Help Centre

GUIDE TO GOLF"S 2019 WGC-MATCH PLAY

WHAT: 64 players are seeded and divided into 16 groups of four players for a match play format. Each golfer plays three pool matches between Wednesday and Friday, with the winner from each group advancing to Saturday's round of 16. The quarter-finals are also played on Saturday before Sunday's semi-finals, the third-place consolation match and the championship match.

WHERE: Austin Country Club, a 7,108-yard par 71 course in Austin, Texas.

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Bubba Watson

PURSE: $US10.25 million, with $US1.745 million to the winner and $US50,000 for last place.

AUSTRALIANS: Jason Day, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith

NOTABLE GROUPS

AUSTRALIANS - *Marc Leishman*, Bryson DeChambeau, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Russell Knox; *Cameron Smith, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III, Abraham Ancer; *Jason Day*, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Jim Furyk

BIG NAMES - Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Brandt Snedeker, Aaron Wise; Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Harding, Luke List; Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Branden Grace, Chez Reavie; Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Billy Horschel, Kevin Na; Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry, Andrew Putnam

BEST AUSTRALIAN CHANCE: Day, the 2014 and 2016 WGC-Match Play winner. His razor-sharp short game and clutch putting can frustrate his opponents.

WOODS'S RETURN: Woods, a three-time winner of the event, is making his first appearance at the WGC-Match Play since 2013.He has not played the round-robin format the event adopted in 2015 but insists the competitiveness of match play is an ideal final tournament before the Masters.

WORLD EVENT: With Australia's Adam Scott and American Rickie Fowler skipping the event, the 64-player field has been filled with the top 66 on golf's world rankings. The elite WGC field will feature players from 17 countries.

Jason Day says he'll need to draw on his great record in the event if he's to progress from a star-studded group of majors winners at this week's World Golf Championships-Match Play in Texas.

The WGC-Match Play at Austin Country Club starts with 16 groups of four players contesting round-robin matches on Wednesday through Friday, with only the winners of each group advancing to Saturday's round of 16.

Day, the top seed in group 12 has been drawn alongside five-time major champion Mickelson, as well as 2016 British Open winner Henrik Stenson and former US Open champion Jim Furyk, who was runner-up at the Players Championship eight days ago.

Former world No.1 Day, who won the WGC-Match Play in 2014 and 2016, relished the tough assignment.

"Phil, Henrik and Furyk ... wow, that's a tough group; we're all major winners," Day told AAP on Monday.

"But I feel I've got plenty of experience on my side, having won this event twice.

"I love the fight and grind of the match play format, so I'm really looking forward to these three matches."

Stenson (2007) is the only other player in Day's group to have won the event.

Day's fellow Australian March Leishman drew group six's top seed Bryson DeChambeau, as well as Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Scotland's Russell Knox.

Rounding out the three-player Australian contingent in Austin, Texas is Cameron Smith, the last Australian standing at last year's event where he reached the quarter-finals.

Smith drew Sunday's Valspar Championship winner Paul Casey, as well as veteran Charles Howell III and reigning Australian Open champion Abraham Ancer.

Tiger Woods, a three-time WGC-Match Play winner, drew Patrick Cantlay, Brandt Snedeker and Aaron Wise.

Group 1 - Dustin Johnson, Hideki Matsuyama, Branden Grace, Chez Reavie

Group 2 - Justin Rose, Gary Woodland, Eddie Pepperell, Emiliano Grillo

Group 3 - Brooks Koepka, Alex Noren, Haotong Li, Tom Lewis

Group 4 - Rory McIlroy, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Justin Harding, Luke List

Group 5 - Justin Thomas, Keegan Bradley, Matt Wallace, Lucas Bjerregaard

Group 6 - Bryson DeChambeau, Marc Leishman, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Russell Knox

Group 7 - Francesco Molinari, Webb Simpson, Thorbjorn Olesen, Satoshi Kodaira

Group 8 - Jon Rahm, Matt Kuchar, JB Holmes, Si Woo Kim

Group 9 - Xander Schauffele, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Tyrrell Hatton, Lee Westwood

Group 10 - Paul Casey, Cameron Smith, Charles Howell III, Abraham Ancer

Group 11 - Tommy Fleetwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Kyle Stanley, Byeong Hun An

Group 12 - Jason Day, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Jim Furyk

Group 13 - Tiger Woods, Patrick Cantlay, Brandt Snedeker, Aaron Wise

Group 14 - Tony Finau, Ian Poulter, Kevin Kisner, Keith Mitchell

Group 15 - Bubba Watson (defending champion), Jordan Spieth, Billy Horschel, Kevin Na

Group 16 - Patrick Reed, Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry, Andrew Putnam

Australian youngster Curtis Luck can give his PGA Tour career a boost with a big final round at the Valspar Championship in Florida, having secured a spot on the leaderboard.

Ranked No.491 in the world, the 22-year-old Luck is poised for his best result of the season after hanging tough with a one-under-par 70 to be tied sixth, four shots behind the leader and defending champion Paul Casey.

Englishman Casey fired a 68 to get to nine-under, one shot clear of world No.1 Dustin Johnson (67) going into the final round on the Innisbrook course.

Luck had made only four cuts from 10 events this season, earning $US89,830, but found some form late last month with a tied 25th in Puerto Rico.

Veteran countryman Matt Jones is also in the hunt, one shot further back after a 68 on Saturday.

Johnson closed in on Casey with a birdie on the last.

"He (Johnson) is the best player in the world," said Casey, who is seeking to become the first back-to-back winner in the event's 19-year history.

"That's why I work and I do what I do, because I want to play against the best in the world."

American Jason Kokrak had a hole-in-one on the 15th hole and shot 30 on the back nine for a 66 that left him two shots behind Casey.

"You can be three, four, five shots out at this golf course and really make some noise if you get it going early," Kokrak said.

Early starters Paul Casey and Austin Cook survived after a costly finish by one-time leader Luke Donald to earn a one-stroke advantage in Florida's Valspar Championship, but Aussie Jason Day missed the cut.

Englishman Casey, the defending champion, shot 66 and American Cook 67 to hold onto the joint lead on six-under after the second round at Palm Harbor.

Donald, who played behind compatriot Casey and American Cook, had taken a one-shot lead with four holes to play but two bogeys coming home left him in a three-way tie for third after a scrambling one-under 70.

Level with the former world No.1 at 137 were American Scott Stallings (68) and South Korea's Im Sung-jae (67), with Dustin Johnson one shot back.

"I've never defended a professional event. I would love to do that," Casey said.

"Mentally last year I was hoping I would win, wanting to win. This year, knowing that I have won around here, I have a slightly different approach to it.

"I played today quite aggressively and tried to take advantage of the golf course that I knew was going to get very, very tough this afternoon."

Australian Curtis Luck (68) was tied with Johnson and early leader Joel Dahmen on four-under overall, but star Jason Day is out.

Day ended play at three-over par after producing a second-round even-par 71, cancelling out four birdies with two bogeys and a third-hole double bogey.

The 31-year-old struggled in the opening round with a three-over par 74, hitting five bogeys and two birdies in what was meant to be a test of his Masters credentials, three weeks out from the major.

Compatriot Matt Jones remains alive, sitting on one-under overall, but Aussies John Senden, Rod Pampling and Cameron Davis will go home early.

Scot Russell Knox, tied for third after the first round, barely made the cut after soaring from a 67 on Thursday to a 76 in windy conditions on Friday.

Scott Hend sits among a congested leaderboard heading into the final day of the Maybank Championship in Kuala Lumpur.

Easily the best-placed of the Australian contingent, Hend fired a third-round 67 that included eight birdies and three bogeys to finish three shots behind the leader Nacho Elvira.

Elvira increased his chances of securing a maiden European Tour title after closing his third round with back-to-back birdies to open up a two-shot lead at 13-under.

The 32-year-old began the day trailing halfway leader Thomas Pieters by a single shot, but he carded seven birdies and a single bogey at Saujana Golf and Country Club on Saturday to climb to the top of the leaderboard.

American David Lipsky was alone in second place on 11-under par, one shot clear of Maximilian Kieffer, Jazz Janewattananond and Hend.

Four-time major champion Ernie Els sat in a share of sixth place on nine under alongside Benjamin Hebert, who shot a 65 to tie the lowest round of the week so far.

An albatross from 275 yards has helped Scot Russell Knox vault to within one stroke of first-round leaders Sepp Straka and Joel Dahmen at the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida.

After a 300-yard drive, Knox used a three-wood for his rare feat at the par-five 11th hole at Innisbrook Resort, with the ball trickling in at perfect speed.

"It was a good way to go from plus two to minus one very quickly," Knox told PGA Tour radio after carding a four-under par 67.

"I hit a beautiful drive and I knew if I hit a nice three-wood down there I'd be somewhere near the green and that's really all I was really looking for."

It was the second albatross in a week on the PGA Tour, after American Harris English recorded one at the Players Championship.

Vienna-born Straka, the first Austrian to hold PGA Tour membership, waltzed to his five-under par 66 with the only bogey-free round of the day, while American Dahmen had one blemish on his card.

Englishman Luke Donald and American Kevin Kisner joined Knox on 67, but Australian Jason Day struggled, hitting a three-over par 74.

Day hit five bogeys and two birdies at Palm Harbour in what was meant to be a major test of his Masters credentials, three weeks out from the major.

Day's Australian compatriot Curtis Luck shot a one-under par 70, while Matt Jones and Rod Rampling earned two-over par 73.

Cameron Davis earned four-over par 75, one behind Day and John Senden.

American prodigy Akshay Bhatia, meanwhile, bogeyed three of his final four holes for a 74 in the 17-year-old's first round on the PGA Tour.

World No.1 Dustin Johnson believes he is closer than ever to recapturing the form which made him a strong favourite for the 2017 Masters.

But this time it is his brother and caddie Austin who has suffered an untimely injury after an incident with some stairs.

In 2017 Johnson was the clear favourite for the Masters after three successive wins, only to injure his back by falling down some stairs in his rented house in Augusta and be forced to withdraw without hitting a shot.

Two years on the former US Open champion has two wins in his last five events and was fifth in the Players Championship on Sunday, after which his brother broke a bone in his hand after tripping up the stairs of Dustin's current house.

"He had a bit of a run-in with a pair of stairs, kind of like I did," Johnson told a pre-tournament press conference ahead of the Valspar Championship.

"Those stairs, man, they'll get you. He broke a bone in his hand. He was carrying the stuff in the house after TPC on Sunday night and slipped going up the stairs."

Johnson returned to Augusta in 2018 to record his third consecutive top-10 finish in the year's first major and feels he is almost back to the form he had in early 2017.

"I'm getting closer, for sure," the 34-year-old added.

"I feel like the swing's starting to feel a lot better. The shot patterns are starting to get more consistent.

"I mean back then that was probably the best form I've ever been in and getting injured, it's taken a while to get back to that form. But it's definitely the closest I've felt to that stage of my career."

Jason Day believes the demanding approach shots at Innisbrook Resort's Copperhead course will be a much-needed test of his iron play, three weeks out from the Masters at Augusta National.

Like Augusta, the Copperhead course - home to this week's Valspar Championship on the US PGA Tour - places a premium on accurate sharp iron play, convincing Day to add the event to his pre-Masters schedule.

Although Day boasts a powerful driver and world-class short game, the former world No.1 has admitted his approach play needs improvement.

Last season, the Queenslander ranked a lowly 142nd on the PGA Tour for strokes gained in approach play - despite winning twice.

However, the 31-year-old Day's irons have improved and helped his tie for eighth at last week's elite Players Championship.

He welcomed another examination at the Valspar, which is the second of three straight PGA Tour events for Day.

"It is definitely a different test of golf - you don't need as much power as you do at other PGA Tour courses," Day told AAP.

"The course asks a lot about how accurate you are with regards to your tee shots. You have to hit landing areas in the fairway and, from there, really solid irons.

"What I need to see are good drives on the holes I can hit driver, a lot of nice 3-woods off the tee and iron play similar to what I saw from myself at the Players, but with better proximity to the hole."

Joining Day at the Valspar are fellow Australians John Senden, the 2014 champion, as well as Matt Jones, Cameron Davis and Rod Pampling.

Although big guns such as world No.1 Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm headline the field, plenty of eyes will be on 17-year-old Akshay Bhatia.

Bhatia, from North Carolina, is the top-ranked junior in the US and is making his debut PGA Tour debut.

The 7,340-yard, par 71 Copperhead course has seen a variety of winners due to its narrow fairways and strategic layout, which includes double dog-legs on two of the par 5s.

International team captain Ernie Els has named KJ Choi, Trevor Immelman and Mike Weir as his final three assistants for this year's Presidents Cup golf tournament.

Els had already named Australia's Geoff Ogilvy as one of his assistant captains for the event at Royal Melbourne from December 9-15.

Choi will return as an assistant for the second time after serving as vice- captain to Nick Price when the Presidents Cup was played in Choi's native South Korea in 2015.

Choi played on the International team in 2003, 2007 and 2011.

South Africa's Immelman will make his debut as a captain's assistant after playing in 2005 and 2007.

Weir will return as a captain's assistant after the Canadian, who has played on five International teams, occupied the same role in 2017.

Frustrated Australian golf fans could soon be able to watch entire live rounds of homegrown stars such as Jason Day and Adam Scott with broadcasters revealing future plans to introduce individual player coverage.

Last year, the US PGA Tour handed over international multi-platform rights in a $2 billion partnership to media giants Discovery - who then launched Golf TV as their video streaming service for markets outside the US.

Golf TV executives believe the new platform is performing well in its eight markets but acknowledged the need to localise broadcasts.

Australian fans are able to watch golf's major tours live on Fox Sports as well as on Golf TV through personal devices.

But a major grievance for Australian fans waking up early to watch PGA Tour broadcasts has been a gross lack of airtime for Day, Scott, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith - even when they are within range of the lead.

"I agree; it's a bummer for fans and it's something we can solve," president of Discovery Golf, Alex Kaplan, told AAP.

Golf TV's future plans are to capture every shot at PGA Tour events and have a bunker-style facility package of live footage for individual countries.

"The vision for us, which is a number of years away, is every shot, of every player, on every hole," Rick Anderson, the PGA Tour's chief media officer, said.

But with PGA Tour fields ranging from 30 to 156 players, how Golf TV will capture every shot is yet to be determined.

"I want to be clear here ... I can't put an exact timeline on it, but we have identified the need to localise the viewing experience," Kaplan said.

"We're excited and Australia is a market we haven't even really touched yet."

"We're not going to put people and cameras on every hole; it's not feasible," Anderson said.

"But we've done some testing with robotic cameras that you can get in fixed locations and operate them from anywhere."

In the meantime, Golf TV plans to regularly package highlights of entire rounds for players, including Australians, in a bite-sized format.

"Right now, we can start to get speed rounds where you see the players that matter in Australia and watch it after the fact," Anderson said.

Former world No.1 Scott said the concept was the only way to properly engage golf fans in Australia.

"It's simple; watching every shot of every player absolutely has to be the future," he told AAP.

"It would absolutely boost golf in Australia.

"I say this respectfully but everyone back home says there is biased coverage of American players and that doesn't do wonders for golf globally.

"It would be wonderful if you could press a button and stream your favourite player."