Accenture Match Play
Championship
It’s that time of year again, the PGA tour makes its ways to
Arizona for the Accenture Matchplay Championship; the first WGC event of the
year. It goes without saying that this will
be the strongest field of the year with only the top 64 players on the World Ranking
list eligible but with that it is also perhaps the most difficult event to
predict a Champion, not only because of the strong field but also because of
the differences between Match Play and Stroke Play.
Based on current form, Brandt Snedeker would have gone into
the tournament as a favourite but he has had to withdraw because of sore ribs. Mickelson is the only other player missing, because
of prearranged family matters. Lowry and
Jacobson are their replacements to make up the 64 man field.
As already stated, predictions for this event are tricky, Woods
has failed to make it past round two since 2008, he has lost to Nick O’Hern
twice in his career and few would have expected Mahan to triumph over McIlroy
in last year’s final. Matchplay is of
course different for a number of reasons, most importantly the players are not
looking to make a score so a 7 is not so destructive so long as your opponent makes
an 8. Because of the nature of Matchplay
in this respect, players tend to be more aggressive and this suits some players
more than others. Here are my 6 people to watch next week.
Ian Poulter
A proven match Play expert in both this event and of course
the Ryder Cup, Poulter is one of those players who will strive when he is
forced to play aggressively and his win here in 2010 will fill him with
confidence (as if he needed any more). Though
he hasn’t been seen much this year, he followed up his Ryder Cup record with a
win in China and second place in Australia so hopefully he will have retained
some form.
Rory McIlroy
In his first appearance in the States this year McIlroy will
be looking to make a good impression and perhaps dispel the notions that he is
struggling with his new Nike equipment.
Runner up place last year, while not the result he would have been
hoping for will still give him some confidence going into this week. Hopefully he can regain that form that allowed
him to win 3 times in 6 starts at the end of last season.
Charl Schwartzel
A steady player with some big wins to his name already,
Schwartzel is consistent enough to grind out most players but always seems to
have gas in the tank and could easily switch his game to a more aggressive
style if the situation demanded it. He
might not win it but expect him to cause an upset or two. He is coming into form at the right time too,
with a second place in Joburg last week and a strong showing in Riviera to back
it up.
Luke Donald
Difficult to overlook Donald in a Match Play situation,
runner up at the Volvo when Poulter won it and a steady showing at the Ryder
Cup, Donald will go in at number three seed, based on World Ranking and so expect
him versus McIlroy in the semi finals. It
would take a real upset to knock him out before then, however he never really
gets aggressive; he is more of a grinder which may be his downfall against a
star studded field.
Hunter Mahan
We haven’t seen much of Mahan since his win in this event
last year but the memories and confidence will come flooding back next week so
expect him to make a good defence of his title.
A very streaky player, if he gets the putter working or if he gets a few
big wins early he will almost certainly make a charge for back to back
wins.
Tiger Woods
While a win at Torrey Pines will fill him with confidence,
it is difficult to overlook the fact that he has failed to make round three
since the venue was changed in 2009.
However 4 wins in 14 months is difficult to argue against and if the
commentary was right at Torrey pines then we should expect big things from Tiger
following that early victory. On the
other hand, his wedge play is not good at all and the putter isn’t what it used
to be so it simply depends on what sort of week he is having.
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