McIlroy (4) vs. Justin Harding (47) – THE PLAYERS champion made short work of 64th seed Luke List 5 and 4 on Wednesday, but now must face in-form South African Harding. Harding prevailed 1-up over former U.S. Amateur champion Matthew Fitzpatrick. The 33-year-old recently won the Qatar Masters and was runner-up at the Kenya Open in back-to-back European Tour starts. “I’m going to have to improve a little bit to take him on,â€� Harding said. “Rory’s been playing great over the last couple of weeks. It will be a nice opportunity for me to see how it’s done inside the ropes, and maybe learn a little bit as well, and give the boy a little bit of a challenge.â€� CAN’T AFFORD TO LOSE Here are the Thursday matches featuring two players who lost on Friday. It is impossible to advance out of the group stage with two losses. That meansboth players will be desperate. Louis Oosthuizen (19) vs. Byeong Hun An (49) Cameron Smith (25) vs. Abraham Ancer (58) Webb Simpson (21) vs. Satoshi Kodaira (63) Matthew Fitzpatrick (32) vs. Luke List (64) Rafa Cabrera Bello (29) vs. Lee Westwood (62) Patrick Reed (16) vs. Shane Lowry (46) Hideki Matsuyama (24) vs. Chez Reavie (55) CAN TIGER ROAR? Tiger Woods (13) vs. Brandt Snedeker (44) – In his first start at the Dell Technologies Match Play in six years, Woods survived a scrappy round to beat PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year Aaron Wise. Now he meets Snedeker for the first time in the format. Read more on Woods’ win here. BIG GUNS IN TROUBLE Justin Thomas (5) vs. Matt Wallace (33) – Perhaps the biggest shock on Day 1 was former FedExCup champion Thomas falling to 50th seed Lucas Bjerregaard. It puts Thomas under the gun to find form against Wallace, who took down Keegan Bradley. Thomas had just one birdie on Wednesday in a 3 and 2 loss. Of the 64 players to advance out of the group stage since its introduction in 2015 only eight did so with a day one loss. Jason Day (12) vs. Henrik Stenson (37) – The two-time champion Day plays another former champion in Stenson. But the Australian comes off a loss and must rebound or perish. He ended his loss to Jim Furyk by heading for treatment on his troublesome back. ALL-ENGLISH AFFAIR Justin Rose (2) vs. Eddie Pepperell (34) – Outside of the numerous all-American match-ups over the first three days this is the only other countrymen vs. countrymen affair. Pepperell is coming off a loss to Gary Woodland, making his position precarious, while Rose beat Emiliano Grillo on Wednesday. Rose can potentially afford a loss, but he’s not resting on laurels. “It’s a format that maybe takes a day or two to get into the groove of it,â€� the FedExCup champion said. “There’s many permutations, I guess. I can’t remember them all. But just win, win, win is what you need to do.â€� MASTER VS. APPRENTICE? Ian Poulter (30) vs. Keith Mitchell (56) – In an ironic twist, Mitchell sought out Poulter for Match Play advice earlier in the week prior to them being paired together. Read more about it here. Expert Picks for every match PGATOUR.COM staff writers Ben Everill and Mike McAllister are on site in Austin and will predict the winner of every match each day. Here are their Day 2 picks (matches listed in order of playing schedule):

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Sure, all eyes will still be on Tiger Woods. Same with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas. But there are others on — or at the top — of the leaderboard worthy of attention.

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