Round 1: World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play
February 22 2012
6:34 pm
Woods wins despite his mistakes
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
MARANA, Ariz. — On Monday, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano said that his World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship first-round opponent, Tiger Woods, was "beatable." Woods replied on Tuesday that Fernadez-Castano also was "beatable."
As it turned out, both players were probably right.
Although Woods ended up winning Wednesday’s match 1 up, it wasn’t exactly a thing of beauty. Both players found themselves in the native area on several occasions. Woods had to navigate shots up against the bushes; in fact, he had to play a steep left-handed shot at the second hole.
"We both made our share of mistakes, there’s no doubt about that," said the fifth-seeded Woods. "But somehow I was able to move on."
Fernandez-Castano, making his Match Play debut, left the 18th green kicking himself for not upsetting Woods, who has lost just two first-round matches in 11 previous Match Play starts.
"I think if there was one day to beat Tiger Woods, this was it," the Spaniard said. "I didn’t take the opportunity. I missed a few shots. And, of course, you can’t miss shots if you want to beat one of the greatest in history."
Woods said there were a couple of key turning points.
At the 12th hole, he rolled in a 7-foot par putt to halve the hole when it looked like he would fall 2 down. Fernandez-Castano then missed an 8-foot birdie putt at the par-5 13th.
After getting up-and-down again at the 14th, Woods drove the short par-4 15th to set up his only birdie on the back nine. Fernandez-Castano bogeyed the next hole, giving Woods the lead for good.
"For some reason, that was the nature of our match today," Woods said. "We had some big swings and as I said, I’m very fortunate to move on."
Fernandez-Castano had a chance to extend the match at the 18th. But his birdie putt from just inside 10 feet slid by. Meanwhile, Woods made his par-saving putt from just inside nine feet.
"I gave him a headache on the 18th, which is good," Fernandez-Castano said. "It’s a shame the putt didn’t go in, because I hit it where I wanted to and how I wanted."
If Woods wants to advance, he will need to do a better job judging the distances in the thin Arizona air. It was a problem that plagued him on Wednesday.
"I’ve got to get a better feel for my distances out here," Woods said. "Just the numbers that we can hit the golf ball out here is just amazing, with the altitude and with the wind and being warm.
"There’s a lot of numbers going on, taking off percentages and then, you know, for how long is this ball going to stay in the air versus a short and blah, blah, blah. So it’s tough."
6:26 pm
Round 1: Updates, news, notes
MARANA, Ariz. – Wednesday’s first round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship has started. A total of 32 matches are scheduled for the Ritz-Carlton course at Dove Mountain. We’ll have updates all day on PGATOUR.COM and we encourage your comments throughout the day. Also check out PGATOUR.COM’s LIVE@ coverage on now.
Click here for match recaps.
FIRST-ROUND UPDATES (all times ET)
6:26 p.m. – Keegan Bradley, who lost in a playoff Sunday at the Northern Trust Open, took some heat for spitting during that final round. So how did it go in his 4-and-3 win over Geoff Ogilvy? Much better. "I got some advice from some people close to me, and I’m happy to report I didn’t spit one time today,’ Bradley said. "And my pre-shot routine was really good. I think that’s one of the reasons why I played well. I’m really proud of the no spitting, and I’m going to keep trying not to.”
6:22 p.m. – After his dominating win over world No. 1 Luke Donald, Ernie Els told PGA TOUR Radio "I put pressure on him on the long holes and it worked out." A look at the par-5s lends credence to the South African’s words. Els birdied the eighth to take a 1-up lead, parred the 11th to go 3 up and drained a 21-footer for birdie with Donald looking at a 12-footer at the 13th hole to maintain a 4-up lead.
6:15 p.m. – With Luke Donald’s first-round loss to Ernie Els, the No. 1 spot in the world is officially up for grabs. Rory McIlroy, who ranks second, and No. 3 Lee Westwood each could potentially claim the spot with a victory – depending, of course, on how the other does.
6:12 p.m. — In the longest match of the day, Brandt Snedeker two-putted for par from 35 feet to beat Retief Goosen in 21 holes after the South African missed the green and a 12-footer to save at the par 3.
6:09 p.m. – Lee Westwood made six birdies and no bogeys as he beat Nicolas Colsaerts 3 and 1. Westwood, who is ranked No. 3 in the world, now plays Robert Karlsson with a chance to advance past the second round for the first time in 12 starts at the Accenture Match Play Championship.
6:02 p.m. – David Toms halved the 18th hole with a 12-foot birdie putt to seal his 1-up victory over Rickie Fowler.
6:01 p.m. – Ernie Els just upset defending champion Luke Donald in a 5-and-4 decision – marking only the third time in the 12-year history of the tournament the 64th seed has won. Els made a 10-footer for birdie on the 14th hole to close out the match.
5:55 p.m. – Brandt Snedeker rolled in an 8-footer for birdie at the 18th hole to extend his match with two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen. The two matched pars on the first extra hole.
5:50 p.m. – Ernie Els continues to roll in his match with the world No. 1. Consecutive bogeys by Luke Donald gave Els a 4-up lead through 12 holes and the South African preserved that advantage with a 21-foot birdie to the Englishman’s 12-footer at the 13th.
5:43 p.m. – Miguel Angel Jimenez, who has twice made the quarterfinals of the Accenture Match Play Championship, hung tough against his fellow Spaniard, Sergio Garcia, for a 2-and-1 win. Jimenez, who led the previous six holes 1 up, won the 17th with a par when Garcia couldn’t get up-and-down from the waste area.
5:41 p.m. – Robert Karlsson made a 7-footer for birdie on the par-5 15th to beat Fredrik Jacobson 6 and 5, which is the widest margin of the day.
5:40 p.m. – Graeme McDowell, who was the first person eliminated on Wednesday as he lost 2 and 1 to Y.E. Yang in the opener, probably spoke for 31 others when he tweeted: “Strange feeling packing your clubs at 1105am on a Wednesday morning having made 6 birdies, headed home and some guys haven’t hit a shot yet!”
5:37 p.m. – Rickie Fowler is staging quite a comeback against David Toms. The 23-year-old has just reeled off three straight birdies – on putts of 10, 7 and 4 feet – to move from 4 down to just 1.
5:33 p.m. – Martin Kaymer made a 6-footer for birdie at the 15th hole and was conceded the 16th to close out his match with Greg Chalmers. Kaymer, who ranks No. 4 in the world, was the runner-up a year ago.
5:29 p.m. — Robert Karlsson drained a 31-footer for birdie at the par-3 12th to take a commanding 5-up advantage over his fellow Swede, Fredrik Jacobson.
5:20 p.m. – Defending champion Luke Donald just three-putted the par-5 11th hole to find himself 3 down to Ernie Els.
5:16 p.m. – Jason Day said he felt like he won the tournament after winning the last four holes against Rafael Cabrera-Bello to advance. “Man, it was just so up and down. … I did kind of scrape through, but I’m glad I stuck in there and didn’t give up.”
5:13 p.m. – Tiger Woods got up and down from the greenside bunker, holing a 9-footer for par, to beat Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano 1 up. The Spaniard missed a 10-footer for birdie that would have extended the match.
5:12 p.m. – Keegan Bradley made a 3-footer for birdie at the 15th hole to dispose of two-time Accenture Math Play Championship winner Geoff Ogilvy 4 and 3. How well did Bradley play? He was 8 under through 15 holes with six birdies and an eagle.
5:10 p.m. – Kyle Stanley saved par from the greenside bunker at the 17th hole to beat K.J. Choi, the reigning PLAYERS champion, 2 and 1.
5:07 p.m. – David Toms has made six birdies in his first 13 holes – five of them for wins – to take a 3-up advantage over Rickie Fowler.
5:05 p.m. – Bubba Watson said he and Ben Crane attended Bible study on Tuesday night and joked about playing each other in the first round. “Neither one of us want to lose, obviously. You are here to win. Even it’s your buddy or what, you still want to win. It’s hard playing with your buddy like that sometimes.”
5:02 p.m. – Martin Kaymer, top-seeded in the Ben Hogan bracket, has just made a 4-footer for birdie at the 13th hole to take a 3-up lead on Greg Chalmers.
4:56 p.m. – Luke Donald, who never trailed and never played the 18th hole in winning the Accenture Match Play Championship a year ago, is 2 down to Ernie Els at the turn. Els got up-and-down from the greenside bunker for birdie at the par-5 eighth to go 1-up and won the ninth when Donald made bogey from the desert.
4:50 p.m. – Kyle Stanley, who is playing in his first World Golf Championships, is hanging tough against the veteran K.J. Choi. Stanley, who won the Waste Management Phoenix Open earlier this month, squared his match with a 3-footer for birdie at the 15th hole and then went 1 up when Choi couldn’t save par at No. 16.
4:45 p.m. – Jason Day staged a furious rally, winning his last four holes to beat Rafael Cabrera-Bello on the 19th hole. The Aussie was 3 down through 15 but won Nos. 16 and 17 with pars, then made a 13-footer for birdie at the 18th hole to send the match into sudden death. He then sealed the win with a 4-footer for birdie.
4:40 p.m. – Tiger Woods won the 16th hole when Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano missed the green at the par to the left and couldn’t get a 6-footer for par to drop. He’s now 1 up with two par 4s remaining.
4:37 p.m. – Matt Kuchar squandered a 3-up advantage through 11 holes but came up clutch when he needed it – making a 14-footer for birdie at No. 18 to beat Jonathan Byrd 1 up.
4:34 p.m. –Tiger Woods rolled in a 20-footer for birdie at the 15th hole to square his match with Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
4:30 p.m. – South Africa’s George Coetzee has only made one par in his first six holes but he leads Rory McIlroy 1 up. He lost the first hole with a bogey, won the second with a birdie, doubled No. 3 when he hit his tee shot in the water and squared the match again with a birdie at No. 4. A 20-footer at No. 6 for his third birdie of the day has give Coetzee his first lead.
4:27 p.m. – Keegan Bradley has just gone birdie-eagle-birdie to take a 5-up advantage over Geoff Ogilvy through 12 holes.
4:20 p.m. – Bubba Watson never trailed in beating his good buddy, Ben Crane, 3 and 2. Crane won the 16th hole with a 6-footer to narrow the gap to 2 down but Watson answered with an 11-footer for the winning birdie on the next. Watson was 5 under through 16 holes.
4:11 p.m. – Shortly after he beat Jim Furyk on the 20th hole, Dustin Johnson was tweeting away. “I can’t even feel my toes right now I’m so #jacked!!!! Jimmy played great out there and is such a competitor! #respect @WGC_Accenture”
4:05 p.m. – Martin Laird rolled in a 3-footer at the 18th hole for the hard-fought 1-up victory over Alvaro Quiros. Neither player led more than 1 up during the match. The Spaniard has now bowed out in the first round the past four years.
4:02 p.m. – Robert Rock, who won in Abu Dhabi earlier this year, disposed of a formidable foe in Adam Scott, who brought a 14-10 record into their match. Rock, who is playing in his first Accenture Match Play Championship, beat Scott 1 up.
4 p.m. – Mark Wilson, who won the Humana Challenge earlier this year, has closed out Bo Van Pelt 3 and 2. Wilson was 6 under through 16 holes and did not make a bogey
3:54 p.m. – Nick Watney, who has reached the third round each of the last two years, made short work of Darren Clarke, closing out the 5-and-4 decision with a 5-footer for birdie on the 14th hole. Clarke, who beat Tiger Woods to win the Accenture Match Play Championship in 2000, was playing in the event for the first time since 2007.
3:50 p.m. – John Senden won his first match in two appearances, five years apart, when he beat Simon Dyson 4 and 3. The Aussie won the first two holes and never looked back, sending Simon Dyson packing in the first round for the second time in as many Accenture appearances
3:40 p.m. – Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano is now 1 up on Tiger Woods, who suffered his third straight bogey-or-worse hole at the par-5 11th. Woods found the native area behind the green with his second shot, his ball landing behind a shrub.
3:15 p.m. – Tiger Woods’s wayward drive at the 10th hole – he found the native area and had trouble getting out — has led to a double bogey. His match against Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano is all square.
3:14 p.m. – Nick Watney has jumped all over British Open champ Darren Clarke. Watney eagled the par-5 11th when his second shot landed inside 3 feet. He’s now 4 up.
3:05 p.m. – Italian teen Matteo Manassero continues to make an impact in this event, beating Webb Simpson 3 and 2. Last year, Manassero beat Steve Stricker and Charl Schwartzel.
3:04 p.m. – Louis Oosthuizen has beaten Aaron Baddeley 2 and 1. It’s Oosthuizen’s first win in three Match Play starts.
2:56 p.m. – Steve Stricker extended his Accenture Match Play Championship record to 11-8 when he beat Kevin Na 2 and 1. Stricker, the 2001 champion, nearly holed his second shot at the 323-yard 15th hole, tapping in from 3 inches for the birdie that put him 2 up.
2:54 p.m. – Francesco Molinari holed a chip from 79 feet for eagle at the par-5 second hole to beat Thomas Bjorn in 20 holes.
2:48 p.m. – Keegan Bradley is 2 up in his match with Geoff Ogilvy, a two-time winner of the Accenture Match Play Championship, after a birdie at the par-5 second and winning with a par at No. 4.
2:45 p.m. – Dustin Johnson has survived an adventure in the waste area at No. 2 to win his match with Jim Furyk on the 20th hole. Johnson had to take a drop in the desert and then hit his third short short of the green, chipping to 3 feet with his fourth. Furyk, meanwhile, was beside the green in two but chipped 39 feet past the pin. Furyk then putted 7 feet by and missed his bogey putt after Johnson had made his.
2:28 p.m. – Tiger Woods has birdied the seventh and eighth holes to go 1 up in his match with Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano. Woods trailed 2 down after two holes.
2:21 p.m. – Sang-moon Bae, who is playing in his first World Golf Championships event, has upset Ian Poulter, the winner of the 2010 Accenture Match Play Championship 4 and 3. Bae, who is a PGA TOUR rookie, made a 7-footer for birdie on the 15th hole to seal the victory. He never trailed in the match.
2:19 p.m. – Thomas Bjorn three-putted the 18th hole for bogey so his match with Francesco Molinari has gone to sudden death.
2:18 p.m. – Jim Furyk made a 3-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to square his match with Dustin Johnson and send it to extra holes.
2:14 p.m. – Paul Lawrie, making his first appearance at the Accenture Match Play Championship since 2003, has beaten Justin Rose 1 up. The former British Open champ only trailed one hole during his match.
2:11 p.m. — Charl Schwartzel made a 4-footer for birdie at the 16th hole to close out his match with Gary Woodland 4 and 2.
2:09 p.m. — Hunter Mahan has knocked off Zach Johnson in 19 holes. Johnson’s drive strayed right into the native area at the first hole and he was unable to get out. He hit his third to the edge of the fairway, his fourth to the left of the green and his fifth to 33 feet. Mahan, meanwhile, was on the green in two with a 53-foot birdie putt that Johnson conceded for the win. “In the end, it came down to one missed shot for Zach,” Mahan said. “Just the wrong place, really.”
2:02 p.m. –Graeme McDowell’s loss to Y.E. Yang was his second to the former PGA champion in as many years. "I ran into a man that played extremely well. I felt like I had to follow him all day long, and I did most of the day, but he didn’t put a foot wrong. That’s the beauty of this tournament. It’s not the beauty. It could be the beast of this tournament, as well. You just run into the wrong guy on the wrong day, and you have got your work cut out.”
1:55 p.m. – Dustin Johnson has gained the upper hand on Jim Furyk with consecutive birdies at the 15th and 16th holes. He parred No. 17 and heads to the 18th with a 1-up lead.
1:51 p.m. — Ryo Ishikawa has just beaten Bill Haas, who won the Northern Trust Open last week, 1 up. Haas missed the green on the 18th hole and couldn’t convert his 24-footer to save par. Ishikawa, meanwhile, had a 14-footer for birdie that he left inches shy for the winning par.
1:42 p.m. — We now have the first match to go extra holes. Hunter Mahan and Zach Johnson halved the 18th hole with par saves of 6 and 4 feet, respectively.
1:37 p.m. — Ryo Ishikawa has birdied three of his last four holes to rally from 3 down and even his match with Bill Haas. The 20-year-old from Japan made an 18-footer at the 17th hole and squared tthings after Haas was unable to convert from 5 feet.
1:30 p.m. — Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan are headed to the 18th hole with their match all square. Johnson just won the 17th hole when Mahan missed the green and made bogey.
1:19 p.m. – Rafael Cabrera-Bello, who is making his Accenture Match Play Championship debut, won three of his first five holes with a bogey, birdie and a par to take a 3-up lead over Jason Day.
1:13 p.m. — Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano is now 2 up on Tiger Woods, thanks to a 22-foot birdie putt at the par-5 second. Both players hit wayward drives, but Woods had to turn over a club and chip out left-handed for his second shot.
1:08 p.m. – In the anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better category, Jim Furyk holed a chip from 54 yards for birdie at the 13th hole and Dustin Johnson followed by making his from 78 feet for eagle to win the hole. Furyk’s lead is now 1 up.
1:06 p.m. – Shortly before he teed off in his match with Sang-moon Bae, Ian Poulter tweeted: "It’s Matchplay time folks love the feeling you get in Matchplay when can look ur opponent straight in the white of his eyes & get that buzz." The former champ is likely feeling better after squaring the match with a 6-foot birdie at the ninth hole.
1:02 p.m. – Y.E. Yang has closed out Graeme McDowell 2 and 1 in the opening match of the tournament. Yang will play the winner of the Hunter Mahan-Zach Johnson match.
12:51 p.m. – Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano gets the quick lead on Tiger Woods, winning the first hole with a 13-foot birdie putt. Tiger missed his birdie putt from 8-1/1 feet.
12:50 p.m. – Webb Simpson has hit just two of his first seven fairways. Might be one reason why he’s 3-down to Matteo Manassero.
12:45 pm. – Charl Schwartzel has a commanding 4 up lead through 10 holes in his match against Gary Woodland. Woodland has four bogeys on his card and also conceded another hole.
12:35 p.m. – Tiger Woods certainly had his game face on as he approached the first tee for his match against Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who on Monday said that Woods was “beatable.” A quick shake of the hands, and then Tiger, wearing a green shirt and cream-colored pants, teed off. His drive found the fairway, as did that of Fernandez-Castano. (more updates below photo)
12:29 p.m. – In the “Golf Boys” duel, Bubba Watson has drawn first blood with a 12-footer for birdie on the first hole. Ben Crane, sans wet suit and helmet, hit his second over the green but made par.
12:24 p.m. – Paul Lawrie, who made double bogey at the 10th hole, regained a 2-up advantage over Paul Lawrie with a 4-foot birdie putt on the 11th.
12:17 p.m. – Hunter Mahan now leads his match with Zach Johnson for the first time. Johnson found the bunker at the 12th hole and was unable to save par so Mahan is 1 up.
12:14 p.m. – Graeme McDowell got one hole back when he made a 6-footer for birdie at the 12th hole. He needed another at the 13th – two-putting from 40-feet on the par 5 – to remain just 1 down.
NOON — Only one of the first nine matches, all of which have gone at least six holes, is all square. That’s Match 2 between Hunter Mahan and Zach Johnson. Johnson held an early 2-up advantage after three, but consecutive Johnson bogeys at the sixth and seventh evened the match and it remains that way as the two play No. 12.
11:50 a.m. – Matteo Manassero, the 18-year-old from Italy, has gotten off to a quick start in his match with Webb Simpson. He drained a 52-footer for birdie at the first hole and won the second, as well, when Simpson three-putted from 11 feet.
11:46 a.m. – Thomas Bjorn, who has battled a bad back this week, has just gone 2 up on Francesco Molinari when the Italian missed an 8-footer to save par at the seventh hole.
11:37 a.m. – Y.E. Yang and Graeme McDowell are putting on quite a show. Yang, who is 2 up, is 3 under through 10 holes while McDowell, who birdied three of his first four holes but only won one, is even par after a double bogey at No. 9.
11:28 a.m. – Bill Haas, who won last week’s Northern Trust Open, made a 4-footer for birdie at the par-5 eighth hole to go 2 up in his match with Ryo Ishikawa. Haas won the seventh hole as well when his 20-year-old opponent from Japan came up short of the green in two and missed a 12-footer to save.
11:18 a.m. – Keegan Bradley, who plays Geoff Ogilvy at 1:15 p.m. ET, just tweeted: Perfect day. Can’t remember the last time I was this excited to play golf. #MatchPlay
11:05 a.m. – Another ball – Gary Woodland’s, this time — found the water at the third hole. Charl Schwartzel, who chipped in for eagle to win the second hole, is now 2 up.
10:55 a.m. – Jim Furyk has taken a 3-up lead over Dustin Johnson with a par at the fourth hole. About 15 minutes earlier Johnson conceded the third hole to Furyk after putting his tee shot at the par 3 into the pond on front of the green.
10:42 a.m. – Thomas Bjorn two-putts from 19 feet at the par-5 second hole to square his match with Francesco Molinari.
10:30 a.m. – Dustin Johnson drops opening hole to Jim Furyk after three-putting from 43 feet.
10: 15 a.m. – Zach Johnson rolls in 30-foot eagle putt at par-5 second. He’s 2-up on Hunter Mahan through three holes.
9:40 a.m. – In the opening match of the day, Y.E. Yang has quickly taken the lead against Graeme McDowell, who lost the first hole with a bogey. These two met a year ago in a third-round match in which Yang beat McDowell 3 and 2. By the way, the weather is crisp, cool and cloudless – a perfect day for golf.
5:25 pm
Watch: Kuchar’s close-out birdie
Kuchar birdies No. 18
Matt Kuchar hits his approach shot to 13 feet on the par-4 18th hole and makes the birdie putt to beat Jonathan Byrd 1 up.
3:58 pm
Interview: Johnson Wagner
Mayakoba Golf Classic
The defending champion will tee it up with Mayakoba designer Greg Norman in the first round.
3:45 pm
Watch: Watney eagles on way to win
Watney eagles No. 11
Nick Watney hits his 268-yard second shot to 2 feet on the par-5 11th hole and taps for eagle.
3:33 pm
Fantasy mailbag: Reshuffle looms
FANTASY PREVIEW: Mayakoba Golf Classic | Sign up for fantasy
This is the final week of the first phase of the reshuffle among Nationwide Tour and q-school graduates. Once the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and the Mayakoba Golf Classic are in the books, the golfers in Priority Ranking No. 25 will be reordered based on earnings.
For many, this week is arguably the most important of the year for the guys slotted 21st and lower if the reshuffle occurred after the Northern Trust Open. I explain why below.
First, for season-long formats that dig into this group, owners are required to pay attention. For some, the results of the first reshuffle can prove valuable. Here is an excerpt of an email thread dating back to Feb. 1 when a gamer began fine-tuning his draft strategy:
Our season runs from the Honda through the PGA. It’s getting down to the wire for my picks and I’m worrying myself over the last few. Can you tell me what the likelihood of Category 25ers who finish with a high ranking on the first reshuffle (top 10 or close to it) will be to play in any regular TOUR event? I am looking at bargain picks like Jarrod Lyle and Harris English. — Shane
Let’s make the simple yet accurate assumption that guys near the top will play more often. Next, my advice is to focus only on the top 20 following this weekend. Here are some facts as it relates to the reshuffle category over a four-year span starting in 2008:
- There have been 13 winners. At the time of their victories, six were inside the top 10. Another six were inside the top 20. The only golfer outside the top 20 was Richard S. Johnson, who won in Milwaukee in July 2008 from the 37th position. (Greg Kraft was on Past Champion status won he won in Puerto Rico in 2008.)
- In addition to the 13 winners, 52 more finished inside the top 125 in earnings in their respective seasons. Of the 52, 19 were ranked inside the top 10 of the first reshuffle of the year. That’s nearly half of the 40 in the sample size (top-10 rankings over four years). Sixteen (or 40 percent) were slotted 11-20. Therefore, two-thirds (35 of 52) of the golfers that finished inside the top 125 sat somewhere in the top 20 after the first reshuffle.
Now, quite a bit of golf remains and four more reshuffles will occur, so the guys in the top 20 still must take advantage of the springboard that was a hot start to 2012. In the last four years, six that ranked inside the top 10 of the first reshuffle failed to finish inside the top 150 on the money list.
This includes Jarrod Lyle twice (2009, 2011). And sure enough, he’d sit fourth in this year’s reshuffle if there are no changes this weekend. (He’s scheduled to compete in Mexico.) English would sit ninth in the reshuffle with no changes. He didn’t commit to Mayakoba.
Of the guys that sat 11-20 in the first reshuffle over the last four years, 13 failed to finish the season inside the top 150 in earnings.
Fantasy golf is often as much about hedging as it is about investing properly. If this dynamic impacts your game, be sure to visit the reshuffle that I update weekly.
3:05 pm
Watch: Molinari eagle wins it
Molinari magic
Francesco Molinari holes a 78-foot chip shot on the par-5 second hole to win in 20 holes over Thomas Bjorn.
12:05 pm
Coetzee switches focus to Rory
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
MARANA, Ariz. — When qualifying ended 10 days ago for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, George Coetzee figured he would have to face defending champion Luke Donald. Coetzee, after all, was the last man in the field and Donald was guaranteed the top overall seed.
But because the brackets were not set until after the Official World Golf Ranking came out Sunday, Coetzee moved ahead of Ernie Els in the rankings. That left Els to face No. 1 Donald in the Bobby Jones bracket while Coetzee now faces Rory McIlroy, the No. 1 seed in the Gary Player bracket. That match begins at 2:25 p.m. ET.
"I was kind of prepared to play against Luke," the South African said this week.
Coetzee, whose biggest win came last year at the Telkom PGA Championship on the Sunshine Tour, said he doesn’t know much about McIlroy’s game. That’s because he’s never seen the reigning U.S. Open champ play in person.
"It’s tough to know how a guy plays when you watch him on TV," Coetzee said. "I’m sure he’s a great golfer. And obviously I aspire to the things that that he’s achieved in his golf.
"But I guess he’s pretty solid in every part of his game. And hopefully on Wednesday, I’ll be pretty solid in every part of mine."
10:06 am
Kaymer seeks to improve on last year
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM
MARANA, Ariz. — Martin Kaymer didn’t win the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship last year but he came away with a pretty nice consolation prize.
Kaymer, who was on the losing end of a 3-and-2 decision to Luke Donald in the finals, still managed to ascend to No. 1 in the world thanks to the strong run through the elite field of 64. The 27-year-old German held the spot for eight weeks — five more than his countryman Bernhard Langer had done.
Turns out, though, that lofty position was something of a double-edged sword. While Kaymer still managed to post seven more top-10s, including a win at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, last year he admits his focus sometimes waned and the swing adjustments he made are still kicking in.
"I still think I play good golf," Kaymer said. "But overall, I understand the last year has been a little different for myself. I obviously was No. 1 in the world. It was not only a big thing for me but Germany as well and German golf. So a lot has happened and my focus has gotten a little bit away from golf, but then in the middle of the season I could focus back on golf.
"I was changing a few things. … I feel very good about my game. It is just a matter of time that it will happen that I have a good long time of good tournaments. I’m not too concerned. I still play good golf and I know I need to be on my top form in order to win.
“You need to keep working and improving. That is what at the moment I enjoy the most. I have a lot of things that I can work on and I see I can benefit from it. It will become better and better every month."
Kaymer, who has been called in some quarters "The Germanator," is now ranked No. 4 in the world and top-seeded in the Ben Hogan bracket. He plays Australia’s Greg Chalmers in the first round at 1:25 p.m. ET.
Kaymer knows Chalmers is left-handed and a good putter but "that’s pretty much it," the German said. Chalmer’s two wins in a three-week stretch Down Under weren’t lost on Kaymer, either.
"Geoff Ogilvy and me were at dinner yesterday," Kaymer said. "I asked him if he knows him. He said yeah, he is very good in short game, so you should be careful, never give up on anything, or think, okay, that’s my hole, Which you should not do in match play anyways, especially with him. That’s what I heard.
"At the end of the day, if I shoot one stroke better than him, I will be fine. I’m not Googling him or trying to look up things."
9:26 am
FedExCup could be more lucrative
MARANA, Ariz. – The five-year extension of the FedExCup announced on Wednesday will include financial growth for PGA TOUR players participating in the season-long competition.
The FedExCup, which will now run through 2017, is a $35 million competition that awards $10 million to the champion at the end of the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola. According to PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem, though, there could be some increasess in that bonus pool.
“How that plays out in terms of the distribution of dollars we’re not sure, but we’re certainly going forward, not backwards during this term,” Finchem said, adding there will be dollars expended to support the Cup, particularly in digital platforms with the TOUR’s new 10-year television contract.
“Some of that has yet to be worked out. But financially to the players, we will be growing during this term.”
Mike Glenn, who is the executive vice president of marketing development at FedEx, said the extension is just another part of a relationship his company has had with the PGA TOUR that dates back more than 25 years. FedEx is also the title sponsor of the TOUR event in Memphis, where it’s corporate headquarters are located..
"Being part of the PGA TOUR certainly instills pride in our team members and supports our global brand and connects with our customers in a very special way,” Glenn said. “Plus the TOUR’s leadership when it comes to charitable giving makes the TOUR a perfect fit for our FedEx culture, and we certainly look forward to continuing to build on the success of the FedExCup as we further integrate our marketing efforts with the TOUR.”
While neither Finchem nor Glenn would rule out changes in the points structure in the future, both indicated there was a comfort zone to the current system.
"I can only point to the last two years when we literally felt the winner changed shot by shot on Sunday, which is what the experts would really like to have happen every year," Glenn said. "And the drama that plays itself out now at the TOUR Championship and particularly on Sunday, when literally the winner hangs in the balance of the very next shot, that is probably best illustrated by Bill Haas’s shot out of the water on 17.
"I don’t know how much more drama we can get. And I think the changes in the point system have really contributed to that. Are there opportunities to improve it further? Perhaps. But we’re pretty pleased with where it is right now."
Finchem said he doesn’t mind people who call for changes in the points system. He likens it to annual debate surrounding the BCS, which as Finchem says, keeps college football in the conversation.
"I think the fundamental thing is the right players have won the competition," Finchem said. "I think if you look back at each of those years, the player who played the best and played a lot and played the best through the FedExCup won. Certainly without question the players who played the best were in position to win in Atlanta. And I think the structure gets us to that point.
"There are different ways to do it. As Mike just said, we’ve been looking at, for example, the volatility that occurs when you start the playoffs. And we do have some concerns about that. We’ve just determined to watch it yet for another year."
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