It’s here. One of our favourite events on the PGA Tour returns. A majority of the world’s best players will line up for the WGC-Match Play at Austin Country Club in Texas this week.

The WGC-Match Play sees 64 golfers split into 16 groups of four, with the top points scorer after three days of pool matches advancing to the final 16. Unlike other PGA Tour events, this one begins a day early, on Wednesday (Thursday AEST).

Adam Scott typically doesn’t like match play as a format leading into the Mastes but is in the field this year. 

“Even if you don’t win the tournament, you might win three or four or five matches this week, and winning seems fun, so I think that’s what’s cool or different about it,” he said on Tuesday. “You can really use this week as a good way to test yourself, being a little more aggressive. It doesn’t really matter if you mess one hole up.”

Here are the Aussie groups and who we like this week, including their betting odds.

AUSSIE GROUPS

Marc Leishman: Justin Thomas, Kevin Kisner, Luke List

Lucas Herbert: Takumi Kanaya, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele

Adam Scott: Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Keegan Bradley

Min Woo Lee: Tom Hoge, Thomas Pieters, Billy Horschel

BETTING

Justin Thomas: $15 (via Bluebet.com.au)

He’s in form and a fierce competitor. Thomas looks primed for a win, somewhere on the PGA Tour. Finished tied third at the Valspar Championship last week and leads the PGA Tour for par-4 scoring.

Shane Lowry: $34

The Irishman is in sensational form with a runner-up at the Honda Classic last month among seven consecutive top-25s worldwide since November, of which five are top-15s.

Lucas Herbert $126

Herbert has a fiery competitiveness and loves the grind of match play. Finished tied seventh at the Arnold Palmer recently. Put frankly, Herbert has drawn a group of three players he could comfortably beat: Xander Schauffele, a struggling Tony Finau and young Japanese player Takumi Kanaya.

Herbert won the PGA Tour’s Bermuda Classic in November.

Paul Casey $34

As a Ryder Cup hero, Casey is a fantastic match play golfer and has a good record over 15 years at the WGC-Match Play. The Englishman’s third place at the recent Players Championship is among five top-25 results from six starts worldwide this year.

Dark horse: Marc Leishman $67

Leishman missed the cut at the Players Championship but after seeing countryman Cam Smith win at TPC Sawgrass, he’ll be fired up to grab his own PGA Tour victory. Leishman has made the final 16 twice at Austin CC in recent years, including 2019 and 2017.