PGA Tour - February

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Good to see Charles Howell III pick up a victory today over Phil in the Nissan. He's having a very good year that the media is ignoring and I think this victory puts him at the top of the FedEx Cup race.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Good to see Charles Howell III pick up a victory today over Phil in the Nissan. He's having a very good year that the media is ignoring and I think this victory puts him at the top of the FedEx Cup race.

 

It does, they're 1-2 now.

 

And you were right about the media....he had been written off quite a bit, it seemed to be, with so much potential and only the one previous victory to show for it.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Well now that we are done with the Nissan is everyone amped up for the Match Play this coming week? Haven't decided who I'm going to pick yet but one thing is for certain: Vijay Singh won't make it past round two.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

I wish I could attend the event.

 

My pick is Adam Scott.

[CanadianChris 0]

I actually like Ernie in this event. He looks to be pretty close to peaking right now. With the tournament not at La Costa (which he hates), I think he's got a good chance to win.

 

Or, I could play it safe and go with You Know Who, but what fun would that be?

[Guest Queen Leelee]

#64 J.J. Henry will knock Eldrick out.

[CanadianChris 0]

#64 J.J. Henry will knock Eldrick out.

I think I'd give shorter odds on Tiger breaking Nelson's record than on this happening.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

I'm putting a small bet on it.

 

Hey, Henry played better in last years' Ryder Cup matches than Tiger has like ever. It's possible.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Tiger has lost to some no-namers before in this event....who's to say? I hadn't even considered the Henry-Ryder Cup factor....By the way, I said the same thing about Stephen Ames last February. That didn't turn out so well.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I'm putting a small bet on it.

 

Hey, Henry played better in last years' Ryder Cup matches than Tiger has like ever. It's possible.

 

The Golf Channel all but blew Adam Scott as they picked him to fly through the Snead Bracket on their preview show.

 

It's been grossly underlooked that this is a new course, which should at least semi-mute previous Match Play records.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

The Golf Channel all but blew Adam Scott

Don't tease me like that.

 

There's no easy draws. They're 18 hole matches with a field where everyone is extremely good. It's basically pot luck, no matter how well you play.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Yea, match play is very random. You could shoot a 66 (assuming you count what you would have made on the hole regardless of if you won it or not) but if your opponent catches fire and birdies everything in sight then you can lose. I remember the first year the match play occurred in 1999 Jeff Maggert shot a 73 or so in his first round match and won because his opponent shot a 76 and then went on to win the tournament. It's funny b/c if he had played anyone else in the first round he would have lost.

 

I expect Tiger to at least win one match in this event but he has lost to the #64 seed before. I think it was three years ago he lost to Peter Lonard 2 & 1 or so in the match play when he was the #1 seed.

 

There are just a lot of variables in the tournament and while golf enthusiasts enjoy it because they usually know most of the players on the PGA and European tours, networks hate it because they could end up with a Sunday showdown between two guys no one knows or care about.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Here's a copy of the bracket: http://i.pgatour.com/pgatour/docs/accenture-match-play.pdf

 

My predictions:

 

Quarter-Finals:

 

#1 Tiger Woods vs. #10 Aaron Baddeley (Bobby Jones)

#12 Charles Howell III vs. #2 Ernie Els (Ben Hogan)

#5 David Toms vs. #15 John Rollins (Gary Player)

#1 Adam Scott vs. #6 Jose Maria Olazabal (Sam Snead)

 

Semi-Finals:

#1 Tiger Woods vs. #2 Ernie Els

#15 John Rollins vs. #6 Jose Maria Olazabal

 

Finals:

#2 Ernie Els vs. #15 John Rollins

 

Final Placings:

1st-Ernie Els

2nd-John Rollins

3rd-Tiger Woods

4th-Jose Maria Olazabal

[CanadianChris 0]

No upsets so far. Ogilvy, Immelman and DiMarco breeze into the second round, none of them making it to the 16th hole.

 

Stephen Ames is taking out last year's frustrations on Robert Karlsson. Ames is 7-up as they make the turn.

[CanadianChris 0]

So much for my Ernie prediction. He went down 4 & 2 to Bradley Dredge.

[Red Baron 0]

Ogilvy vs Olazbel(sp?) next round, that'll be good.

 

Lefty is down two.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Well Bradley Dredge messed up my predictions by routing Els 4 & 2.

 

John Rollins is also getting pounded by Vijay Singh which is surprising since Singh barely survives when he does win in the match play.

 

Also, hats off to Stephen Ames for bouncing back from last years beating by Woods and winning 8 & 7 over Robert Karlsson.

[Red Baron 0]

Mike Weir just lost. Big whoop

[Guest Queen Leelee]

I'm surprised Weir qualified for this.

 

Adam Scott is sucking. Focus. Birdies.

[Red Baron 0]

Love has missed some golden opportunities today.

 

Vijay Singh is up against Stephen Ames in the next round.

[Danville_Wrestling 0]

Well Adam Scott is first number one seed to bite the dust at the end of day number one. I guess we all should have given Shaun Micheel more credit, after all he won the PGA Championship several years ago and did beat Tiger in the HSBC match-play last year.

 

I always suck @ predicting this thing as is evident by having 3 of my 8 quarter-finalists knocked out on the first day including both players I had picked for the finals. Oh well.

 

The matchup I'm most interested in for the second round is probably Ogilvy and Olazabal although Tiger Woods and Tim Clark should be a fun match too. I also think if Nick O'Hern advances to the round of 16 that Tiger might have some trouble with him.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Pretty much status quo outside of Ernie and Adam.

 

I'd have bet anything a year ago that Appleby would beat Howell III. I didn't even consider Stuart when filling out my brackets yesterday.

[CanadianChris 0]

Tiger is just laying the smack down on Tim Clark, 5 up through 8.

 

The most interesting match tomorrow would probably be Charles Howell and Phil Mickelson, should both advance. Phil's trailing Justin Rose, though, 1 down through 11.

 

Oh, and Retief is out.

[CanadianChris 0]

Mickelson, Furyk and Vijay join Retief in making early exits. Tiger's now the only one of the top eight still around.

[Red Baron 0]

Mickelson, Furyk and Vijay join Retief in making early exits. Tiger's now the only one of the top eight still around.

How about Ames, knocking off Vijay? He had never played the 13th hole (or further) in this tournament until yesterday.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

Mickelson, Furyk and Vijay join Retief in making early exits. Tiger's now the only one of the top eight still around.

How about Ames, knocking off Vijay? He had never played the 13th hole (or further) in this tournament until yesterday.

 

^

 

With the top eight gone, look for a lot of guys to be called Giant Killers (re: Tiger) over the next few days. You may want to mute this afternoon's match between him and O'Hern.

[Guest Queen Leelee]

February Frenzy!

 

If Tiger doesn't win, it's gonna be some European no-name. Or Micheel.

 

I will pull for David Toms. He always has a soft spot for me since 2001 Atlanta.

 

Or Yoshi to defend.

[CanadianChris 0]

Tiger has played holes 3 through 6 in 5-over-par, including two doubles. He's 3 down to O'Hern through 6.

[CanadianChris 0]

And O'Hern wins on the second playoff hole, after Tiger made a five footer on 18 to draw all square, then missed a five-footer to win on the first playoff hole. The streak is over.

[Red Baron 0]

Ames won 3-1.

 

Ames vs Campbell next round.