2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play: Records for all 64 players
Match play at the professional level is pretty much impossible to predict. Why? The players are all so good in the pro game that the difference between Rory McIlroy and George Coetzee over one 18-hole sample is pretty much non-existent. Just like we see every March with the NCAA Tournament, upsets happen at a pretty regular rate in the WGC-Match Play, but unlike March Madness, the top seeds in the match play seem to get dumped early with regularity. None of the number one seeds in the last two years have advanced past the second round, with three of them going home after just one match.
This won’t be the case in 2015 though, as the event has a new sponsor in Cadillac, a new spot in the schedule and thankfully, a new course as Harding Park is taking over from Jack Nicklaus’ Dove Mountain, a course known for tricked out greens and snow delays in February.
Maltbie and Steve Sands have a battle in the snow.
The format has also changed, borrowing from the European Tour’s Volvo World Match Play, offering pool play for the first three days of competition before players advance to the weekend, which should ensure that some of the top talent come out to the event more frequently.
Now, the part I mentioned up top about match play being unpredictable is true, but it’s interesting to see certain players who have success at match play once they’ve played enough matches to get to a decent sample size. The table below examines each of the 64 players who are playing this week in the 2015 WGC-Cadillac Match Play, along with their records in the following areas:
- WGC-Match Play (1999-2014): This shows their record at all previous courses to host the event, dating back to 1999.
- Presidents Cup: Singles records only from the Presidents Cup.
- Ryder Cup: Singles records only from the Ryder Cup.
- Other: The Cisco/Volvo World Match Play on the European Tour, as well as the Seve Trophy, Royal Trophy and Eurasia Cup. Again, singles records only. Note that this doesn’t include the 1994, 1995 or 1996 Cisco Match Play, which were all won by Ernie Els. There just isn’t enough reliable data available online to include the information, but if anyone has access to it, let me know and I’ll add them in.
In addition to the table below, each player that has played in at least one match play event is clickable. Clicking on them will take you to their expanded record, showing each individual match with the event, course, opponent and final score. I’ve sorted them by their winning percentage across all competitions, but please remember to take sample size into account, especially at the top and bottom of the table.
Lastly, Luke Donald qualified for the event but decided not to play due to his brother getting married this week, and Tim Clark had to pull out because of his ongoing elbow injury. Click on their names and you can still see their full records as well.
UPDATE: Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from the event due to personal reasons, so he has been removed from the table, but you can view his record right here. Mikko Ilonen has taken his place.
As always, if you see any mistakes, let me know in the comments and I’ll adjust.
| Golfer | WGC-Match Play | Presidents Cup | Ryder Cup | Other | Total | Winning Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anirban Lahiri | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 – 0 | 1- 0 | 100% |
| Marc Warren | N/A | N/A | N/A | 3 – 0 | 3 – 0 | 100% |
| Tommy Fleetwood | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 – 0 | 1 – 0 | 100% |
| Jason Day | 14 – 3 | 1 – 1 | N/A | N/A | 15 – 4 | 79% |
| Matt Kuchar | 17 – 4 | 0 – 2 | 1 – 2 | N/A | 18 – 8 | 69% |
| Graeme McDowell | 9 – 8 | N/A | 3 – 1 | 18 – 5 | 30 – 14 | 68% |
| Jimmy Walker | 1 – 1 | N/A | 1 – 0 | N/A | 2 – 1 | 66% |
| J.B. Holmes | 3 – 2 | N/A | 1 – 0 | N/A | 4 – 2 | 66% |
| Hunter Mahan | 16 – 6 | 3 – 1 | 0 – 1 – 2 | 2 – 1 | 21 – 9 – 2 | 66% |
| Joost Luiten | 0 – 1 | N/A | N/A | 6 – 2 | 6 – 3 | 66% |
| Harris English | 2 – 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 2 – 1 | 66% |
| Ian Poulter | 23 – 11 | N/A | 4 – 0 – 1 | 7 – 3 – 4 | 34 – 14 – 5 | 64% |
| Rory McIlroy | 11 – 6 | N/A | 2 – 0 – 1 | 4 – 3 | 17 – 9 – 1 | 63% |
| Victor Dubuisson | 5 – 1 | N/A | 0 – 0 – 1 | 2 – 3 | 7 – 4 – 1 | 58% |
| Patrick Reed | 1 – 1 | N/A | 1 – 0 | 2 – 2 | 4 – 3 | 57% |
| Thongchai Jaidee | 3 – 3 | N/A | N/A | 9 – 4 – 2 | 12 – 7 – 2 | 57% |
| Jason Dufner | 2 – 3 | 1 – 0 | 1 – 0 | N/A | 4 – 3 | 57% |
| Martin Kaymer | 11 – 7 | N/A | 2 – 1 | 4 – 6 | 17 – 14 | 55% |
| Paul Casey | 16 – 9 | N/A | 1 – 1 – 1 | 9 – 9 – 1 | 26 – 19 – 2 | 55% |
| Mikko Ilonen | 0 – 1 | N/A | N/A | 5 – 3 | 5 – 4 | 55% |
| Rickie Fowler | 7 – 4 | N/A | 0 – 1 – 1 | N/A | 7 – 5 – 1 | 54% |
| Henrik Stenson | 13 – 7 | N/A | 1 – 2 | 9 – 7 – 3 | 23 – 16 – 5 | 52% |
| Sergio Garcia | 15 – 13 | N/A | 3 – 4 | 8 – 5 – 2 | 26 – 22 – 2 | 52% |
| Jim Furyk | 14 – 14 | 5 – 2 | 4 – 4 – 1 | 0 – 1 | 23 – 21 – 1 | 51% |
| Jordan Spieth | 3 – 1 | 0 – 1 | 0 – 1 | N/A | 3 – 3 | 50% |
| Bubba Watson | 9 – 5 | 0 – 1 | 0 – 3 | N/A | 9 – 9 | 50% |
| Justin Rose | 7 – 9 | N/A | 2 – 0 – 1 | 4 – 3 | 13 – 12 – 1 | 50% |
| Billy Horschel | 1 – 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 – 1 | 50% |
| Ryan Palmer | 1 – 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 – 1 | 50% |
| Lee Westwood | 11 – 15 | N/A | 3 – 6 | 15 – 7 – 1 | 29 – 28 – 1 | 50% |
| Charl Schwartzel | 6 – 6 | 2 – 0 | N/A | 2 – 3 – 1 | 10 – 9 – 1 | 50% |
| Bernd Wiesberger | 0 – 1 | N/A | N/A | 1 – 0 | 1 – 1 | 50% |
| Russell Henley | 1 – 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1 – 1 | 50% |
| Marc Leishman | 0 – 1 | 1 – 0 | N/A | N/A | 1 – 1 | 50% |
| Miguel Angel Jimenez | 11 – 12 | N/A | 1 – 3 | 9 – 6 | 21 – 21 | 50% |
| Adam Scott | 14 – 12 | 3 – 3 | N/A | 0 – 3 | 17 – 18 | 49% |
| Shane Lowry | 2 – 1 | N/A | N/A | 2 – 4 | 4 – 5 | 44% |
| Francesco Molinari | 1 – 5 | N/A | 0 – 1 – 1 | 9 – 5 – 1 | 10 – 11 – 2 | 43% |
| Zach Johnson | 7 – 10 | 1 – 2 | 2 – 1 – 1 | N/A | 10 – 13 – 1 | 42% |
| Brandt Snedeker | 3 – 3 | 0 – 1 | 0 – 1 | 2 – 2 | 5 – 7 | 42% |
| Webb Simpson | 5 – 3 | 0 – 1 – 1 | 0 – 1 – 1 | N/A | 5 – 5 – 2 | 42% |
| Ryan Moore | 4 – 4 | N/A | N/A | 0 – 2 | 4 – 6 | 40% |
| Branden Grace | 0 – 2 | 0 – 1 | N/A | 4 – 2 – 1 | 4 – 5 – 1 | 40% |
| Louis Oosthuizen | 5 – 5 | 0 – 0 – 1 | N/A | 0 – 2 | 5 – 7 – 1 | 38% |
| George Coetzee | 2 – 3 | N/A | N/A | 3 – 4 – 1 | 5 – 7 – 1 | 38% |
| Dustin Johnson | 2 – 6 | 0 – 1 | 2 – 0 | N/A | 4 – 7 | 36% |
| Hideki Matsuyama | 1 – 1 | 0 – 1 | N/A | N/A | 1 – 2 | 33% |
| John Senden | 2 – 3 | N/A | N/A | 0 – 2 | 2 – 5 | 29% |
| Jamie Donaldson | 0 – 2 | N/A | 1 – 0 | 1 – 5 – 2 | 2 – 7 – 2 | 18% |
| Bill Haas | 1 – 4 | 0 – 2 | N/A | N/A | 1 – 6 | 14% |
| Keegan Bradley | 1 – 3 | 0 – 1 | 0 – 2 | N/A | 1 – 6 | 14% |
| Stephen Gallacher | 0 – 2 | N/A | 0 – 1 | 1 – 7 | 1 – 10 | 9% |
| Kevin Na | 0 – 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0% |
| Chris Kirk | 0 – 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 – 1 | 0% |
| Gary Woodland | 0 – 2 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 – 2 | 0% |
| Charley Hoffman | 0 – 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 – 1 | 0% |
| Alexander Levy | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0 – 3 | 0 – 3 | 0% |
| Brooks Koepka | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Matt Every | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Brendon Todd | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Danny Willett | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Andy Sullivan | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Matt Jones | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Ben Martin | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
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