After Victor Dubuisson memorably escaped twice from the greenside desert in Arizona in the playoff of last year's World Golf Championships-Cadillac Match Play, he said that he went for those shots because he had nothing to lose. By definition, a sudden-death playoff among two golfers is match play, but that was risk-and-reward personified. Jason Day eventually closed out Dubuisson in 23 holes, but the Frenchman's wizardry is indelibly etched into our memory bank.
That aggressive style of play is supported more than ever in the 17th edition of the tournament where, thanks to a new format, this week's champion could lose his first match.
TPC Harding Park in San Francisco hosts the usual field of 64, but they are segregated into 16 groups of four. Each golfer gets three matches, one each against the others in his group. Overall records will determine who advances to the round of 16, which begins the traditional knockout phase on the weekend. So, the man hoisting the Walter Hagen Cup will have played seven matches, one more than the old format.
The host course isn't new to 12 of the guys in the field. It hosted the 2005 WGC-Cadillac Championship and The Presidents Cup 2009. Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson and Adam Scott participated in both, so if there's any advantage to course knowledge, they'll be the horses. But because it's one-on-one match play, the golfers are battling each other, not necessarily the course. One may lose with a 65 on the scorecard while another may advance with a 74. Hitting greens and making putts is the objective, but making real-time decisions on course management based on the play of one's opponent is imperative.
TPC Harding Park is a par 36-35=71 that can stretch 7,127 yards, which is 33 yards more than its measurement in The Presidents Cup. Its routing jumbles the actual used for members. For example, hole No. 1 this week is the par-5 10th (Nos. 5 and 18 this week are the other par 5s). Match play almost always features drivable par 4s, but there are two potentials for this Match Play -- the 336-yard 12th and the 344-yard 16th -- the latter of which figures to serve as the site for many a handshake.
Dry conditions are expected. You can't rule out a marine layer in the morning, but it should burn off as the sun rises in the sky. Moderate breezes with high temperatures in the low to mid-60s will force most into the closet for a jacket.
NOTE: The order of the top 16 below is a logical determination on the top four. For example, because Louis Oosthuizen is slotted fourth (or lowest among the semifinalists), Jim Furyk is ranked fifth (or highest among the quarterfinalists) because they would meet in the quarterfinals. Similarly, No. 8 Jason Day (lowest among the quarterfinalists) would meet No. 9 Sergio Garcia (highest of the eight that wouldn't advance from the round of 16). The order of Nos. 17-64 represent my subjective ranking of those that fail to advance from pool play.
1. Jordan Spieth
Prohibitive favorite, if such a thing exists in this format. Scorer. Leads TOUR in putting average and fewest putts. Went 3-1 in his debut last year.