Weekly Recap: Sam Burns the Brackets

The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, always drama-filled in the early rounds but often beset by lackluster championship matchups, was headed toward an epic conclusion. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 3 Rory McIlroy were leading late in their semifinals matches, with a showdown looming just two weeks before another potential duel at the Masters.

In related news, Sam Burns trounced Cameron Young to win the Match Play tournament at Austin Country Club on Sunday, after each of them rallied to deny that glamour championship match in the final World Golf Championship event ever. Technically, we did get Scheffler-McIlroy, but instead of a slugfest it was more of a pillow fight in the third-place match. For the record, McIlroy won.

The overall ending was a bit of a disappointment in this, the final World Golf Championship event and, for now, the final match play tournament on the PGA Tour calendar.

Not only did the best matchup not materialize, but the battle between Burns and Young -- two outstanding and exciting young players -- turned out to be a dud. Burns rolled to an anticlimactic 6&5 win that goes to the heart of the shortcomings of the format. Sunday's match ended with about an hour remaining in NBC's broadcast window. McIlroy and Scheffler kept viewers around for a little longer with the 2&1 decision going 18 holes, but the damage was largely done.

That in no way detracts from the incredible week that Burns turned in, winning for the fifth time in his still-emerging PGA Tour career. He returned to the top 10 in the world rankings, just off his personal best of ninth.

Admittedly not playing well for a couple of months coming in, Burns rolled through group play undefeated against Adam Scott, Seamus Power and Adam Hadwin. He then moved up in class, taking down Patrick Cantlay in the Round of 16 and Match Play stud Mackenzie Hughes in the quarterfinals. And then good friend and defending champion Scheffler in a see-saw semifinal match that went 21 holes. On the 20th, Scheffler had a four-footer to close out the match and, in one of the stunners of the season, he missed it.

Burns won on the next hole.

The 26-year-old LSU alum was never headed against Young, who similarly blew through his half of the draw before facing McIlroy.

Burns had been meandering through the early part of 2023, missing the cut at Riviera and Bay Hill, never contending for a title and having only one top-10 heading into last week's Valspar Championship. There, against not the greatest field, he tied for sixth. 

He had been ranked 176th in Strokes Gained: Approach. But always great on the greens, Burns was ranked ninth on Tour in SG: Putting. In the Match Play, he made putt after putt after putt in winning seven matches across five days.

After a week off, Burns heads to Augusta National, where his odds to win just got a little shorter. He has played the Masters only once -- he missed the cut last year -- though he did make it to the weekend in the other three majors. His T20 at the PGA Championship is the best he's ever done in 10 major appearances.

With five wins in 120 career starts, that's the next step for Burns and he knows it: Show us something in a major. He's a very inconsistent player, but with that putter on Augusta National's greens, you can't rule him out.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

Cameron Young
The uber-aggressive golfer has the perfect style for match play. Young didn't have the toughest round-robin group and went 3-0. He then eliminated 2021 champion Billy Horschel, tenacious Kurt Kitayama and McIlroy, winning the 18th hole to stay alive before taking the match on the 19th. Young, who was thisclose to leaving for LIV last year, really pounds the driver and is an excellent play where driving is required and aggressiveness is rewarded. That first part sounds like a good fit for the Masters but the second part doesn't. Maybe new caddie Paul Tesori, who joined Young this week after being Webb Simpson's longtime bagman, should be able to help in that regard. Young moved up a few spots in the rankings to a career-best 14th.
 
Rory McIlroy
McIlroy put some new clubs in his bag for the Match Play, including a driver (Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6X) and putter (Scotty Cameron). They appear to have worked, just two weeks before McIlroy takes another shot at completing the career grand slam. Something always seems to go wrong for him at Augusta, but his play this past week shows his game is ready. By finishing third, McIlroy overtook Jon Rahm to get to No. 2 in the world.

Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler was bidding for a third win in his past five starts – the same scenario as last year at the Match Play. He didn't win this time, but he is just where he needs to be for the Masters in two weeks.

Jason Day
If Day wasn't already a consideration for the Masters, he is now. Day tied for fifth, losing to Scheffler in the quarterfinals after having a 3-up lead on the front nine. It appears a bout with allergies took hold and Day couldn't overcome it. That was after he won his Collin Morikawa-led group and defeated former Match Play champ Matt Kuchar in the Round of 16. Really, the only things that appears to be able to slow Day down now are injuries and illness, two real possibilities with him. As we saw and as we all know.

Xander Schauffele
Schauffele has been a bit of a forgotten man, with the Scheffler-McIlroy-Rahm tangle at the top of the rankings and Max Homa, Burns and others making a charge. He didn't have the hardest road to the quarterfinals, with a relatively easy group and then J.J. Spaun awaiting in the Round of 16. Schauffele then faced McIlroy and at one point had 2-up lead but wound up losing 1-up. He now will prepare for the Masters, at which he's finished second and third in the past but missed the cut last year.

Mackenzie Hughes
Hughes, who was seeded 50th and priced at a bargain-basement $6,100 on DraftKings, made it out of group play for the second time in three years. He was in a very tough group with Jordan Spieth, Shane Lowry and top putter Taylor Montgomery. He then beat Homa in the Round of 16 before running into Burns in the quarters. Hughes had been amid a horrible start to 2023, so we'll wait to see whether this week can propel him forward.

Kurt Kitayama
Kitayama was another quarterfinalist, and he gave Young one of his toughest matches before falling 1-up. Coming off a win at Bay Hill, Kitayama continues to show his career is taking on a new direction. He'll really be tested in two weeks when he makes his first start at the Masters.

Jon Rahm
Rahm had a tough group, with 2021 champ Horschel and Rickie Fowler. He lost to both of them, and rather handily to Horschel. After shooting 65 in the first round of Bay Hill a few weeks ago, on the heels of winning twice already in 2023, Rahm has looked very ordinary. He shot 76 the next day at Bay Hill and tied for 39th, then withdrew after the first round of THE PLAYERS with an illness and now the Match Play. His recent mini-slide has cost him one spot in the rankings. He's now No. 3. Rahm had a run of four straight top-10s at the Masters before last year's T27.

Will Zalatoris
Zalatoris went 0-3 in group play and looked even worse. He conceded his final match with an illness. And don't forget about his back issues, which could flare at any moment. Zalatoris has been putting far, far better in 2023, but there was one short putt at the Match Play that sent Golf Twitter ablaze. That's not what you're looking for with the Masters coming in two weeks. 

Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama went 1-2 and WD from his final round-robin match with his ongoing neck issues. For some reason, he remains in the field for this week's Valero Texas Open instead of resting for the Masters. Tht could change.

Tyrrell Hatton
Hatton is normally great in the match-play format at and usually gets out of group play. But he injured his right hand in warmups on Wednesday morning and proceeded to lose all three of his matches. Like Matsuyama, he's entered in the Valero Texas Open. Let's see whether he tees it up on Thursday morning.

Kevin Kisner
The Match Play Warrior, the Match Play Ninja, the King of Match Play … this was always the week when Golf Twitter lobbied hard for Kisner to make the Ryder Cup team based on his match-play acumen. He won the tournament in 2019 and was runner-up to Scheffler last year. But Kisner's game has fallen far and fast, and he went 1-2 without advancing to the knockout stage. He was the injured Matsuyama's lone victim. Kisner's lone win was against No. 63 seed Justin Suh.

Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar
Kuchar made it out of group play and Fowler won one match. Neither did enough to get inside the top-50 in the world rankings and get a spot in the Masters. They both will play in the Valero Texas Open needing to win to get an invitation.

CORALES  PUNTACANA CHAMPIONSHIP

At the alternate event in the Dominican Republic, Matt Wallace showed why he was the most accomplished golfer among the contenders. The one-time top-25 OWGR player birdied four straight holes on the back-nine and won by one shot over fellow Euro Nicolai Hojgaard. Wallace had fallen on hard times after his three-win 2018 season on the DP World Tour, tumbling to 175th in the world entering the week. Now, with his first PGA Tour win in his 80th start, his card is secure for two years. Just last week, the Englishman tied for seventh at the Valspar, so he appears to have some fantasy value. Tyler Duncan, Sam Stevens and Austin Eckroat rounded out the top-5.  Hojgaard and Ricky Barnes, who finished seventh, got spots in this week's Valero for their top-10 finishes. Everyone else was already in the field. Akshay Bhatia tied for 24th and will also play the Valero.