Victor Perez pushing for Masters spot at WGC Match Play
22 Mar 2023
Victor Perez pushing for Masters spot at WGC Match Play
Victor Perez is hoping to emulate his fourth place finish from his last outing at the WGC Match Play as he looks to play his way into the top 50 of the Official World Golf Ranking and punch his ticket to the Masters for the third time.
The Frenchman shone on debut in Texas two years ago, topping a group consisting of Russel Henley, Sungjae Im and Marc Leishman to advance to the round of 16.
From there, Perez comfortably beat Robert MacIntyre and Sergio Garcia before eventual champion Billy Horschel defeated him in the semi finals.
He would go on to lose in the third/fourth place play-off against Matt Kuchar, but he still had plenty to smile about after recording his best ever World Golf Championship result and finishing as the top European.
“Obviously I’m very happy to be back,” said Perez, who is grouped with Jason Day, Adam Svensson and Collin Morikawa this week.
“It’s a great event. It’s obviously nice to play match play for the second time this year after playing the Hero Cup back in Europe.
“I think it’s a great course for match play. That back nine with par-5s, drivable par-4s, there’s obviously a lot of short clubs into greens, so there’s obviously a lot of birdie opportunities.
“I think match play sometimes pushes you to the edge because it’s very black or white it seems like, for me at least, to where the equation is made up for you. It’s like I’ve got to match what the other person is doing, or at least that’s how I play match play.
“I know some guys like to just play their own ball like they would do any other way and see where it falls, but I try to play more the shot and like man to man.”
The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner knows if he is to replicate his fourth place finish from last time out he is likely to be driving down Magnolia Lane in two weeks.
Perez needs to reach at least the semi finals to have any chance of securing an exemption through the 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the Masters.
Top 50 #OWGR projection for #TheMasters qualification. As you can see, all the hopefuls (in white, not yet qualified for the Masters) who are at the @DellMatchPlay, will need to get out of the group stage and all but one will need to make the QF stage at least! pic.twitter.com/EBTZkv7i72
“It would obviously be nice to have a great week, get into the top 50 and play the Masters a couple of weeks from now. It’s a great incentive, definitely a big added bonus if I were to do well.”
The first Major Championship of the season isn’t the only thing on Perez’s mind as he looks to show off his Ryder Cup credentials ahead of this year’s biennial contest in Rome.
“I was in that same scenario two years ago going into Whistling Straits, having had a great start and then I ended up just short,” he said.
“So I can draw from some of that past experience being close to making the team and obviously being in a good position this year, I think this is definitely a big event because of the format.
“But again, there’s so much golf to be played between now and when the qualification process ends, so I think you just still have to put things into perspective.”
