Quick 9: Break time, anyone?

AUSTIN, Texas – The first three winners since the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play moved to Austin Country Club? Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson. Obviously, it’s a big boy’s course for a big boy tournament. “Tells me good players won every year,â€� Johnson said Tuesday. But in Match Play, there’s still a chance for Cinderella to make an appearance – which is why playing our Bracket Challenge is so intriguing. THE FLYOVER  The scenic stretch of par-4 holes next to Lake Austin can often be pivotal, as it offers both scoring opportunities and the potential for danger. The 317-yard 13th is drivable; it played to a stroke average of 3.545 last year and gives a player trailing his match a chance to be aggressive. The 465-yard 14th and 440-yard 15th are not as easy but each played under par last year. Water comes into play at the 13th and 14th. With fans watching from boats on the water, it’s a fun area on the back nine. LANDING ZONE  The 498-yard par-4 eighth has statistically been the most difficult hole at Austin Country Club. It’s the longest hole on the course and has played to a stroke average of 4.176. Most drives will fall off to the right; last year, 75 tee shots ended up in the right rough compared to just 10 in the left rough. No wonder it’s called “Tumbleslope.â€� Here’s where all tee shots were hit last year. WEATHER CHECK From PGA TOUR meteorologist Wade Stettner: “High pressure will influence the weather on Wednesday and Thursday with partly cloudy skies and seasonal temperatures. Friday will be the warmest day of the week as temperatures climb into the lower 80s. A strong cold front is forecast to arrive in Austin on Saturday morning with cooler temperatures and a chance for showers and thunderstorms. Temperatures will be even cooler on Sunday with temperatures only reaching the lower 60s.â€� For the latest weather news from Austin, Texas, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I always say I’m not in a slump … I just say everybody else is really good. They’re just beating me. BY THE NUMBERS 43 – Number of matches played by Tiger Woods in this event, the most of any player – despite not having played the last five years. Ian Poulter is second on the all-time list at 42. 62 – The lowest seed to win the Match Play (Kevin Sutherland in 2002). 5 – Number of times to the No. 1 overall seed has won — Tiger in 2003, ’04 and ’08; Rory McIlroy in 2015 and Dustin Johnson in 2017. 9 and 8 – Largest margin of victory in any single match in this event. It happened in the first round of 2006 when Tiger beat Stephen Ames. SCATTERSHOTS Loving those WGCs: Of Dustin Johnson’s 20 career PGA TOUR wins, six have come in World Golf Championships events, including his last one earlier this year at the Mexico Championship. He’s the only player to complete the career WGC Slam. “You definitely know when you’re at a WGC compared to like a normal TOUR event for the most part,â€� Johnson said. “It’s a bigger tournament in our schedule. You definitely know that. But I don’t prepare any differently.â€� Johnson, by the way, is the top overall seed for the third straight year. “Shows me that what I’m doing is the right things,â€� he said. “It kind of drives me to keep working hard and to keep doing the things that I’m doing.â€� 20 years later: Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Lee Westwood and Jim Furyk are the only players in this week’s field of 64 who participated in the first Match Play event 20 years ago at La Costa, when Jeff Maggert defeated Andrew Magee in 38 holes. “I’m the oldest of the four, dammit,â€� said the 48-year-old Furyk, making his 18th start this week. “… I’m proud of the longevity, the consistency and the number of times I’ve been invited to play this event. It’s been fun.â€� Group of Death? Speaking of Furyk, he’s in the group that includes Mickelson, Henrik Stenson and two-time Match Play champ Jason Day. All major winners, and only Furyk has not won a PLAYERS Championship – although he came close earlier this month with a runner-up finish. “Mega-group,â€� remarked Paul Casey.

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After roughly 10 million memes, countless sound bites and the Ryder Cup hug seen ‘round the world, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka will bring their rivalry to the fifth edition of “The Match,” scheduled for Friday in Las Vegas. While the feud has generated plenty of additional interest in both players, there would be little reason to invest in their back-and-forth if both Koepka and DeChambeau weren’t exceptionally talented. DeChambeau’s unprecedented distance and approach to dismantling golf courses can shake up a field before the opening tee shot is struck. Koepka, meanwhile, has assembled an historic record in the majors, consistently stalking the game’s biggest leaderboards. RELATED LINKS: Twenty First Group | A look at The Match’s top moments | Five Things to Know: Wynn GC Let’s examine the resumes and respective games of both stars in advance of Friday’s mano-a-mano affair THE HISTORY BOOKS 5 The number of players to win both the U.S. Amateur and NCAA Division I individual title in the same year, which DeChambeau did in 2015. The others? Jack Nicklaus (1961), Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1996) and Ryan Moore (2004). 6 DeChambeau’s 6-shot win in the 2020 U.S. Open was the largest margin of victory since Martin Kaymer’s 8-shot romp in 2014, and marked the first time that the winner of the championship was the only player in the field under par since Woods in 2002. 7.9 The number of strokes DeChambeau gained on the field with his final-round 67 at Winged Foot. The scoring average that Sunday was 74.9. It was the most strokes gained in the final round by a U.S. Open champion since Johnny Miller’s historic 63 in 1973. 7 Koepka is one of seven players since World War II to win four majors before his 30th birthday. 1 The number of players to hold two back-to-back major championship titles simultaneously. Koepka became the only player to do that after winning the 2017 and 2018 U.S. Opens and 2018 and 2019 PGA Championships. When Koepka finished second to Gary Woodland in the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he joined Bobby Jones as the only players in the last 100 years to finish first or second in the U.S. Open three consecutive years. -25 Koepka’s three-year cumulative score to par at the U.S. Open from 2017-19 was a preposterous 25 under. Not only is that the best three-year score of all-time, it’s 13 shots better than anyone else. Nicklaus was -12 from 1980-82, while Woods tied that from 2000-2002. 4 Koepka won his four majors in an eight-start span, something only Hogan, Nicklaus and Woods have done. -92 Since the beginning of 2016, Koepka is a combined 92 under par in major championships, 64 shots better than any other player. Dustin Johnson is second in that span at 28 under. STATISTICAL STRENGTHS 2 Number of times DeChambeau has set the TOUR’s single-season driving distance record. His average measured tee shot in 2020 was 322.1, the highest in any single season in TOUR history. He broke his own record the following season, posting a clip of 323.7. Last season, he led the PGA TOUR in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee, average distance of all drives and percentage of drives hit more than 320 yards (56.3%). 350.6 yards DeChambeau’s driving-distance average at the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic, the highest ever for a player in the week of his victory. 42 feet, 6 inches DeChambeau’s average proximity on approach shots from outside 200 yards, the best on TOUR last season by nearly 10 feet. DeChambeau’s average score in relation to par in those situations was a stellar -0.29 – fourth-best on TOUR. 22.5 DeChambeau’s average ranking in Strokes Gained: Putting in the past four seasons, proving that he’s both driving and putting for dough. He is one of just four players to be ranked in the top 35 on TOUR in that stat each of the last four years, joining Webb Simpson, Denny McCarthy and Kevin Kisner. 8th Koepka’s rank in Strokes Gained: Total last season, the best of his career. He was one of just eight players to rank in the top 25 in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green last season. The average TOUR player gains two or more strokes on the field tee-to-green about 19% of the time. Koepka did that nearly twice as often in 2020-2021. 1st As proof that Koepka thrives in tough conditions, he leads all players in both total driving and greens in regulation in the U.S. Open over the last 20 years (minimum 20 rounds played in that span). 4.22 Koepka has averaged 4.22 birdies-or-better per round in the majors since 2016. The only other player to average 4 or more in that stretch is Collin Morikawa (4.03).

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