Collin Morikawa wins Workday Charity Open

In 2017 at the actual World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, Jon Rahm came oh-so-close to winning it all at Austin Country Club. This week, in our Mythical Match Play Championship, the Spaniard took the last step, earning the fictious title in voting that included experts and fans. No. 2 seed Rahm beat top overall seed Rory McIlroy in a final separated by one vote. Although McIroy was the overwhelming favorite of our readers with 81 percent of the votes, Rahm grabbed 6 of the 10 expert votes for the final tally of 6 votes to 5. Xander Schauffele beat Sungjae Im in the third-place match. Of course, none of this is official. Our Mythical event is the just-for-fun exercise we’re conducting this week in lieu of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, which was among the canceled events by the PGA TOUR in response to the coronavirus pandemic. After the TOUR conducted a draw to produce a bracket, our 10 experts began voting. We released the Round 1 results on Wednesday (click here), the Round 2 results on Thursday (click here) and the Round 3 results on Friday (click here) that determined the 16 also used fan voting to break three ties. On Saturday, we conducted voting for the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, again involving our fans to break three tiebreakers (click here). We asked our fans on the tournament’s Twitter feed to become the 11th vote for our two semifinal matches Sunday morning, and the fans cast the deciding vote by choosing McIlroy over Schauffele. Rahm handily beat Im. No surprise that McIlroy and Rahm reached the finals, as they were the top two seeds entering the tournament. Had this been the real thing, it would’ve been the first time the top two seeds had ever met in the final of the Dell Technologies Match Play. Our 10 expert voters include: GolfBet’s Jason Sobel from The Action Network; GolfTV’s Jamie Kennedy; Tom Alter and Jim McCabe from PGA TOUR Communications; Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton; PGATOUR.COM writers Ben Everill, Sean Martin, Mike McAllister and Cameron Morfit; and a combined vote from the TOUR’s ShotLink team. The results of the final and semifinal matches are below (player seed in parentheses). CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL Rory McIlroy (1) vs. Jon Rahm (2): 6 votes for Rahm, 5 votes for McIlroy (including fan vote). RAHM wins the championship. Why I picked Rahm: “What a final. McIlroy has become a clear World No. 1 but Rahm is on the ascent and his short game and putting carry him through the final against Rory.� – Jamie Kennedy Why I picked Rahm: “So tough to choose between the top two players in the world. Their records at Austin CC are nearly identical (Rory’s 8-5-2 in four years; Rahm is 7-4-2 in last three years). My gut feeling is that Rahm, chasing his first World Golf Championships title, will draw upon his championship match loss to Dustin Johnson in 2017 and figure out how to get the job done this time.� – Mike McAllister Why I picked Rahm: “I had the exact opposite final slated and would have gone with Rahm in the consolation match, so I’ll stick with him here to win it all. Rory would be leaving just a touch in the tank for April and it would be the slim margin Rahm would take.� – Ben Everill Why I picked Rahm: “Remarkable consistency for months.� – Jim McCabe Why we voted for McIlroy: “Both players are powerhouses from Tee-to-Green. We’re going to give the edge to McIlroy, who leads the TOUR in Scrambling this season, salvaging par 70.4% of the time compared to Rahm, who ranks 37th at 64%.� – ShotLink team Why I voted for McIlroy: “McIlroy has won this thing before, albeit at TPC Harding Park, and was annoyed by (and will find motivation in) his loss to Tiger Woods in round of 16 last year.� – Cameron Morfit Fan vote: McIlroy 81%, Rahm 19%. THIRD-PLACE MATCH Xander Schauffele (12) vs. Sungjae Im (23): 8 votes for Schauffele, 2 votes for Im. SCHAUFFELE wins. SEMIFINALS McIlroy vs. Schauffele: 6 votes for McIlroy (including fan vote), 5 votes for Schauffele. McILROY wins. Why we picked McIlroy: “Both players rank inside the top-10 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, so it may come to a putting contest. McIlroy ranks fifth in putting from 15-25 feet this season, making 27% from this distance compared to Schauffele, who is 159th, making 14%.� – ShotLink team Fan vote: McIlroy 79%, Schauffele 21% Rahm vs. Im: 7 votes for Rahm (including fan vote), 4 votes for Im. RAHM wins. Why I picked Rahm: “In a much-anticipated meeting (and hopeful precursor of more to follow), Im finally is upended, but the Match Play debutant has nothing about which to be ashamed as Rahm clinches his 12th podium finish worldwide in the last 11 months.� – Rob Bolton Fan vote: Rahm 67%, Im 33%

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The PGA TOUR’s Asia Swing concludes with the 15th World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. This is the 11th time the tournament will be contested as part of the WGC calendar. A year ago it was Xander Schauffele who topped Tony Finau in a playoff. It was Schauffele’s first win of the season (he’d also go on to capture the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January). FIELD NOTES: Xander Schauffele returns to defend his title in China. It’s his second event of the season after teeing it up at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP… Five of the last six winners at the WGC-HSBC Champions will be in the field. The only golfers who are not teeing it up from that group are Dustin Johnson (2013) and Russell Knox (2015)… 2017 winner Justin Rose is making his PGA TOUR season debut… Kevin Kisner is the lone 2019 World Golf Championships winner who will be in the field this week (Johnson and Brooks Koepka are not playing)… Seven golfers who are teeing it up at the Presidents Cup are in the field including six from the International Team. Only Schauffele from the U.S. Team is in the field… Six Chinese golfers will be selected to play in the WGC-HSBC Champions including Xinjun Zhang, who topped the Korn Ferry Tour’s Regular Season Points List this season… Presidents Cup hopeful Jazz Janewattananond will play his second PGA TOUR event of the season after he played THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES… Seventy-eight golfers are in the field, including reigning FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy. FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 points COURSE: Shenshan International GC (West), 7,261 yards, par 72. The course, one of China’s most exclusive, has hosted every edition of the WGC-HSBC Champions save for one. In 2012, the tournament was played at Mission Hills. STORYLINES: 14-under has won the last two WGC-HSBC Champions… Although not in the field this year, Dustin Johnson has feasted on World Golf Championship events in his career, including in China, having both win and finishing runner-up the last five years… Two events remain in the PGA TOUR calendar this portion of the season: the Mayakoba Golf Classic and The RSM Classic… Last year’s runner-up Tony Finau looks to have more success this year as he looks for his second career PGA TOUR title… Phil Mickelson, who won the 2009 HSBC Champions, will be returning to China for the first time since 2017 when he finished T15. 72-HOLE RECORD: 264, Dustin Johnson (2013). 18-HOLE RECORD: 62, Martin Kaymer (3rd round, 2013), Danny Willett (4th round, 2015). LAST TIME: After shooting the round of the day on Sunday, Xander Schauffele’s 4-under-par 68 was enough to get him into a playoff with Tony Finau. Schauffele, who birdied his final two holes Sunday, also birdied the first extra hole while Finau made par, en route to winning his first WGC title. Defending champion Justin Rose just couldn’t get anything going on Sunday and stalled with an even-par 72. He ended up in third place. Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Andrew Putnam rounded out the top-five finishers. It was Aphibarnrat’s second top-5 result in a WGC that year, and it was Putnam’s first-ever WGC event. HOW TO FOLLOW Television: Wednesday-Thursday, 10 p.m.-4 a.m. ET (Golf Channel). Friday-Saturday, 10:30 p.m.-4 a.m. ET (Golf Channel). Tournament ends early Sunday morning and starts Wednesday night Eastern Time. PGA TOUR LIVE: N/A Radio: N/A

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