Golf Comment: Upsets on the cards in welcome return to drama of match play
I LOVE match play golf and I believe crowds really enjoy it too, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s WGC Match Play Championship in Arizona. It’s a totally different contest to stroke play and you really get to see the guts of a competitor.
So it’s a great shame that three of the world’s top four, in Tiger Woods, fellow American Phil Mickelson and Australia’s Adam Scott, are choosing to bypass the event. Yes, the potential five-day schedule is longer than most but it’s not that gruelling.
Sponsors also tend to be less keen on the format, as the unpredictable nature of knock-out tournaments mean the favourites often don’t win. But, like the Ryder Cup, it makes for great drama and I would like to see it given greater attention.
This tournament favours players in form, so look out for up and coming Americans Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker. There are also several European players whose match play skills I witnessed first-hand at last year’s Seve Trophy. Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano impressed me enormously, Thorbjorn Olesen is very strong and Thomas Bjorn is in great form. From my team, I particularly liked Jamie Donaldson while Stephen Gallacher excels at match play and has a recent win under his belt.
Staying with Brits, well done to Oliver Fisher for a good display at the Africa Open. He lost a play-off to Thomas Aiken but it’s hard to beat South Africans on their own soil.
Congratulations also to Bubba Watson, who won his first PGA Tour title since the 2012 Masters at the Northern Trust Open on Sunday. Being a Major champion does bring a new pressure but that is a good victory and, with a return to Augusta just weeks away, a timely boost.
Sam Torrance OBE is a multiple Ryder Cup-winning golfer and media commentator. Follow him on Twitter @torrancesam