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Jim Hoak

  • Karma: +1/-0
OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« on: March 25, 2023, 03:28:15 PM »
Watching the WGC Match Play Championship now.  They are saying this is the last year for it and all WGC events.  The designated/elevated events will be played instead, and as of now there is no Match Play event planned.
You going to miss it?  I am.  I really enjoy it.  Not every week probably, but once a year.
I know the drawbacks--top players not being around, etc.  But 5 of the Top 6 in the World won their pod and made the round of 16.
I guess I like it in part, because it is more relatable to the game we play.  At least in the US, I'll bet that 80-90% of all the golf we play is Match Play.  I know we get it for the Team events like the Ryder Cup, but this has been a good event for years.  Too bad if it really is gone.

Jim_Coleman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2023, 04:03:31 PM »
   I like it too. The many early matchups are fun to watch. Lots of golf; lots of stories and upsets - like basketball. Not sure I’d buy into 36 holes of Hughes vs. Kitayama. Also not sure I’d get up for FAU vs. SDSU

Steve Lang

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2023, 05:17:58 PM »
 8)  I guess LIV will probably have some match play now... ???
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David_Tepper

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2023, 06:06:03 PM »
I will miss the event a whole lot more than the course. Too many sharp edges for me.

Pete_Pittock

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2023, 06:45:10 PM »
8)  I guess LIV will probably have some match play now... ???
They already have team match play, but if they want to go individual two possible formats: Top 24 players get 1st round byes, or 16 3-man pod round robin, with top two per pod advancing.

Greg Hohman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2023, 06:47:34 PM »
What David said.
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JohnVDB

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2023, 07:06:55 PM »
Now that the semi-finals are set, I bet NBC wants a Scottie / Rory final. It would be a good way to send it off.

mike_beene

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2023, 11:15:29 PM »
I will miss the Saturday matches.By Sunday it all feels anticlimactic no matter who is playing. When it was a true elimination the first round was action packed.

Jim Hoak

  • Karma: +1/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #8 on: March 26, 2023, 12:21:03 AM »
There are definitely negatives to it, but I just love the pressure, the drama and the strategy of Match Play--something we do on a minor scale in most of our golf.  It just feels so different from the Stoke Play that happens in the normal Tour week.

Ronald Montesano

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #9 on: March 26, 2023, 01:44:03 AM »
Why didn't they ever say to the final eight: You ARE sticking around on Sunday, if you want to get paid. Make the difference between round of 16 losers and round of 8 losers sizable enough to justify mandatory play. Keep the top seeded, round of 16 loser around in case someone claims injury, to avoid playing on Saturday/Sunday.

Losers of the quarterfinals are paired according to seed: if 4, 12, 33, and 64 lost, then 4 play 64 and 12 plays 33, for a place in the 5th-place match. Losers play for 7th place. You could mic these matches for better content.

Meanwhile, top four play semifinals in morning, finals and consolation in afternoon.

By doing this, you guarantee four matches eight golfers, all day Sunday.
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V. Kmetz

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #10 on: March 26, 2023, 07:44:49 AM »
To answer the question...no, I'm not going to miss it much.


1. From my subjective watching perch, match play sucks, and it sucks worst of all on the weekend when it's thin, thin even with top players alive - and there's what, eight guys playing and 4-6 total matches?  As an ardent viewer, you're absolutely stuck as that is infinitely poorer than watching 12-20 guys closely and 12 more casually...with possible entertainment from all over a 60-70 man weekend field.


2. Again, purely for watching, I much prefer medal/stroke play and the dynamics of closely packed leader board in a racing line, group by group on Sunday, or jockeying for Sunday pole positions on a "move day" Saturday.  The ups and downs and unique medal shots they all face in succession, where one hole/one failed shot can rob or bolster their position is much better to my viewing interests than if a guy fails at something or holes out, the other guy rakes his coin or missed putt away.  Match play cancels a lot of the delicious consequence of medal play...12 at Augusta wouldn't be nearly as interesting in any match round but certainly not as it is on a Sunday match where one guy hits it 30 feet and the other guy hits it in the water. 


3. In medal play, the tournament player has to play past disaster, a car crash, show grit, composure, fortitude. But again I stress, as a viewer -  these medal play dynamics thus make for a good horse race, where skillful navigation  of a key stretch brings rewards to a top 10 separated by four aggregate shots, and holes starting to run out.  In match play, there's little in the way of big comebacks and the conduct/play of one match, doesn't affect anybody but the two in it.


4. I also acknowledge how enjoyable it can be when things get down to "match play terms" in a medal event...where two leading players are far and away from the field...ala Nicklaus Watson Duel in the Sun or Mickelson Stenson at Troon in 16. But not only is that dynamic (final grouping/far ahead of field) a product of all the medal entertainments of the first three days, but the competitors are thus challenged by BOTH each other and the ongoing medal need to respect the course...where every hole down the stretch can end the "match."


For me, medal golf is a far, far better watch than match play: there's more of it, gross more players and skills are exhibited, a medal horse race is a more exciting conclusion than any single match and sometimes you get the match play dynamics anyway, with the added tension that a back nine hole can be decisive for the whole enchilada.


I have liked watching match golf on this Austin CC course, but I'm not going to miss it terribly.



"The tee shot must first be hit straight and long between a vast bunker on the left which whispers 'slice' in the player's ear, and a wilderness on the right which induces a hurried hook." -

Jeff Schley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #11 on: March 26, 2023, 09:38:14 AM »
I like the format, especially once a year.  Will any of the other events go to a match play?
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

Tim_Cronin

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #12 on: March 26, 2023, 09:52:18 AM »
Yes, and miss seeing the course even more. Fascinating, as most Pete Dye courses are.
The website: www.illinoisgolfer.net
On Twitter: @illinoisgolfer

Ira Fishman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2023, 02:17:37 PM »
Four great players going to overtime. Yes, the pin placements seem to promote dramatic shots. But these guys are great.

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2023, 02:44:29 PM »
NBC execs must be steaming.  But I guess they still get that Scottie/Rory matchup   :-[ :-\

P.S.  I will miss both this course specifically and the format
« Last Edit: March 26, 2023, 02:47:28 PM by Kalen Braley »

Jim Sherma

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #15 on: March 26, 2023, 04:47:58 PM »
This week has some of the best stretches of golf all year. Problem is you don’t know when it’s coming. The players certainly will miss it if the fist pumps are an indicator.

Jim Hoak

  • Karma: +1/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #16 on: March 26, 2023, 07:36:36 PM »
Well, the downside of Match Play happened--the two big names lost in the semi's and played a mostly meaningless consolation match, and then the championship match was a runaway and over quickly.
But, for the week as a whole I enjoyed the tournament.  Saw some good golf.  What happened just reinforces the sentiment that once a year has been enough.  I'm just sorry that that annual chance seems to be over.  Back to Stroke Play.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2023, 07:38:17 PM by Jim Hoak »

Bruce Katona

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: OT--You going to miss the WGC Match Play?
« Reply #17 on: March 27, 2023, 11:01:58 AM »
The Match for 3rd Place money was certainly what the TV exec's wanted, but in the Final.


Once a year it was a great change of pace and I will miss it.

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