Xander Schauffele wins first World Golf Championships event of the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season

AUSTIN, Texas – At the first of four World Golf Championships events on the 2018-19 PGA TOUR schedule, Xander Schauffele defeated Tony Finau with a birdie on the first playoff hole at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions after posting the lowest round of the day with a 4-under 68 to force a playoff with Finau. On the first playoff hole, Schauffele made birdie for his first victory in a World Golf Championships event. At No. 12 in the Official World Golf Rankings after the victory, Schauffele is all but assured a spot in the field when the top 64 in the world head to Austin Country Club March 27-31, 2019 for the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play.

“It means a lot. You know, it was my birthday this week,” Schauffele said of the win. “A lot of guys talk about the Asian stretch, and to have my family out here, especially with the win, it's really special.”

With the victory, Schauffele moved to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings for the first time in his career. Justin Rose, the 2018 FedExCup Champion, finished solo third in his bid to join Tiger Woods as the only players in World Golf Championships history to successfully defend a title.

“Maybe [winning the FedExCup] is more realistic than it was yesterday. It's on the back of all our minds to hold that FedExCup trophy at the end of the year. You know, it's a big deal nowadays, or it was even when it started,” Schauffele said. “So, we all want that just as much as a major, and yeah, I guess this is a good start.”

The victory in Shanghai, China was Schauffele’s third career PGA TOUR title and first since being voted the 2017 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year by his peers.

Schauffele made his first appearance at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in 2018 and went 2-1 in group play but failed to advance to the round of 16 after falling 3&1 to Sergio Garcia in the third match of group play.

Tickets for the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play are expected to sell out quickly for a fourth consecutive year and tickets are once again going fast with daily grounds tickets ($120-150 plus fees and taxes) available for purchase for the first time since the tournament moved to Austin. Weekly grounds tickets ($405 plus taxes and fees) remain on sale and total onsite attendance is once again limited to 10,000 per day (Wednesday, March 27 - Sunday, March 31).

The WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play continues to make a substantial impact on the local Austin Community. In September, tournament officials announced that the 2018 Dell Technologies Match Play raised over $1.1 million for five local youth-based charities – Austin Parks Foundation, Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area, The First Tee of Greater Austin, Helping Hand Home for Children and Keep Austin Beautiful. In total, the Dell Technologies Match Play has contributed more than $3.2 million to charities in its first three years in Austin and has generated more than $18 million for charity since its inception (including past locations and title sponsors), part of the more than $60 million raised for global charities since the advent of the World Golf Championships series in 1999.

With a rare, match-play format consisting of the top 64 players in the Official World Golf Rankings, the Dell Technologies Match Play field annually consists of the very best players from around the world from all Tours. It is a given that fans attending the Dell Technologies Match Play will see players like Tiger Woods, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Jason Day, Brooks Koepka, Justin Rose and defending champion Bubba Watson in the field.

The World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play is one of the most elite and exciting tournaments on golf’s calendar—it is one in a series of four World Golf Championships events sanctioned and organized by the operational committee of the International Federation of PGA Tours, which includes the Asian Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia and Sunshine Tour.

For more information, follow the tournament’s social pages: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or visit www.dellmatchplay.com.