Accenture Match Play Picks: Lee Westwood Triumphs, Allenby & Ishikawa Play Well
by Ryan Ballengee on Feb 15, 2010 6:09 PM EST
in Pro Golf
Email
PrintI sat down this afternoon in my Golf Lab at the Waggle Room office to look at the brackets that have been released for the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship (aka the WGC Former Tiger Sponsor Match Play Championship), which begins on Wednesday at Dove Mountain.
Dove Mountain's greens have been revamped for the tournament to make them more palatable to the players that complained about obscene and contrived breaks on the desert greens. That means that shotmakers are going to have more of an advantage this year, but so also will the great putters whose aggression will not be muted by lousy greens. It is with that in mind that I judged the bracket and made my calls for this year's tournament.
After the jump, take a look at my picks for the lone crack at match play that we get on the PGA Tour this year. Also, in the comments section, I want to hear who you have.
JONES BRACKET
Let's start with the Jones Bracket and #1 ranked Steve Stricker. This isn't my most favorite quadrant, but does pose some pretty cool potential matches. Click to enlarge to see my full, detailed picks.
As you can see, I like Ryo Ishikawa a lot this week. I loved what I have seen from him the past two weeks. His game is not perfect, but this seems like the Perfect Storm bracket for him to get to the final four.
NOTABLES: Adam Scott will win a match; Harrington v. Poulter will be a war; AK is not getting out of the first round.
PLAYER BRACKET
I love this bracket. I think it's my second favorite. It has the hottest PGA Tour player, Dustin Johnson, and Lee Westwood. And that's the match that I want to see. I want to see if the 25 year old streaker can make an even bigger leap just as much as I want to see if Lee Westwood can come over to the United States with his confidence and do some serious damage in this tournament. For the record, I think Westwood will.
If I'm wrong about Westwood, look out for either Nick Watney or Retief Goosen. Both have gotten off to quietly brilliant starts in 2010. And, yes, I am predicting a DJ win over match play god Geoff Ogilvy. I think he's playing that well.
NOTABLES: Ben Crane beats Henrik Stenson.
HOGAN BRACKET
This is my favorite bracket of all. It is chalk full great players who are currently playing great. It has McIlroy, though he's got a stiff back. MA Jimenez is here and will probably do nicely with his laid back attitude. But, my guy in this quadrant is Robert Allenby. He is an incredible ballstriker, which will apply a lot of pressure to opponents. The Aussie is putting a lot better in '10 so far - perhaps the best in his career (really). I think that makes him the man here, even over Martin Kaymer, who really is just a Desert Swing expert.
NOTABLES: Tim Clark is going to take down Vijay in round one and could be the spoiler in my grand vision for this quadrant.
SNEAD BRACKET
This is kind of where I decide to go out on a limb. I think the Molinari brothers are each going to have a nice run in this bracket. Paul Casey appears ready to be turning around from his injury in '09, as Colin Montgomerie noticed in his Ryder Cup captain blog. Because this quadrant is filled with players that are not exactly killing it, I'm taking a lot of liberties with my guesses.
NOTABLES: I don't see the Open Champion getting out of the first round, nor Charl Schwartzel doing a whole lot against Jim Furyk.
FINAL FOUR
That would leave me with semifinal matches of Paul Casey v. Lee Westwood and Ryo Ishikawa v. Robert Allenby. Because I'm completely making this up in my head, I see an Ishikawa v. Westwood final with the Englishman taking his first World Golf Championship.
And, yes, I know that Westwood has never advance past round two of this event.
29 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Yep, that’s pretty ballsy to take Ishikawa over the World’s #2 — and a guy who is playing like it.
This looks like an NCAA “upset” sheet when you can run 2-3 sheets in a tourney pool.
The whole point of this thing is to inspire conversation, not be right :) It’s impossible to do well with this tournament.
Find me! Email: ryan@thegolfnewsnet.com, Twitter: http://twitter.com/waggleroomryan, or Facebook: http://facebook.com/waggleroom.
by Ryan Ballengee on Feb 16, 2010 10:30 AM EST up reply actions
fair enough
I wasn’t dogging you so much as saying you picked an all-or-nothing bracket there.
I do it once a year with one of my sheets in the Big Dance. Once or twice, it has almost worked. The pools I have won (2) and one I nearly won were made with favorites-sheets. Just sayin’ :-)
by Charles Boyer on Feb 16, 2010 12:24 PM EST up reply actions
Ladbrokes has their odds up
ummm – we get that a post is there to inspire conversation – but the more you get correct – the more your credibility goes up. :-)
Here is a link to Ladbrokes where you can check out first round match odds, bracket odds, and tournament odds. Pretty cool.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Tiger News of the Day
When Ross McGowan touched down in Orlando late last week he must have been tempted to wander round to Tiger Woods’ house and ask him what on earth he was playing at.
For an example of gross discourtesy from one professional to another, it would be hard to beat the fact that no one from the Woods camp could be bothered to pick up the phone and let McGowan know that Tiger wouldn’t be playing in the Accenture Match Play Championship.
Why would Woods pick up a phone to call McGowan ? He is a PGA Tour member – he is required to let the PGA Tour know by the Friday before the following week’s tournament starts if he is going to be there or not – nobody else. This isn’t news – it’s been known for a couple of weeks that Woods wouldn’t be in Tucson this week.
Why aren’t you busting Mickelson’s chops for the same thing with even less notice ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
court,
Did you even bother to read the article I linked? No, of course not, you already know everything, you don’t have to read any article even one that you’re commenting on. Too bad, if you had read the article I linked, or even read the articles here that Ryan posted, you would not have needed to ask your stupid questions. Here’s Ryan’s articles…
by Ryan Ballengee on Feb 12, 2010 3:03 PM PST in Pro Golf 35 comments
Just as was predicted in this space (and a whole lot of others), Tiger Woods opted not to enter the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship next week. The deadline was 5pm ET today. Without Woods, world number two Steve Stricker assumes the #1 spot in the draw of sixty-four.
Phil Mickelson will also not be participated, as previously announced, due to him being with his wife for treatment in Amy’s battle against breast cancer.
by Ryan Ballengee on Feb 3, 2010 9:23 AM PST in Pro Golf 47 comments
Mark Hayes of the Melbourne Herald Sun out of Australia becomes the first journalist to just up and decide when Tiger Woods is definitively returning. He says in a piece that Woods shocking return will be in two weeks at the Accenture Match Play Championship.
by Ryan Ballengee on Jan 29, 2010 9:24 AM PST in Pro Golf 14 comments
Phil Mickelson won’t be playing the Accenture Match Play in a few weeks, citing the need to spend some time with his wife, who is battling cancer. He said this in his Wednesday presser before the Torrey Pines event.
…and here’s the pertinent passage from the article I linked that would have answered your foolish questions…
“How hard is it to do the right thing? McGowan, next in line to play should Woods fail to commit, was left dangling until the deadline passed at 10pm last Friday. Given that Woods knew all along he was not playing in Arizona this week – forget those erroneous reports to the contrary – why not give McGowan some notice?
If McGowan had done nothing until the deadline, that would have meant flying on Sunday for a tournament beginning tomorrow which is potentially life-changing. No wonder he took the chance Woods wouldn’t show up and flew to America anyway.
Contrast that to Phil Mickelson’s behaviour. He announced two weeks ago he wouldn’t be playing, thereby allowing another Englishman, Chris Wood, all the preparation time he needed for his opening match with Lee Westwood.”
….so to personally reply to your foolish questions, Why would Woods pick up a phone to call McGowan? because it would show the basic human consideration that Woods is demanding from the public and media about his own privacy rights!
And you’re wrong (AGAIN) when you say it’s not news, that it’s been known for a couple of weeks that Woods wouldn’t be in Tucson this week. Ryan just posted the story here on Feb 3rd about Mark Hayes’ story in the Melbourne paper saying Woods would play in the Accenture tournament.
And why am I not busting PM’s chops? For one thing, I’m not busting anyone’s chops, I was just posting a story, the author was busting Woods’ chops. And rightly so because Woods was so inconsiderate and PM was considerate…what kind of person could not discern this? Evidently, only someone as inconsiderate as you, court!
if you’re going to throw your hat in with the author on Woods, why are you not willing to continue the argument with Mickelson ? Woods was out before Mickelson.
“how hard is it to do the right thing” ? are you nuts ? If everybody and their grandmother knew two weeks ago that Woods wasn’t going to be in Tucson this week, how is it news to McGowan any later than that ? McGowan knows the rules of withdrawal – he screwed up. Stop blaming Woods for everything that happens to everybody else.
You DO know that jets can get anywhere pretty quickly these days, right ? Leaving SUNDAY for a tournament that starts WEDNESDAY may be an annoyance, but he would have been in Tucson by Monday night.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Why do I bother to post information since you never read it anyway? You asked another foolish question, I guess that’s the only kind fools can ask…
“if you’re going to throw your hat in with the author on Woods, why are you not willing to continue the argument with Mickelson ? Woods was out before Mickelson.”
…Ryan posted this article right here, one hour after the deadline passed for entering the Accenture…
“by Ryan Ballengee on Feb 12, 2010 3:03 PM PST in Pro Golf 35 comments
Just as was predicted in this space (and a whole lot of others), Tiger Woods opted not to enter the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship next week. The deadline was 5pm ET today. Without Woods, world number two Steve Stricker assumes the #1 spot in the draw of sixty-four.”
…and Phil withdrew sometime before Ryan posted this article on Jan 29th…
“by Ryan Ballengee on Jan 29, 2010 9:24 AM PST in Pro Golf 14 comments
Phil Mickelson won’t be playing the Accenture Match Play in a few weeks, citing the need to spend some time with his wife, who is battling cancer. He said this in his Wednesday presser before the Torrey Pines event."
…I’m not blaming Woods for anything; but I do agree with the author that Woods suffers from “Me First” or “Me Only” syndrome, his inconsiderate behavior is the exact opposite of Phil’s. Yes, Woods did indeed know not only two weeks ago but all along that he wouldn’t be playing in the Accenture, but he never declined and thus was not officially out until the deadline passed…thus the timing of Ryan’s article.
Yes, I do know about jets…do you know about alternative schedules? If McGowan wasn’t going to play in the Accenture, then he would have scheduled another gig. It’s all about consideration for others, Tiger doesn’t have it, PM does. But that explains why you like Tiger and hate Phil.
ps. O and please do explain…“McGowan knows the rules of withdrawal – he screwed up.”…how McGowan screwed up?
I wasn’t asking what Ryan thought – I was asking what YOU thought.
McGowan apparently wasn’t paying attention to what was going on with the next available spots. Even if he didn’t know until Friday, which the rest of us know well before then, he had time to accept or reject. Blaming Woods for not calling McGowan is nonsense.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
I thought I made it clear that I thought you were wrong when you posted this…
“Why aren’t you busting Mickelson’s chops for the same thing with even less notice ?”
…how many different ways do I need to say it? Especially in this “No Insults Allowed” era instituted by Ryan.
For the record, McGowan was paying attention and knew exactly that he was in if Woods withdrew. As the article I linked, and Ryan’s article confirms, Tiger did NOT withdraw and was only declared OUT after the deadline passed. And like I said in an earlier post, I am not blaming Woods for not calling McGowan; like the author of the article I linked says, it just shows a lack of consideration on the part of Woods.
Mickelson, on the other hand, withdrew from the tournament at least by Jan 29th, as Ryan’s article attests. Why don’t you go argue with F&G? You seem to share the same double digit IQ’s.
Yeah, but we'd like to at least
be able to do poorly.
I like 3 out of 4 of your semi-finalists but
IIshikawa is a bit of a stretch for me to go with. I’ll take Westwood or Ogilvy vs Allenby for the final.
Wendy,
has obviously been looking into my crystal ball….I agree…when all the warriors have been slain, the only one standing with his shield is Ogilvy,,,,Wendy, Easing…what are the book makers giving on this…STUB
By bracket:
Stricker 10/3
Westwood 4/1
McIlroy 7/2
Casey 5/1
Haven’t looked further than that at this stage
You do know that I had Cink to win The Open last year at 150/1? Well, you wouldn’t have bet on Watson, would you?
Court's Taking Wie
I just saw Court’s sheet and he picked Michelle Wie to run the table.
I kid, I kid.
Ishikawa’s a promising young player, that’s undeniable, but I have to say I think he’s somewhat overrated.
In a few years time he may well be reaching the latter stages of this tournament, but not in 2010.
He’s a solid putter (although he missed a few short ones last week) but the rest of his game isn’t at the level it will probably be eventually.
I think Michael Sim will edge it tomoro.
What makes you think he’ll get that far, Ryan?
WGC winner.
Has to be Clark. Good vibes from 2009 event, and he was a killer in the Prez Cup. Course suits his game, plus, as a Scottsdale resident ,it qualifies as a home game. That’s a lot of Good Karma sitting on his shoulder…………………………………………………..Z.
you're still away,...choke on it !
Clark would be fun – Stewart Cink definitely wants another shot at the title after his less than sparkling final against Tiger 2 years ago.
Over under on Broadcast executives who jump out of windows if it’s a Stricker v Cink final ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Cink and Stricker aren’t exactly balls of energy on the course, and they aren’t known for making the spectacular shots. Match play is already “dull” to watch for a lot of people – and a good bit of the media will be saying that it’s “too boring” without Tiger and Phil.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
Dos anyone know anything about the amateur golf scene in Japan? Does Ryo have plenty of matchplay experience?
Rory McIlroy certainly does, which is one of the reasons I expect him to do well this week.
Check out my golf blog - http://klondykegolf.blogspot.com/
Find me on Twitter - http://twitter.com/klondykegolf
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Have a golf story tip? Contact editor Charles Boyer and he will follow the story! Thanks!
Related FanPosts on Waggle Room
Related FanShots on Waggle Room
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
