GOLF PICK 'EM: WGC-WORKDAY MATCHUP BREAKDOWNS
BY WILL GRAY
Golf Pick 'Em is back for another season of picks and prizes in the NBC Sports Predictor app.
The free-to-play game has returned in 2021 and continues this week with the WGC-Workday Championship. Each week participants will choose between a series of head-to-head matchups, plus select an overall tournament champion and winning score.
Participants can compete for weekly cash prizes, with a $50,000 jackpot available for any participants who earn a perfect score (increasing up to $100,000 during the biggest events of the year). There will also be at least $1,000 awarded each week in cash and prizes, even if there is no player with a perfect score.
Here's a look at some of the keys to this week's set of nine matchups at The Concession, as the Tour begins a four-week stint in Florida:
Patrick Reed vs. Bryson DeChambeau
Keys: These two battled to the end at this event last year in Mexico City, with Reed edging DeChambeau for his second career WGC title. DeChambeau has since added two victories including the U.S. Open, while Reed won last month at Torrey Pines and now has a unique opportunity to win the same Tour event for the third time on three different courses, having also captured this title at Doral in 2014. DeChambeau missed the cut last week at Riviera but won the NCAA individual title on this course in 2015.
Edge: DeChambeau
Dustin Johnson vs. Patrick Cantlay
Keys: Both worked their way into the mix at the Genesis only to falter during the final round, with Johnson finishing T-8 and Cantlay dropping to T-15. Johnson will begin another week as a betting favorite, having won this event once at Doral and twice in Mexico, while Cantlay looks to rack up his seventh straight finish of T-17 or better.
Edge: Johnson
Rory McIlroy vs. Justin Thomas
Keys: These two surprisingly had the weekend off, as both struggled at Riviera en route to a missed cut. It snapped a Tour-best made cut streak for McIlroy, who hadn't made an early exit since Portrush in July 2019, while Thomas missed his second cut in three starts sandwiched around a T-13 finish in Phoenix.
Edge: McIlroy
Jon Rahm vs. Xander Schauffele
Keys: It was a quiet but productive week in L.A. for both players, as Schauffele carded four straight rounds of par or better en route to a T-15 finish while Rahm rallied for a T-5 result after a closing 66. They're two of the Tour's most consistent stars, as Rahm hasn't finished outside the top 20 since September while Schauffele's top-20 streak runs back to August.
Edge: Schauffele
Daniel Berger vs. Brooks Koepka
Keys: Two former Florida State standouts who are coming off recent victories. Berger won two weeks ago at Pebble Beach and will make his first start since, while Koepka broke out of a slump to claim the title at TPC Scottsdale and followed with a T-38 finish at Riviera. Both Florida natives should feel plenty comfortable with this week's venue shift.
Edge: Berger
Tyrrell Hatton vs. Webb Simpson
Keys: These two were the only players inside the top 10 who watched last week's event from home. Hatton won earlier this year in Abu Dhabi and earned his first PGA Tour win just up the road last year at Bay Hill, while Simpson finished T-42 in defense of his Waste Management title in his most recent start.
Edge: Hatton
Keys: Two veterans who barely hung on to the top-50 requirement for entry this week, with Day ranked 47th at last week's cutoff and Watson sitting at No. 50. The Aussie missed his first two cuts of the year but bounced back with a T-7 finish at Pebble in his last start, while Watson hasn't quite carried over his strong form from the fall and missed the cut last week on a course where he has won three times.
Edge: Day
Tommy Fleetwood vs. Matthew Fitzpatrick
Keys: A pair of Englishmen square off, and they happen to be the two highest-ranked players in the world without a PGA Tour win. Fleetwood started his year with three events in the Middle East and is playing in the U.S. for the first time since the RSM in November, while Fitzpatrick enters off a near-miss at Riviera where he finished T-5 after playing in Sunday's final group.
Edge: Fitzpatrick
Abraham Ancer vs. Carlos Ortiz
Keys: This event has been played in Mexico each of the last four years but moved because of the pandemic, and this matchup features the two highest-ranked Mexicans in the world. Ancer was a key cog on the 2019 Presidents Cup team and finished T-5 last month in Palm Springs, while Ortiz broke through with his first PGA Tour win last fall in Houston and has since added two top-10 finishes. Both players missed the cut last week at Riviera.
Edge: Ancer
