Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Jaco van Zyl's Masters hopes depends on a solid showing in his maiden appearance at the World Golf Championships - Dell Match Play that tees off at the Austin Country Club on Wednesday.
His event debut in the WGC championship comes on the back of a personal best season on the European Tour during which he cracked the top three four times and collected €1 525 598 along the way to a 21st place ranking in the final Race to Dubai.
The Dainfern pro heads into the event on the back of four top 10 finishes in five starts on the Sunshine Tour, including victory in the Eye of Africa PGA Championship.
Van Zyl has been seeded alongside Danny Willett, Brooks Koepka and Billy Horschel and, if the 14-time Sunshine Tour winner can get past these three gents in Group 10, he would guarantee his berth at Augusta National for the 80th edition of The Masters.
Other South Africans in the field include Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen.
Grace is set to square off against Russell Knox, David Lingmerth and Chris Kirk in Group 11, Schwartzel goes up against Brandt Snedeker, Danny Lee and Charley Hoffman in Group 15 and Oosthuizen will play Andy Sullivan, Bernd Wiesberger and Matt Jones in Group 16.
Draw for the group stage of the $9.5 million World Golf Championships Dell Match Play tournament starting at Austin Country Club, Texas on Wednesday:
Group 1
Jordan Spieth (USA), Justin Thomas (USA), Victor Dubuisson (FRA), Jamie Donaldson (WAL)
Group 2
Jason Day (AUS), Paul Casey (ENG), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Graeme McDowell (NIR)
Group 3
Rory McIlroy (NIR), Kevin Na (USA), Smylie Kaufman (USA), Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN)
Group 4
Bubba Watson (USA), JB Holmes (USA), Emiliano Grillo (ARG), Patton Kizzire (USA)
Group 5
Rickie Fowler (USA), An Byeong-Hun (KOR), Scott Piercy (USA), Jason Dufner (USA)
Group 6
Adam Scott (AUS), Bill Haas (USA), Chris Wood (ENG), Thomas Pieters (GER)
Group 7
Justin Rose (ENG), Matt Kuchar (USA), Anirban Lahiri (IND), Fabian Gomez (ARG)
Group 8
Dustin Johnson (USA), Jimmy Walker (USA), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA), Robert Streb (USA)
Group 9
Patrick Reed (USA), Phil Mickelson (USA), Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Daniel Berger (USA)
Group 10
Danny Willett (USA), Brooks Koepka (USA), Billy Horschel (USA), Jaco van Zyl (RSA)
Group 11
Branden Grace (RSA), Russell Knox (SCO), David Lingmerth (SWE), Chris Kirk (USA)
Group 12
Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Kevin Kisner (USA), Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
Group 13
Sergio Garcia (ESP), Marc Leishman (AUS), Ryan Moore (USA), Lee Westwood (ENG)
Group 14
Zach Johnson (USA), Shane Lowry (IRL), Martin Kaymer (GER), Marcus Fraser (AUS)
Group 15
Brandt Snedeker (USA), Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Danny Lee (NZL), Charley Hoffman (USA)
Group 16
Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Andy Sullivan (ENG), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Matt Jones (AUS)
