The first few seasons of the WGC Match Play produced some dud finals. The inaugural event in 1999 saw a Jeff Maggert-Andrew Magee final that went on for 38 agonizing holes; the 2001 event was held in Australia immediately after the New Year's holiday, and 15 of the world's top 25 golfers couldn't be bothered to show up; and in 2002, a 16-seed (Kevin Sutherland) won the whole thing. In the last decade, only one finalist has been ranked outside the top 25 in the World Golf Ranking: Geoff Ogilvy in 2006. (Oh yeah, he won the US Open a few months later.)
It seems like the 2013 Match Play Championship will prove to be a stinker of millennial proportions. I'm sure that the PGA Tour and NBC are hoping for Bubba Watson to advance to the final, as he's the only needle-pushing name still standing. If the final four turns out to be Lowry, Jacobson, Fernandez-Castano, and Piercy, the network might want to consider packing in the cameras Saturday night and find a figure skating exhibition to air on Sunday.