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• WGC Matchplay Championship is getting a new look

• Cadillac to take title sponsorship of a second WGC event

• Event shifting from Arizona to Harding Park in San Fran

• Will move from February date to be held Apr 27 – May 3

• Tour announces new event format, too

WGC Matchplay Championship

One of the most popular events on the PGA Tour schedule is getting a brand new look for 2015.

The WGC Matchplay Championship has a new title sponsor in Cadillac (succeeding Accenture), a new venue in TPC Harding Park, San Francisco (replacing Dove Mountain, Arizona), and a new spot on the schedule, taking place from April 27 to May 3 (moving from its traditional end-of-February slot).

This new date means the event will be the week prior to the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.

Cadillac’s sponsorship of the event sees it enhance its support of golf on the PGA Tour. It has already been title sponsor of another World Golf Championship event at the Trump National Doral resort in Florida since 2011.

In previous years, the Matchplay has featured a 64-man field, with players playing in a straight single-elimination matchplay. In other words, win and you’re through; lose and you’re out.

Going forward, however, that will change. From 2015, the 64-player field will be divided into 16 four-player groups. Each group will play round-robin matches within their group on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The player with the best record in each of the four groups will then advance to the Round of 16 for single-elimination match play (in the event of a two-way tie in a group, head-to-head results will be used as the tiebreaker; a three-way tie will require a sudden-death playoff).

“We are absolutely delighted to partner with Cadillac at one of the most exciting and unique events on golf’s calendar.” – Tim Finchem

The Round of 16 will be played on the Saturday morning, followed by the quarter-finals on Saturday afternoon. The semi-finals will take place on Sunday morning, followed by the championship match and the consolation match on Sunday afternoon.

This means that fans are guaranteed to see the field in its entirety during the first three days of competition before players begin being eliminated.

Welcoming Cadillac’s sponsorship of the event, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem commented: “We are absolutely delighted to partner with Cadillac at one of the most exciting and unique events on golf’s calendar. Cadillac has already proved to be an incredible sponsor of the Cadillac Championship by raising the standard of excellence at the tournament while also using the event as a successful marketing and promotional arm to drive its business. We know it will find similar success in the Bay Area at TPC Harding Park.”

WGC Matchplay Championship :: A closer look

The WGC Matchplay Championship was first contested in 1999, when it was won by Jeff Maggert. Only two players – Tiger Woods and Geoff Ogilvy – have won the event multiple times. Ogilvy’s Australian compatriot Jason Day is the defending champion, having defeated Victor Dubuisson of France earlier this year.

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Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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