The World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play starts on Wednesday at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. The event offers a unique format for the PGA Tour, allowing players to go head-to-head for once on the schedule.
The first three WGCs started in 1999 and there have been 83 in all. There are currently four WGC events each season, although the WGC-HSBC Champions in China was postponed in 2021 for a second year in a row due to COVID.
One player has dominated the WGCs over the years, having won three times as many titles as the golfer in second place.
Here’s a closer look.
11 golfers have won 2 WGCs
Justin Thomas poses with the trophy after winning the 2020 WGC – FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind. (Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports)
2
Justin Thomas became the 11th PGA Tour golfer to put a second WGC on his resume when he claimed the 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational last August. He joins Darren Clarke, Jason Day, Ernie Els, Hunter Mahan, Hideki Matsuyama, Ian Poulter, Patrick Reed, Justin Rose, Adam Scott and Bubba Watson with two WGCs.
Geoff Ogilvy
Geoff Ogilvy hoists the 2009 WGC-Accenture Match Play trophy.
3
Geoff Ogilvy won the match play twice—2006 and 2008—and has three WGC titles in all.
Phil Mickelson
Phil Mickelson greets fans after winning the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship on March 4, 2018 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
3
Phil Mickelson won two WGCs in 2009 and then snagged a third when he won in Mexico in 2018.
Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy celebrates his victory in a playoff on the 18th green with his caddie Harry Diamond at WGC HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club on November 3, 2019 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
3
Rory McIlroy became the third golfer to win a third WGC when he claimed the 2019 WGC-HSBC Champions in China. That event will be postponed for a second straight year in 2021. It achieved WGC status in 2009.
Dustin Johnson
Dustin Johnson poses for a photo with the trophy after winning the 2019 WGC – Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec. (Photo: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports)
6
Dustin Johnson is the first and only golfer to win each of the four individual WGC events. He won his first in 2013 and in 2017 he won two of them. His most recent came in 2019 in Mexico.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods poses with the trophy and PGA commissioner Tim Finchem after winning the 2013 World Golf Championships – Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club. (Photo: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)
18
Tiger Woods clearly has dominated the WGCs. He won at least one of them every year from 1999 to 2009. He won his two most recent in 2013. He’s won two WGC events in the same calendar year six times. He won the WGC-Bridgestone three years in a row two different times. According to the PGA Tour, he’s earned $25.5 million in World Golf Championships events, a figure that would rank 59th on the Tour’s career money list.
