Match Play groups revealed; Scheffler to face Kim

World No 1 and defending champion Scottie Scheffler will face South Korean up-and-comer Tom Kim as part of Group 1 this week at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Austin, Texas.

Scheffler has the No 1 overall seed and drew Kim, Sweden's Alex Noren and Davis Riley in his group, seeded based on the Official World Golf Ranking.

Instead of an NCAA tournament-style single-elimination bracket, which the WGC-Dell Match Play did away with in 2015, the format is akin to the World Cup. Each golfer will play a round-robin against the other three players in his group. The golfer with the best record will advance to a knockout stage of 16 golfers played across Saturday and Sunday.

Scheffler will play Riley on Wednesday and Noren on Thursday before duelling Kim on Friday. While Scheffler is coming off a big win at The Players Championship, Kim is a rising star in his own right, with two victories in 2022 and a No 19 world ranking.

Justin Thomas is skipping the event, and LIV Golf's Cameron Smith is the only other top-10 player in the world who won't be in Austin.

The other top seeds are Jon Rahm of Spain, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, Will Zalatoris, Viktor Hovland of Norway, Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau, Matt Fitzpatrick of England, Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns, Tyrrell Hatton of England, Cameron Young and Sungjae Im of South Korea.

Other intriguing matchups include Rickie Fowler in Rahm's group and Ireland's Shane Lowry (No 21 seed) against Spieth (No 12).

GROUPS

Group 1: Scottie Scheffler (1), Tom Kim (17), Alex Noren (38), Davis Riley (54)
Group 2: Jon Rahm (2), Billy Horschel (22), Keith Mitchell, (39), Rickie Fowler (49)
Group 3: Rory McIlroy (3), Keegan Bradley (20), Denny McCarthy (48), Scott Stallings (52)
Group 4: Patrick Cantlay (4), Brian Harman (25), K.H. Lee (35), Nick Taylor (55)
Group 5: Max Homa (5), Hideki Matsuyama (18), Kevin Kisner (42), Justin Suh (63)
Group 6: Xander Schauffele (6), Tom Hoge (23), Aaron Wise (40), Cam Davis (64)
Group 7: Will Zalatoris (7), Ryan Fox (29), Harris English (37), Andrew Putnam (56)
Group 8: Viktor Hovland (8), Chris Kirk (28), Si Woo Kim (34), Matt Kuchar (59)
Group 9: Collin Morikawa (9), Jason Day (32), Adam Svensson (44), Victor Perez (51)
Group 10: Tony Finau (10), Kurt Kitayama (19), Adrian Meronk (45), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (60)
Group 11: Matt Fitzpatrick (11), Sahith Theegala (26), Min Woo Lee (41), J.J. Spaun (61)
Group 12: Jordan Spieth (12), Shane Lowry (21), Taylor Montgomery (47), Mackenzie Hughes (50)
Group 13: Sam Burns (13), Seamus Power (30), Adam Scott (33), Adam Hadwin (53)
Group 14: Tyrrell Hatton (14), Russell Henley (31), Lucas Herbert (46), Ben Griffin (62)
Group 15: Cameron Young (15), Sepp Straka (27), Corey Conners (36), Davis Thompson (57)
Group 16: Sungjae Im (16), Tommy Fleetwood (24), J.T. Poston (43), Maverick McNealy (58)