Accenture Match Play Championship

Am I the only one excited about this event? This is where my golf season starts for 2006. I have kept up with the PGA as far as winners, money leaders, etc. goes, but I haven't watched much on TV so far.

I get really excited around this time every season, however. I love the match-play format, and it looks like all the big guns (minus Sergio for some reason) are in the field this season. I'm pretty pumped as you can tell.

First off, do you like the event?

Second, who do you think will win this thing?

My two favorites this year are Retief Goosen and Jim Furyk. Both guys are great match-play guys, and both are near the top of my favorites list. That counts for something doesn't it?

Tiger is a little under the weather, but I think he will be ready to go by Wednesday. If he doesn't get upset in the first or second match, he could win the entire thing. He usually just gets better as the competition gets better. That is, unless he has already withdrawn. I better go check.

Anyway, it's only Monday, but is anyone else excited for this event? We need to do some brackets or something as a little competition..

I like the accenture matchplay also, i want davis love III, lucas glover or fred couples to win it any of them! Its like a ryder cup but every man for himself! Im more looking forward to follwing bubba watson at the chrysler classic of tucson, i have £10 on him finishing in the top 5

I like the match play as well. Should be an exciting tournament. The was the season has started I don't know who to pick to win it. Alot of new guys are playing some good golf right now but I'd bank on one of the veteran players to come out on top.

I think you have to look at Rory. He is playing some of his best golf right now and coming off that win he should have some momentum. I can't see Couples finishing too strong. After yesterday his spirits are probably not too great. Getting in those final holes in a close match I think the demons could come back.

If Tiger is in the field I don't think you can count him out. If he is feeling better this week he could definitely contend. I'm thinking Vijay has to start getting something rolling sometime though. Els and Goosen are both in the field so you can't count them out either. I'd love to see Erine get another shot a tiger in a 1 on 1 match. That would be pretty fun.

Should be an exciting weekend.

Greetings ...

Here are the scheduled round-one brackets for the 2006 Accenture Match Play.

Let's start with the Ben Hogan Bracket. The ultimate would be an Els-Mickelson showdown in the quarters, or perhaps Els and Michael Campbell. Besides Campbell, Mike Weir, Stewart Cink and Fred Funk loom as potential roadblocks for Els. A possible 2nd-round match between Mickelson and John Daly could be fun. If Mickelson gets to the third round, watch out for Lee Westwood, who played well in Los Angeles. Finally, Michael Campbell needs to reach the quarters in order to secure Special Temporary Membership, which would make him eligible for the Memorial and Barclays-Westchester events.

Of course, longshot Tom Lehman just might screw up the equation.

In the Bobby Jones bracket, you have - besides Tiger - David Toms, KJ Choi, Stuart Appleby and Jose-Maria Olazabal. The round-1 match between Adam Scott and Lucas Glover should be fun to watch. If Scott survives that, he could potentially face fellow Aussie Stuart Appleby in round-two. A possible round-three match might have Tiger Woods face Tim Herron. Tiger and Lumpy seem to mesh well together, and you may recall their pairing in the 4th round of the 1999 US Open at Pinehurst.

In the Gary Player bracket, I'd like these potential 3rd-round matchups: Vijay Singh vs Padraig Harrington, and Chris DiMarco vs Davis Love III. Others to watch are Rory Sabbatini, Tim Clark and Kenny Perry.

And finally in the Sam Snead Bracket, Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard and Luke Donald might be close to the top as favorites. If he's on "GO", then Colin Montgomerie looms as a spoiler, while Fred Couples will be the sentimental pick. Let's hope all is well with Darren Clarke, and keep an eye on Sean O'Hair. Finally, brace yourself for the slowest gun in the west - the one and only Ben Crane!

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Sport

I agree with frank o sport, i think adam scott and lucas glover wil be great to watch, 2 big hitters and young players on the tour... cant wait for that match to commence COME ON LUCAS !!!

My dream matches:

Bobby Jones
Scott vs. Appleby
Toms vs. Tiger

Ben Hogan
Mickelson vs. Els
or
Wier vs. Els
or
Cambo vs. Els

Gary Player
Singh vs. Sabbatini
DiMarco vs. Perry
or
DiMarco vs. Love III
or
DiMarco vs. Hensby

Sam Snead
Goosen vs. Donald
Furyk vs. Couples
Furyk vs. Goosen or Donald

I love this tournament.

I agree Jeff. I'm really pumped about this one.

I printed off two brackets, one for me and one for my wife. I'm not sure I'll disclose the results after the tournament is over. It just depends on the outcome.

My final four has Tiger going against David Howell, and Angel Cabrera going against Jim Furyk. I picked Woods and Furyk to end up in the finals, with Jim Furyk winning. Yeah, the Furyk pick to win may have been a little partial, but we will see. Furyk is one of the only guys that can go head-to-head with Woods without completely falling apart.

A few matches I want to see from my predictions include the following:

Jones Bracket
Tiger vs. Adam Scott

Hogan Bracket
Mickelson vs. CH3 (pull the upset Charles)
Els vs. Michael Campbell

Player Bracket
DiMarco vs. Love III

Snead Bracket
Luke Donald vs. Darren Clarke
Jim Furyk vs. Fred Couples
Retief Goosen vs. Luke Donald
Jim Furyk vs. Monty
Jim Furyk vs. Luke Donald

As you can tell, I love the Snead bracket. I'll be watching that one like a hawk.

There are many great first-round matches also, including Toms/Poulter, Scott/Glover, Appleby/Lehman, Cink/Weir, Verplank/Westwood, Love/Hensby, Leonard/Crane, and Couples/O'Hair.

This match is gonna be big. Bring your game Chuck! I'd love to see an upset here.

the PGATour website says he's healthy and looking to make up for last week. I look for him to kick ass.

If that's not the story of my life as a golf fan, I don't know what is.

They interviewed Tiger on Sportscenter last night, and he seemed fine to me. His voice was still a little shaky, but he doesn't need that to play. He will be fine and probably kick some ass like Jeff said. If he was playing the Stephen Ames of 2004, it would be a tough test. Then again, if it was the Stephen Ames of 2004, Tiger wouldn't be playing him in the first round.

It looks like I'll have to have the TiVo in full effect this week.

This match just ended. I guess this match was played at a very fast pace. Adam Scott won it 2 and 1, but the next closest match is through 13 holes or something. This would have been a good match to follow, and both players must have played well. I know Glover jumped out 2-up after the first 2 holes, but Adam wore him down after that.

On a sidenote, Lefty jumped out 2-up after 2 holes on CH3 as well, but Charles fought back to even it up after five holes. Mickelson is back to 1-up now.

Couples vs. O'hair should be a fun match. And even though I don't like Daly I would not mind seeing some of him vs. Bryant. Cink vs. Wier would be fun to watch, just becacue one is about 6' 4" and the other is 4' 6". And finally Appleby vs. Lehman should be good.

I am a bit pissed at myself. I checked every channel all day to see when it was on and I forgot to check ESPN, so I missed the first 30 min :(

Here it is:

"Anything can happen," Ames said, breaking into a smile. "Especially where he's hitting the ball." Minus well he could sign his suicide application Too bad Freddie C is out... he was my sleeper.

I was laughing out loud when Tiger was asked something like, "Was there anything else that got you going?", in reference to how motivated he was to play so well.