The PGA Championship: Time to Revert to Match Play

As the Accenture WGC World Match Play comes to an end, it is natural to ponder the concept of a matchplay format for one of golf’s four major championships. It is an issue that often comes up with the PGA Championship usually labelled as the most likely candidate to make the format switch for several reasons.

For one, it wouldn’t really be anything new for the event as it used a match play format until 1958. For another, the tournament does not seem to be as constrained by tradition as the other majors are. Evidence of this is seen in the PGA’s willingness to host their organization’s championship at courses that are not traditionally thought of as “major-worthy” venues, such as Whistling Straits and Valhalla.

Critics of match play will cite several reasons to avoid the format in events that carry such a large degree of importance. The reason most often cited is that, by its nature, match play can often prematurely eliminate the best players in the field. For instance, a player that would have scored a 68 in medal play can lose to a player that would have had a 72. Objections will also come from the players, who do not want to waste a considerable amount of time and effort in preparation and travel, to possibly play only one or two rounds. One solution to this problem would be to award a certain number of the better players byes in the first round.

Perhaps the strongest objections come from the television networks that broadcast professional golf. Due to the vagaries of match play, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson could be eliminated in an early round (sound familiar?), leaving a final round on Sunday between two journeymen, and therefore, according to media experts, the round would be less compelling to viewers to watch.

Certainly, these are legitimate points, but if the PGA were to make the leap to match play, they could offer viewers several things very few tournaments can. One is the drama of head-to-head matchups and the buzz created by upsets. Gone would be the repetitive nature of watching players hit shot after shot with one broad plot through the first two or three rounds. Match play would create several interesting sub-plots each day the moment the pairings form each day.

Finally, by converting to match play the PGA Championship could take the event to courses that the USGA and the U.S. Open are reluctanct to visit because of their length. One of the hottest topics in golf is the length today’s players hit the ball and how it is making historic courses obsolete to major championship play. In a match play event, this arguement is negated as players are competing against their opponents in head-to-head matchups, and not as much against the golf course as is the case in medal play. So instead of having to worry about how far under par the pros would go at, say, Merion Golf Club, the PGA and the network carrying the tournament could focus on the historic nature of the course and what a great venue it makes for match play.

To be sure, match play does not always identify the best player, but neither does medal play – in most years, the best player in the world usually wins five or six times. By converting (or to be more accurate, reverting) to match play, the PGA Championship could offer golf fans something other major championships can not even consider.