"Basically when you play match play events, it's the final round on the first day because anything can happen at any time."
Tiger Woods knows perfectly well what he and 63 of the world's top-ranked players are in for when they square off at this week's Accenture Match Play Championship. It's a whole different ballgame.
Sure, golf is golf -- the hole-by-hole cadence remains the same -- but to equate the nature of the PGA Tour's match play extravaganza to what pros customarily face counting strokes over 72 holes is like comparing the marathon runner's calculated ploddings to the sprinter's mental whir in the 100-meter dash. Each involves the rapid movement of limbs, but that's about it.
Likewise, single elimination match play requires from touring pros an intensity of focus they're not accustomed to on most weeks. This mind-molding adjustment is by far the greatest challenge.
Tiger, who possesses the noetic discipline of a Zen master, gets right to the heart of the matter.
"It's a totally different mindset," the top seed and two-time Accenture Match Play champ elaborates. "You can shoot 6-under par and you're packing your bags. There's also been matches when you're 7-over par and win. You never know what you're going to get."
Cardinal virtues like patience and deliberation are more like deadly sins. Adrenaline-fueled nerves and racing heart rates take over and a regression to the law of the wild ensues. Strike fast, strike hard and strike often. It's kill or be killed. And like in the wild, survival depends as much on luck as on fitness.
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Wednesday's first-round matches serve as a stark illustration of the principle. There's a mere 18 holes, maybe even less, over which to prove your prowess. Yet even if you bring some good stuff, the luck of the draw can leave you an opponent with even better stuff. By day's end, half of the 64 hopefuls head home, many of whom having been woefully unprepared for the drumfire assault of match play.
The high premium this format places on mental toughness perhaps accounts for Woods' astounding success at the Accenture. Altering the mind to suit a given situation is possibly Tiger's finest feature and never is this skill in higher demand than at this tournament which is so unlike anything else on the PGA Tour calendar.
And Tiger's head space has never been humming more efficiently than it is now. Woods tramps confidently into Tucson with a seven-event PGA Tour victory streak. Tantalizingly in the distance stands Byron Nelson's 11-win record. Woods, who has tried to deflate the media build-up, would prioritize the current streak below getting ready for Augusta, but once in the heat of battle, you can be assured that not a ounce of effort will be left in the tank trying to bring a third Match Play crown home.
The frenzied elements at work at this event quite frequently lead to unpredictable results. The championship match can materialize into a heavyweight bout, like Tiger vs. David Toms in 2003 or Tiger vs. Davis Love in 2004, or matters can take an odd turn and give us welterweight showdowns, like Steve Stricker vs. Pierre Fulke in 2001 and Kevin Sutherland vs. Scott McCarron in 2002. No. 1 seeds are commonly ousted in the first and second rounds. Remember 2002 when top seeds Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and David Duval were all upset in the first round. In eight years, there have been nine No. 1 seeds go down in flames on the opening day.
Another big factor coming into play this week will be the novelty of the venue. For seven of the eight Accenture Match Play Championships, the contest was settled at La Costa in Carlsbad, California, but this year the tournament sets up shop at its new home at The Gallery at Dove Mountain (South Course) in Tucson, Arizona.
The course, designed by John Fought, was unveiled to the world in 2003. The 64 players in the field, therefore, will probably be getting their first looks at the 7,351-yard, par-72 layout this week. The people in Tucson are making lofty vaunts on behalf of the new creation, comparing it to the links style of Donald Ross’ Pinehurst No. 2. The validity of these claims are in the dock this week as the eyes of the golf world size up this newcomer.
The field was determined by the Official World Golf Rankings as of Feb. 12. The top 64 qualify and 63 have pledged their attendance in the event. The top four players head their own brackets. The No. 1s are Tiger Woods in the Bobby Jones bracket, Jim Furyk in the Gary Player bracket, Adam Scott in the Sam Snead bracket and Phil Mickelson in the Ben Hogan bracket.
• No. 60 Charl Schwartzel caused a shake-up to the Accenture field on Sunday when he withdrew, choosing instead to play a tournament in his native South Africa.
Schwartzel ought to be getting holiday cards from at least two of his colleagues.
His bailing out opened up a spot for first alternate J.J. Henry, who gets his first shot at playing in the match play event. The bad news for Henry is his debut match comes against No. 1 Woods.
Brett Quigley was the guy originally set to face Tiger. His neck slipped from the noose after Schwartzel's withdrawal and now is matched up against a tough, but a little less daunting, opponent in Jim Furyk.
• In a cruel trick of fate, six former European Ryder Cup team members find themselves matched up with an old teammate in the opening round. From the 2006 squad, Sergio Garcia goes up against Darren Clarke over in the Ben Hogan bracket and Padraig Harrington is pitted against Lee Westwood in the Gary Player quadrant. Meanwhile 2004 mates Luke Donald and Miguel Angel Jimenez go head to head up in Bobby Jones territory.
The Americans didn't completely escape this scenario. Woods and Henry were 2006 Ryder Cup teammates last year, as were Chris DiMarco and Brett Wetterich, who face off in the Hogan bracket.
• The season's first World Golf Championships event brings with it an exotic assortment of players from all over the world. Among the 64 qualifiers are a helping of players hardly ever seen on the PGA Tour.
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| Geoff Ogilvy defeated Davis Love III 3 & 2 in the 2006 championship match. (Getty Images) |
India's Jeev Milkha Singh, who went to college in the United States, earned the Asian Tour's Order of Merit in 2006. Singh also picked up two victories on the European Tour and a couple of late-year wins in Japan to become the first Indian to crack the top 50 in the OWGR standings.
Sweden's Johan Edfors, also a former U.S. college collegian, enjoyed a breakthrough season on the 2006 European Tour, winning the TCL Classic, British Masters and Scottish Open. He also made his first two starts at a major championship and ended the year 10th on the Order of Merit list.
• Geoff Ogilvy prevailed over Davis Love III, 3 and 2, in the 36-hole championship match last year. Ogilvy had to get through four close matches, all of which went to extra holes, in his victorious run. The Aussie then knocked off Tom Lehman, 4 and 3, before advancing to the finals.
Retief Goosen was the only No. 1 seed in 2006 to reach the quarterfinals. Woods and Vijay Singh lost in the third round, while Ernie Els was an opening-day casualty.
• Those outside of the top-64 pantheon don't get the week off, but they do get to participate in a bit of history. In this two-event week, the PGA Tour makes its first stop in Mexico for the inaugural Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya-Cancun. The event marks the first official event staged by the PGA Tour outside of the United States and Canada.
Greg Norman's El Camaleón Golf Club at Mayakoba hosts the tournament, which will include notables Fred Funk, Jesper Parnevik, Mark Calcavecchia and Jerry Kelly.
