WGC-Dell Match Play 2016: Leaderboard Scores, Prize-Money Payouts

Jason Day earned his second WGC-Dell Match Play title Sunday, beating Louis Oosthuizen 5 and 4 in the final at Austin Country Club.  

According to ESPN Stats & Info, Day's wins in the semifinals and final were his 17th and 18th in the event since 2013, the most of any golfer on the PGA Tour during that stretch. He'll take home $1.62 million of the $9.5 million purse, per World Golf Championships' website.

Rafael Cabrera Bello capped off a strong tournament by beating Rory McIlroy 3 and 2 to earn third place. According to GolfChannel.com's Will Gray, that earned him an extra $130,000:

Round	Winner	Result	Loser
Semifinals	Jason Day	1 up	Rory McIlroy
Semifinals	Louis Oosthuizen	4 and 3	Rafael Cabrera Bello
Third Place	Rafael Cabrera Bello	3 and 2	Rory McIlroy
Final	Jason Day	5 and 4	Louis Oosthuizen

Oosthuizen advanced to the final following a wire-to-wire victory over Cabrera Bello. The 33-year-old South African carded a birdie on the opening hole of the round to go 1 up and never relinquished his lead.

The final nail in Cabrera Bello's coffin came on the 14th hole. He had a five-foot par putt that would've allowed him to halve the hole. Instead, his putt lipped out, and Oosthuizen went 3 up, via the PGA Tour:

Slow and steady won the race for Oosthuizen. He picked up just two birdies, but consistency was the key, as Cabrera Bello struggled throughout the round.

Whereas the second semifinal featured little in the way of drama, Day needed all 18 holes to finally dispatch McIlroy. McIlroy's birdie on No. 14 cut the deficit in half, but he was unable to make up any more ground. Day maintained a 1-up lead through the final five holes.

It looked like luck was on the four-time major champion's side on the final hole. His drive ended up in a bunker, and his approach out of the sand landed in the rough to the left of the cup. McIlroy's third shot was one of the weirdest of the tournament, via the PGA Tour:

Day denied the comeback attempt after sinking his par putt, setting up the final between him and Oosthuizen.

The semifinal loss seemed to take the wind out of McIlroy's sails. He spent most of the front nine 1 up on Cabrera Bello but ended up all square heading into the back nine. Cabrera Bello went ahead 1 up on No. 11 before McIlroy made things all square again on the next hole.

After neither golfer could gain any separation on No. 13, Cabrera Bello then took the next three holes to earn third place.

Just as he had in the semis, Oosthuizen grabbed an early 1-up lead on the first hole. Things began unraveling on No. 3, though. He conceded the hole after incurring a one-shot penalty, which put him and Day all square. A birdie on No. 4 gave Day a 1-up advantage, and he never trailed over the remainder of the round.

While Oosthuizen's consistency was perfect in the semifinals in that it allowed him to protect his lead against Cabrera Bello, he needed to be much better in the final in order to overtake Day. Simply being steady isn't enough when your opponent is striking the ball like this, via the PGA Tour:

Golf Channel researcher Justin Ray noted how excellent Day was all tournament:

Day and Oosthuizen made the turn to the back nine with the former owning a 3-up lead. Oosthuizen couldn't make a dent in the deficit through the first three holes, and the beginning of the end arrived on No. 12.

Oosthuizen's second shot ended up in the water hazard to the right of the fairway. From the look on his face, via Golf Channel, he knew his fate was sealed:

Day birdied the 13th and 14th holes to put Oosthuizen away. His performance throughout the event is all the more impressive when you consider he suffered a back injury in his Round 1 win over Graeme McDowell on Thursday.

A strong argument could be made that Day is the hottest golfer right now, per the PGA Tour:

His impressive form couldn't be coming at a better time. The Masters Tournament begins on April 7, and Day will unquestionably be one of the favorites to collect the green jacket.

The 28-year-old finished tied for second at the Augusta National Golf Club in 2011 and finished third in 2013. It was a different story in 2014 and 2015, as he tied for 20th and then 28th, respectively. As long as his back doesn't become a factor, Day should have a great chance to win his second major tournament.

Post-Round Reaction

McIlroy wasn't happy with Sunday's result, but he's not going to dwell too much on the negative, per the Telegraph's James Corrigan:

"

Obviously you lose, and it's not very nice and I'm going to be a little bit p----d off. But I have to regroup. I'm not angry with my game, at all; I'm just angry I didn't do more in the match and convert my chances when I could have. I'm disappointed with the outcome, but I feel like where my game is I'm happy with that. I thought it was a good quality match.

"

Day, on the other hand, was satisfied with how he played, per Reuters' Andrew Both: "I've been able to not only utilize the great short game that I've had from last week to this week, but to be able to play the way I did from tee to green and then on top of it, hit[ting] the clutch shots has been really fantastic."

"It's been a memorable week, not only to win the Dell Match Play but to get back to No. 1 in the world," Day said after the final, per the Associated Press (via USA Today).

Oosthuizen perfectly encapsulated to the Associated Press what went wrong for him against Day: "I couldn't buy a birdie. I played OK, but nothing spectacular. Up against a guy like Jason, you need to play three or four under to have a chance."