The Case Against the WGC Match Play

The WGC Dell Technologies Match Play finished with a mournful whimper rather than a loud bang on Sunday. Both the championship and third place matches turned into routs and left us with as disappointing a final round that one could imagine.

In the third place match Justin Thomas who had played lights out all week fell to Alex Noren by a score of 5&3 by carding just one birdie over fifteen holes. It wasn’t pretty.

In the championship match a surging and under the radar Kevin Kisner ran out off gas from the start against eventual champion Bubba Watson. Watson sprinted to a 5 up lead after five holes with only one birdie on his card as Kisner’s game never made it to the final match. Watson waxed him 7&6 and they were shaking hands on the twelfth green. That’s hard to watch.

Match play has always been a difficult format for the professional tours to market. Before the recent PGA Tour change to the pool play where golfers play three rounds before getting sent home with a loss the first round of the Match Play was one of the most exciting days of the year.

It was the tour’s version of March Madness just as in the NCAA Tournament where high seeds are kicked out by lower seeded underdogs. This year we watched as a 16^th seed ousted a number one for the first time in the NCAA’s and that same excitement was always prevalent during the old Match Play format. Not so much anymore.

With sponsors and networks wanting to keep the high profile, ratings gathering players around longer the change to pool play and three guaranteed rounds was made in 2014. The winners the past for years have been popular players who can command a television audience: Rory McIlroy (2015), Jason Day (16), Dustin Johnson (17) and Watson this year.

But the Sundays have been less then exciting. Only once in the last four events has it come down to the last hole as Johnson beat John Rahm 1 up. But Sunday isn’t my issue. It’s Wednesday.

I am all for the one and done format. You lose your first match on Wednesday and you are hitting the road. The excitement that surrounds a low seed on the verge taking out a big name top seed is unlike anything else in golf.

Wiesberger & Johnson

Henrik Stenson feels the same as he opted out of the WGC saying that if he lost he wanted to get out of there.

This year both Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy would have been trunk slamming Wednesday night. Johnson, the number one seed and world number one was undone by the 52^nd seed, Bernd Wiesberger 3&1 in what should have been a shocking upset. Instead, DJ saunters on the the tee on Thursday with another chance to play.

The sixth seed, McIlroy should have been knocked out by newcomer Peter Uihlein, the 57^th seed in still another huge upset in a tight match with Uihlein triumphing 2&1.

John Rahm, a member of the young guns who seem to draw plenty of ratings and the 3^rd seed was taken to the mat by the 63^rd seed, Keegan Bradley and thier match was halved. Under the old format they would have gone to sudden death for a few extra holes until one got knocked out.

In what may have been the best match of the day, Matt Kuchar (16) versus his good buddy Zach Johnson (54) turned out to be inconsequential as they finished with a tie. Kuchar had a 4 up lead late in the match but Johnson staged a memorable comeback with birdies on five of his last six holes to get it to all square. Extra holes to determine the winner would have been a great and exciting conclusion but under pool play they shake hands and move on to Thursday.

The real excitement in this tournament happens on Wednesday…or it should happen on Wednesday. I know we are conditioned for the ultimate conclusion and winner to be crowned on Sunday but as we have seen this isn’t the Ryder Cup. There aren’t twelve matches going on with each one so very important. The final round under this format gives us a consolation match and a championship match and that’s all right with me. But I don’t expect the fireworks to explode on Sunday.

I expect the fireworks to happen on Wednesday as the underdogs rise up and take out the big dawgs. That’s when the real excitement should happen in the Match Play.

Maybe it’s crazy to expect the most exciting part of a tournament to take place on the first day. Maybe it is madness. But isn’t that why they call it March Madness in the first place.