Tag Archives: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship

Feb
23
2012
Bracket-by-Bracket: Odds and Ends from the Match Play Championship
By Conor Nagle under European PGA Tour

Who's that dapper gent lost amid the desert shrubbery?

The beauty of the Match Play Championship lies in the sheer volume of material it throws the way of fans of a media types alike. 32 first-round matches can be relied upon to yield the same number of compelling narratives, variously framed as do-or-die clashes between contrasting generations, styles, continents, facial hair, even paces of play (Crane v. Watson; Manassero v. Simpson).

It’s a feast for the game’s more romantic aficionados – a deluge of news – even if the competitors are, in reality, only scrapping over the difference between two very large cheques.

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Feb
22
2012
WGC Predictions: Bracket-by-Bracket
By Conor Nagle under European PGA Tour

Bring back the keffiyeh/snood hybrid!

I’m not really fond of volunteering predictions. Rather than cast my gaze into the murky future, I prefer to stay silent and, when a given scenario is nearly certain to be realised, berate others for their lack of foresight.

Today, however, I’m prepared to make an exception. Below are my match forecasts – all 32 of them – for the first round of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship.

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Feb
15
2012
Tiger Woods Commits to Three Straight Starts (Early!)
By Stephanie Wei under PGA Tour

Tiger signs up for home game!

Say it ain’t so! — Tiger Woods announced on Tuesday that he’ll play next week’s World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, followed by The Honda Classic, March 1-4, and the WGC-Cadillac Championship, March 8-11. No surprise he’s competing in the WGCs, but this will be his first start at the Honda Classic, held at PGA National Resort & Spa Champion Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. (Okay, he played as an amateur in 1993 when it was called something else and held somewhere else.)

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Mar
1
2011
Crane, Cink and Holmes Won’t Slow Down Field at Honda
By Stephanie Wei under PGA Tour

JB Holmes: Master plumb-bobber

Five players have withdrawn from the Honda Classic, including Justin Rose, who is suffering from the flu and has lost seven pounds, and Cameron Beckman, who didn’t cite a reason, according to PGA Tour media officials. Stewart Cink, Ben Crane and J.B. Holmes also pulled out without providing explanations. Good news is that without the latter three, perhaps the pace of play will improve at PGA National!

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Feb
28
2011
Bubba From Bagdad and His Half-Million Dollar Watch
By Stephanie Wei under Equipment

Bling!

Bubba Watson often says, “I’m still Bubba from Bagdad, Florida” — of course he is. Now, he’s also Bubba from Bagdad who can sport watches worth $525,000. No big deal! On Saturday Bubba broke out his new wrist wear and showed it off to Martin Kaymer on the practice green before their match at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

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Feb
27
2011
“Luke Donald Disease” Cured!
By Stephanie Wei under European PGA Tour

Innoculation found: Donald wins Match Play Championship

The term “Luke Donald Disease” was coined in the Telegraph two years ago by an American writer to describe rich underachievers, or in the words of the author, “wealthy complacent fat cats.” It was never fair to single out Luke Donald to make the point (a number of names could have been inserted in the blank). Weird to pick Donald, who seems soft-spoken and mild-mannered, but obviously, he’s deadly in matchplay.

This week in Tucson, Donald didn’t just beat new world number-one Martin Kaymer in the finals 3&2 to capture the Match Play Championship –he put on a short game clinic, downright dominated the event, playing only 89 holes and never trailing in six matches, and perhaps found the remedy to the shaking the negative moniker (which he shouldn’t have gotten in the first place).

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Feb
27
2011
The Curious Case of Martin Kaymer’s Neckwear
By Stephanie Wei under European PGA Tour

While some of us are checking out the Oscar Red Carpet looks tonight, Martin Kaymer made a fashion statement of his own this weekend at the Accenture Match Play Championship. However, when Kaymer unveiled the above neckwear accessory, Americans were baffled by the garment. First of all, what is the proper terminology for it? Martin called it a “snood,” but according to a tweet from Mr. Style, Marty Hackel, it’s a “buff” (and I even called him for confirmation — yes, the important things in life!).

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Feb
26
2011
Martin Kaymer Outlasts Bubba Watson, Climbs to No. 1 in the World
By Stephanie Wei under European PGA Tour

Kaymer: Your new No. 1

Martin Kaymer defeated Bubba Watson 1-up in a hard-fought match to not only reach the Match Play Championship finals, but also to overtake Lee Westwood as the No. 1 ranked player in the world (when the new OWGR rankings come out on Monday). The match seesawed between Kaymer and Bubba until the 26-year-old German took advantage of Bubba’s errant shots on the 15th and 16th holes to go 2-up. Bubba battled back with a birdie on the 17th to extend the duel to the 18th.

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Feb
26
2011
Matchplay Specialist Donald Disposes of Kuchar Like It’s No Big Deal
By Stephanie Wei under European PGA Tour

Luke = formidable opponent

Luke Donald cruised to a 6&5 victory over Matt Kuchar to reach the finals at the Match Play Championship. I mean, Luke made it look easy. In Kuchar’s defense, he couldn’t do much with Luke dropping five birdies on the front nine. I barely turned away when I noticed Luke was 7-up through 10 holes.

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