This week we have the first WGC event for the season. It will be the fifteenth edition of the Accenture Match Play Championship which is being held at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, Marana, Arizona. This will be the 5th year that the event will be played here.
The course is a Par 72, with Bentgrass greens, it has 89 sand bunkers and measures 7833 yards making it the longest course on the PGA tour. This however is a little misleading as it is played at a 3,500 foot elevation. The course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and was opened in 2008.
The toughest hole is the 3rd hole which is a par 3 and has a water hazard to the right of the hole. It is surrounded by bunkers and the green slopes from left to right and down towards the water, so look for the hole to claim a few scalps this week.
The Championship is a single elimination match play event. The Top 64 players on the World golf rankings are invited to play. The first round commences on the Wednesday with the 32 winners then playing on the Thursday. The last 16 then play on the Friday. This leaves 8 players in the Quarter Finals on the Saturday morning with the Semi Finals in the afternoon. The Championship is then decided on the Sunday along with the play off for 3rd place.
The players are placed into 4 bracketed groups. These are named after 4 of the legends of golf. Bobby Jones, Gary Player, Sam Snead and Ben Hogan. It is very much like the set up for a tennis tournament with the winner going through to the next round.
When trying to look for the winner of this type of event you need to look at the players form when it comes to match play along with singles records in Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. Match Play is a lot different to the normal PGA Tour event. Some guys love it, others not so much.
Looking at the bracket this year we have some excellent first round matches which will be well worth watching. There is the all Irish clash of Graeme McDowell and Padraig Harrington, American duo Jim Furyk and Ryan Moore and Euro stars Sergio Garcia and Thongchai Jaidee. The list goes on!!!
The Top 5 in betting this week are- $12 Tiger Woods, $13 Rory McIlroy, $17 Luke Donald, $19 Charl Schwartzel and $23 Ian Poulter.
When it comes to match play there are a few guys who love the format and should be looked at closely when doing your form this week.
Ian Poulter won this event in 2010 and has a great record in match play events and at $23.00 could be a good chance to repeat his efforts from three years ago. The only down side is that he is in the Sam Snead bracket with guys like Donald, Scott, Watney and Stricker. It’s a tough group of players.
Looking at the rest of the field I have decided to take a player from each side of the draw to give us a good run for our money and a chance of getting two guys into the final match up without meeting each other in the early rounds.
Matt Kuchar $36.00 www.sportsbet.com.au
When it comes to match play golf you need to take the good with the bad and keep a cool head when things go pear shaped. Matt has the right temperament for this format of the game. It is hard to get him flustered.
He is playing in the Ben Hogan bracket along with names like Oosthuizen, Grave, Rose and Garcia. His record here is 9-3.
From three starts here he has finished 5th last year, 3rd in 2011 and 17th in 2010. From four starts this season Kuchar has had three Top 20 finishes which include T9th Hyundai Tournament of Champions and T5th Sony Open.
Stats wise he is currently ranked 11th in scoring average, 20th in strokes gained putting, 12th in Par 5 performance and 32nd in scrambling. Those stats will see him pay well here. At 40/1 he represents a great each way bet
Nick Watney $36.00 www.sportsbet.com.au
Nick’s record here is 6-3. This will be his fourth appearance. His last three visits here saw him finish 9th on each occasion.
I noticed an interesting little stat during the week. The last three winners (Mahan, Donald and Poulter) all finished 9th the year before their victory. Perhaps it is now Nick’s time.
Watney has had four starts this season and produced two top 15 finishes.
He is in the Sam Snead bracket along with Donald, Scott and Poulter. Kuchar and Watney are on the opposite side of the draw so they can only meet in the final.
Looking at Watney’s stats this season he is ranked 2nd in greens in regulation, 20th in ball striking and 36th in scrambling. Stats that will be required this week.
Good luck and good punting