2011 WGC Accenture Match Play --- My Bracket

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Any past research shows that I did not have the best outcome at picking the 2010 WGC Accenture Match Play. Although I did have the eventual champion Ian Poulter in my Elite 8, I wouldn’t say that would be enough to save my 37.25% accuracy in the opening round. So what better for me to do than redeem myself in 2011? Once again this new modern ‘British Invasion’ has dominated my bracket with three British Islanders in my Elite 8 (Graeme McDowell, Paul Casey and Martin Laird). I think the US will do a better job of bouncing back as I have four players waving the stars and stripes in this group of 8 (Nick Watney, Phil Mickelson, Hunter Mahan and Ryan Palmer). Rounding this group out is Aussie and one of the most consistent players in this format, two-time WGC Accenture Match Play Champion Geoff Ogilvy.

I am interested in how Tiger will fair in this format after taking some time off since his semi-struggle at Torrey. I think the potential 2nd round matchup against the previously mentioned Ogilvy may be too much for Tiger. When it all comes down to it I like a second straight year of an all Englishman final with reigning US Open Champion Graeme McDowell and fellow World Top Tener Paul Casey. I’ll take the US Open champion on the strength of his mano-a-mano playoff victory against Tiger at the 2010 Chevron. This will leave Casey with his third career bridesmaid finish at this WGC event.

One thing that has been made perfectly clear…is that when it comes to picking this event, most of the time my opinion isn’t worth the popularity of this blog. But with that being said I can always go back to my 2007 bracket where I correctly picked Henrik Stensen to bring home the title. I know I mention this win every year this event rolls around…it’s really all I got!

Color Him Badds

On a week where Tour favorite and newly crowned Champions Tour dominator Fred Couples tried his best to steal the show, it ended up being all about the reemergence of an Aussie who was crowned on potential nearly a decade ago. In the early 2000’s Aaron Baddeley was at the forefront of the international golf world. As an amateur he took Australia by storm and racked up several victories. He hit the big boy tour by 2003 and had little to no success. After a few close breaks here and there, it wasn’t until Hilton Head 2006 did he realize his dream. On Easter Sunday (his anniversary with his wife Richelle) he was able to cash in his first career victory at the narrowed fairway and small greened Harbour Town.

After capturing the famed Tartan Jacket for the Harbour Town Champion, “Badds” as he is known in the Tour-circle, continued mediocre consistency. But less then a year after his first title he did it again in front of a raucous crowd at the FBR Open in his now hometown Scottsdale, AZ. This victory supplanted Baddeley as an established threat on the PGA Tour for some time to come. Flash to four months later in Oakmont, PA at the US Open, where Badds was the 54-hole leader at +2 heading into Sunday. Being in contention got to the youngster and he quickly faded away on the opening nine and ended up firing a 10-over par 80, giving him a T13 finish, his best major finish to date.

This struggle, all the while trying to start and cultivate his family, basically set his game into a tailspin. Although two wins had established him as a full PGA Tour card carrier, 2008 – 2010 he was only just a small blip on the competition’s radar. With only seven major championship appearances and only three cuts made in that three-year period, Baddeley looked to be losing his place on Tour quickly. But he never lost the faith.

Always being a man of strong conviction and spirituality, Badds pressed on knowing that good things will come to those who had faith. He had been working hard on his game over the passed year and commented this week to CBS’s Peter Kostis that he had not felt this good about his game in a long time. Well he proved that this week! The diminutive Badds surprised the field this week with is added length off the tee and his scrambling out of trouble in the tricky kikuya grass of Riviera. But what did not surprise anyone was the supreme putting prowess of the 29 year-old Aussie.

The roars at Riviera on Sunday were only often early. Like unforeseen lightning strikes the 51-year-old Freddie Couples posted three straight birdies to grab the lead away from Badds. But unpannicked the youngster took on mini-charges from resident old guys Couples and Vijay Singh, only to aggressively roll in a birdie or par putt to keep chugging ahead. Before you know it, Couples and Singh both threw a couple shots back to Badds, and he just kept moving forward. Although a double-bogey midway through the back nine looked like it would derail him, Baddeley was able to get to the 18th with a two shot lead and an easy walk up the famed 18th at Riviera Country Club.

This win was the third career victory for the Aussie and may serve as resurgence for the once potentially great player. He will make his sixth appearance at Augusta National in April, where he has never finished better than T17 (only has made 2 cuts). But this win should propel him forward and get him the confidence to compete at the highest level. And with the way he putts, Badds is a threat at any course he tees it up at on any week. Although he will sit out the Accenture Match Play this week, as he is not currently within the World’s Top 64, it will give this family man time to spend with his wife and two daughters before the start of the grueling Florida Swing.

Cinderella Story

How cliché is it for me to quote one of Bill Murray’s most famous characters in an annual golf event made most famous by Murray himself. The stars of the screen, sports, music and business come out every year to visit one of the most breath-taking institutions in golf – Pebble Beach. Located on the shores of the Pacific Pebble Beach, Spyglass Hill and Monterey Peninsula Golf Club’s are not only three of the most challenging tracks in the US, but as they were carved into the coastline, are seen a little slices of heaven. So it is no wonder that the stars of the Tour make it a point to get together every year with the influential to make spectacular synergy.

Although when it came down to Sunday, there weren’t exactly Tour stars at the top of the leader board, just a group of hungry run of the mill every week starters. Long hitting Virginian Steve Marino finished the third round –12 one shot clear of fellow no-namers (to Tiger viewers) Jimmy “Dynamite” Walker and Bryce Molder. Sitting two shots back was journeyman D.A. Points, who consequently enough had Bill Murray as his Amateur partner. To not be a total waste of the big-name only fans, Ryder Cuppers Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan were paired together a few groups ahead of the leaders both five shots back of Marino.

Marino kept a very level head and game with an even par front nine, doing his best to not pay attention to the fireworks happening to the two big stars who were dropping in birdies and cutting into the lead. By the early back nine it was curtains for both Molder and Walker who were struggling to keep up the pace that Marino, Mahan, Mickelson and Points were setting. Mahan’s five-under outward nine got him a share of the lead until bogeying #10, which was the site of an impressive birdie by Marino just minutes later. But just like most events at famed Pebble Beach, the pivotal par five 14th played a major role.

The difficult boomerang-like 573 yard gem of a hole with a sloping green that looks the size of a Twister mat from the fairway is anything but a party. Mickelson was the first of the leaders to be affected by this demon, by posting a bogey six that started his demise from the top. His playing partner Mahan hit a nearly perfect wedge to a couple of feet and was positively affected by the 14th with a birdie. It is no surprise that the venue for the shot of the tournament was this very same hole. D.A. Points hit a lay-up to within a gap wedge swing, which he applied and the ball sailed through the salty sea air before hitting in the rough just over the bunker and short of the green. The ball took a big hop forward and rolled perfectly as if it was guided by a mini-golf ramp right into the hole. Before you could blink, the new leader Points and his partner Murray sprinted toward each other and performed one of the most uncoordinated chest bumps of all time in the midst of the crowds roar.

Points rode that eagle momentum to a birdie on the 15th and although Mahan birdied the par three 17th his inability to convert a two-putt birdie after getting home on the historic 18th left him high, dry and 2 shots back of Points who bumbled, mumbled and joked with Murray to three pars to close his round at 67 and –16. Marino too, was unable to convert any birdie opportunities and stood on the 18th tee two shots back of Points. A pull hook on his 2nd shot literally sunk him into the Pacific and led to a triple-bogey snowman, dropping him out of a T2 to a T4.

As for Points, this victory marks his first on the PGA Tour, and qualifies him for his first ever competitive trip to Augusta for the 2011 Masters in April. In fact this trip to the Masters will be only his 4th appearance in a major championship, although he will have played in each major once come April. But as for his performance as Pebble, he attributed his cool and calm demeanor to Bill Murray who through comedy and conversation kept his mind away from the moment. He seemingly was as relevant to the novice golf fan as Carl Spackler Assistant Greenskeeper at Bushwood Country Club, would be at the Masters. But to those who know of D.A.’s game, could easily see this win on his horizon.

It was a magical week for this Cinderella story from Illinois, who stood in the 14th fairway in second plac, and left the green in the lead because he struck a perfect shot…”and it's in the hole!” So he “has that going for him, which is nice.” He was also able to carry fan-favorite Bill Murray to his first ever Pro-AM team championship at the famed tournament. Game, set, match…Points!

Marathon Mark – Part Deux

Like Austin Powers “Goldmember” and Home Alone’s “Lost in New York” one may state the Marathon Mark sequel as “Frost in the Desert.” The Waste Management Phoenix Open was pushed to a Monday finish at the TPC at Scottsdale due to a five hour frost delay on Thursday coupled with an hour and a half delay on Friday. But the unseasonably cold weather was not enough to keep away the usual raucous crowd that makes up the most attended tour stop of the season.

The crazies that line the 16th hole were out again in full force cheering, jeering, chanting, booing and basically making it the second most difficult short iron par three in the world (see 17th at TPC Sawgrass). The house was brought down numerous times throughout the week. Rickie Fowler’s near hole in one, Jarrod Lyle’s actual hole in one and Phil Mickelson’s 35ft birdie bomb made the place explode. But the story of the week on the 16th was Billy Mayfair slipping into a Pat Tillman #42 jersey and hitting the flagstick before draining the 15 footer to an arousing explosion from the Sun Devil faithful.

As for the tournament, the awkward everyman Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey stole the show for the first three rounds with his herky-jerky swing and his duel rain gloves. This Ex-Big Breaker had played on nearly every tour across America over the past decade, and has finally arrived to the show and plans to stay. But entering the final round he had run-ins with some of the hottest players on Tour at the moment with previous winner Mark Wilson and previous multiple high finisher Bill Haas. When push came to shove, the winner rose to the occasion, even with unexpected heat.

Wilson held a one shot lead over Gainey on the 17th tee, but was now looking out his side window at Jason Dufner, whose 66 had him in the house tied with Wilson. Haas was out of the picture after a struggle in his final round. Speaking of struggle, when the final group walked off the 17th green, “Two Gloves” had shot himself out of the picture suffering an inexplicable triple-bogey seven on the reachable risk/reward par 4. After a par on the 72nd hole, we strapped in for our third playoff in the first five tour stops. After all was said and done in a difficult week, it was Wilson again who outlasted the field for his second marathon victory of the season, vaulting him well atop the FedEx Cup standings.

Because we know where Wilson stands (see Marathon Mark) I will round this out with the top 10 finishers: 2 Dufner, T3 Vijay and Laird, T5 Watney and My Boy (and ROY) Gary Woodland, and T8 Snedeker, Simpson, Yang, Couch, and “Two Gloves.” Despite the delays the Thunderbirds put together yet another successful event in one of the Tour’s oldest tour stops.

The Black-Eyed "D"'s

The fact that I had to sit through one of the most excruciating moments of my life right after the ecstasy of the first half beat-down the Pack put on the ‘St-ill-ers” is absolutely ridiculous. The bad part of attending a Super Bowl party is that there are always enough females in attendance that watching the over-hyped halftime extravaganza is not really an option, but a guarantee. And the display that pop-act The Black Eyed-Peas put forth was more than just an extravaganza; it was a musical, choreographed, vocally abusive train-wreck that nobody in their right mind could say they enjoyed.

Don’t get me wrong, I know where we stand with the music industry these days, and God knows I respect any act that can gain a fan-base and make money in that difficult profession. But the product that was put in front of the nation last night was a joke. But this is America, where masking lack of talent with unique costumes, flowing dance movements, and bright colors is essential to appealing to the masses. Like toddlers watching a Baby Einstein DVD, Americans stared mesmerized at the bright colors and rhythmic motions, all the while oblivious to the supreme lack of talent and musicianship in the middle of the stage.

It’s not that I hate the Black Eyes-Peas, because I don’t --- In fact as I said above I respect any act that can turn a profit (let alone a massive one) in the difficult music business. They definitely rate high in cool factor in this world where the currency of “cool” is a must. Will.i.am is an extremely talented DJ, mixer and engineer, which equates very well in a studio setting. Fergie is the appealing beauty with attitude, with her sensual curves making up for her less then stellar singing voice. The “other two Peas” (Taboo and apl.de.ap) are more statues of cool than essential musical necessity.

I knew from the start what we were getting into when the Peas swashbuckled their way down to the stage to the beats of their ultra-popular “I’ve Got a Feeling.” The cheesy entrance gave way to out of tune vocal abuse by both the lead vocalists. Fergie’s tone-deaf heavy movement laced grumbles made me yearn for X-Tina’s Star Spangled mishap in the pregame. Will talked his way through his “singing” portions while the non-existence of both Taboo and apl shined through. Not even cameos from Slash on a “Sweet Child O Mine” cover and Usher with his hit “OMG” could save the musical disaster unfolding in front of millions.

The colors, costumes (see Will’s hair, Fergie’s shoulder pads, apl.de.ap’s sunglasses and most importantly Taboo’s “Light Bright”eque blinking leather suit) and choreography from the crowd surrounding the stage kept my interest enough to stomach the whole debacle, but Super Bowl XLV’s halftime show set true music back to the stone age. What many thought would work and many more knew wouldn’t, the Black Eyed-Peas and their attempt at entertainment came up woefully short.

Grade: I would give them a solid “D.” God love us, it was still better then The Who from last year