WGC-Cadillac Match Play goes to new format, players okay change

 

SAN FRANCISCO – TPC Harding Park will be the testing ground for the World Golf Championships' intriguing new match play format this week, but there's already one sure winner – the spectators.

 

Dumping the March Madness single-elimination format this year in favor of a World Cup-style approach, the WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship starting Wednesday will guarantee golf fans at least three days to watch Rory McIlroy, Jordan Speith or any other favorite player in the glittering 64-player field.

 

The only real downer is that the tournament is a one-and-done deal for Harding Park and the Bay Area. The event will move to Austin, Texas, for at least the next four years under new sponsorship, but how the event is received could sow the seeds for a possible return at some point.

 

It's hard to see how it will not be received well. Aside from a major championship, Harding Park will host a field almost as stellar as the sport can assemble. Aside from the notable absence of Tiger Woods, who isn't ranked in the top 64 and this wasn't eligible, and the late withdrawal of the popular Phil Mickelson, ranked 18th in the world, virtually every top player is here to compete for the $1.57 million top prize.

 

Then there's the allure of the match play itself. Even though Harding was the site of the 2009 Presidents Cup, the Bay Area has never seen a match play spectacle like this, drawing so many top players from all parts of the world. While European Tour has staged match play events under this kind of group format, they were nothing on the scale of this tournament.

 

The new format should only serve to add spice for both golf fans and the players themselves. In the first 17 years of the tournament's existence, the single-elimination format often knocked out a lot of the big-name players out on the first day. That can't happen now.

 

"Everybody has a much better opportunity playing three rounds of golf instead of just one-and-done," said Tom Clark, executive director of the event. "As you know, when you have the top 64 in the world, anybody can beat anybody at any time. So when you're in the pool play, it just gives everybody a much better chance to win."

 

Clark said the format change was made following discussion from the various golf federations around the world – of which the PGA Tour is just one – about how to make the event more compelling.

 

MORE: See the groupings and first-round tee times for the Cadillac Match Play Championship

 

While the players didn't have an official vote on it, the change was forwarded to a player advisory council and met with overwhelming positive feedback. After all, players have grumbled for years about having to travel halfway around the world for an event in which they might not even get in a full 18 holes. Moreover, a player could play well on the first day and still get beat by another player who happened to be playing better.

 

"Everybody has a much better opportunity playing three rounds of golf instead of just one-and-done," said Clark. "As you know, when you have the top 64 in the world, anybody can beat anybody at any time. So when you're in the pool play, it just gives everybody a much better chance to win."

 

It's a bit of a blow that Woods isn't entered, but since he is currently ranked 106th in the world, he couldn't have played even if he wanted to. The real killer was the surprise Sunday withdrawal of Mickelson, who had participated in the event's media day and been an vocal proponent of the format change, due to personal reasons.

 

Other than that, the only negative aspect for players is that it will take an awful lot of golf to win the event, especially on the weekend, when two 18-hole matches will need to be played each day by the finalists as opposed to one under the old format. But the pros far outweigh the cons.

 

Defending champion Jason Day, who won under the old format last year at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Ariz., said that his approach will not change despite the new format.

 

"It's going to be interesting," said Day, the Australian currently ranked No. 6 in the world. "But my mind"'set going into it is I still need to go and beat everyone that's there, regardless of who it is."

 

The 16 groups and the matchups for each day were announced on Monday.

 

--Two other players ranked in the top 64, No. 50 Luke Donald and and No. 57 Tim Clark, will not be in the field. Donald is attending his brother's wedding and Clark is out with a wrist injury. They will be replaced by the next two highest golfers in the world rankings, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Francisco Molinari. Mickelson is being replaced by Finland's Mikko Ilonen.

 

This article was written by Carl Steward from The Oakland Tribune and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.