This Wednesday marks the start of the T Mobile Match Play, a tournament on the LPGA Tour that debuts a new sponsor and format. It returns to full match play, after last year’s hybrid, which featured three qualifying stroke play rounds, quarter-finals, semi-finals, and a final. What remains unchanged is the Shadow Creek in Las Vegas, which has established itself as the home of match play on the American circuit.
The tournament boasts a strong representation of the world’s best players, with Nelly Korda, the defending champion, leading the field. Also present is the Spaniard Carlota Ciganda, the only one from our side to make it into this exclusive field of 64 players.
Let’s go over the format. The players have been divided according to their world ranking into 16 groups of four, meaning everyone will play at least three matches. The best from each group qualifies for the round of 16. From there, it’s head-to-head duels in a knockout format until the grand final. The round of 16 and quarter-finals will be played on Saturday, with the final and semi-finals taking place on Sunday. In other words, the champion could play 72 holes, or even more if a tiebreaker is needed, just over the weekend. In the event of a tie in the group stage, it will be resolved with a playoff hole between the tied players. Winning a match earns one point, a draw is half a point, and a loss leaves you with zero.
Carlota Ciganda finds herself in a group where nothing is as it seems. The top seed is Lydia Ko, theoretically the favourite to advance to the round of 16 as the group winner. However, the New Zealander is quite an unknown in this format. She has played very little match play in her life. In fact, she hasn’t tried the format since 2017, at the Lorena Ochoa Match Play. Back then, she won two matches, against the Mexican Menéndez and the American Song, and lost in the third round to the Korean M.J. Hur. That’s the only match play she’s played. Not much experience. Last year she played the tournament but fell in the stroke play phase.
On the other hand, the other two group members, who are seemingly weaker, have strong match play credentials. They are the Australians Gabriela Ruffels, who the Spaniard faces this Wednesday, and Nira Haveed. Ruffels won the US Amateur in 2019 and finished second in 2020. Few match play tournaments are as ruthless as the US Amateur. Additionally, in 2019 she also played in the Palmer Cup and won her singles match. Meanwhile, Naveed, who like Ruffels has not yet played match play as a professional, won her singles match in her only career appearance at the Palmer Cup, in that same 2019 edition. Furthermore, in the three pairs matches she played, she won two and drew one. She ended up unbeaten.
Of course, Carlota also has her credentials. She won the British Amateur in 2007 and finished second in 2009, losing only to the Malagueña Azahara Muñoz. Additionally, her record in the Solheim Cup is one of the strongest in Europe. She enjoys and is motivated by match play, although as you can see, she doesn’t have an easy group. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will see the three group matches played.
The most notable matches this Wednesday are:
– Maja Stark Vs. Nanna Madsen
– Brooke Henderson Vs. Leona Maguire
– Nelly Korda Vs. Brittany Altomare
– Rose Zang Vs. Nataliya Guseva
– Megan Khang Vs. Albane Valenzuela
– Jeeno Thitikul Vs. Danielle Kang
– Patty Tavatanakit Vs. Madelene Sagstrom
