The World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play takes place March 21-25 at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. The tournament is significantly different from a standard stroke-play event on the PGA Tour, and that’s a good thing for sure. Variety is the spice of life, and the match play, which pits 64 of the world’s best players head-to-head, offers a very different take on tournament golf. At one time match play occurred regularly on the PGA Tour, and the PGA Championship was contested through matches that paired the game’s best.

In more recent years, match play, where score is determined by who wins a specific hole with the lowest score (or tie by halving a hole), has been found at the Ryder Cup and the Presidents Cup.

How it Works

The players receive a seed from one to four, and a blind draw creates four 16-player groupings. The winning golfers in each match move to the next round until there are only four remaining. The quarter-finals will be played on March 24, while the semi-finals and finals (which used to be 36 holes, but are now conducted over 18 holes) are played on Sunday, March 25.

Who’s Playing

Invitations to the event went out on March 12, and every year there are players that decline to participate. This year, U.S. Open winner Brooks Koepka, who is recovering from an injury, won’t play, but last year’s other major winners—Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia, and Justin Thomas—are expected to be there, alongside last year’s winner Dustin Johnson.

One name absent from the field is Tiger Woods. At one point Tiger was a regular in the World Golf Championship tournaments, which are open to the top players in the World Golf Ranking. But Tiger, currently ranked 149 in the world, isn’t eligible, much to the dismay of the television networks that have seen a huge spike in interest since his return.