Sam Burns wins Dell Match Play 2023
Burns beat Young with a score of 6 & 5, determined by birdie on hole 13. The hole is only 270 yards long, but the par4 with the lake hugs the left side of the fairway like a sickle. Burns dodged the trap on the shot, sent the ball to starboard, off the green and near the flag, and chip in 0.7 yards from the hole.
Meanwhile, Young could not escape the "water god" when playing with the wooden stick No. 3. This missed hand caused Young a penalty of one stroke, dropping a new ball 173 yards from the target. From there, he put the ball about 1.6 meters from the hole. On reaching the green, Young accepted a birdie for Burns, thereby losing both the hole and the match.
In the end, Young kept par on the 13th hole. He received $2.2 million for the runner-up position.
This year's Dell Match Play results are contrary to experts' predictions. Scottie Scheffler - The defending champion currently tops the world golf table, is expected to reach the final with Rory McIlroy. However, in the semi-finals, Scheffler lost to his close friend Burns, and McIlroy lost to Young. Both games have to be settled on extra holes, starting with the 12th hole in Austin Country Club.
Burns got his ticket to the final on the third extra hole, when he birdie on hole 14. Young beat McIlroy in the first round by the same point at hole 12.
In the previous benchmark round, Scheffler led from hole 9, sometimes up 2up, but on hole 17 lost 1up and then equalized on hole 18. Meanwhile, McIlroy led from hole 6, sometimes 2up like Scheffler, but lost. Young equalized the game on the last hole.
In the third place match, McIlroy beat Scheffler 2&1. The hole match ends when the number of ups is greater than the number of holes remaining, represented by the number of ups that came first. McIlroy received $1.42 million, Scheffler received $1,145 million in a $20 million bonus fund.
After the 2023 match, the PGA Tour will completely close Dell Match Play. This decision also ends the presence of the World Golf Championship (WGC) group in the North American schedule.
WGC was established in 1999 by the International Professional Golf Federation under the leadership of the PGA Tour. From three events in its opening year, WGC to 2009 added HSBC Champions in China. However, this tournament has not been implemented since the year of the Covid-19 outbreak. "At the moment, we don't know when to reopen," said PGA Tour Special Envoy Jay Monahan when the media mentioned the fate of HSBC Champions.
The organization that hosts the US championship will give up Dell Match Play when starting the season package in the administrative year from 2024 and develop a special team with a bonus fund at least equal to the major. They followed this direction after losing more than 30 stars to the Saudi-sponsored LIV Golf League with a bonus budget of $ 405 million for 14 tournaments in the second season. The two sides are suing each other in US courts on suspicion of unfair competition. The legal dispute erupted in August 2022 in which the LIV Golf League sparked after its member was banned by the PGA Tour for "defection".
