Here’s your preview/predictions:

The World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship is one of four World Golf Championships events which debuted in 1999 (won by Jeff Maggert over Andrew Magee in 38 holes). It is sanctioned and organized by the International Federation of PGA Tours.

Eligibility for the Accenture Match Play Championship is limited to the top 64 available players from the Official World Golf Ranking (if players in the top 64 are not available, organizers will work down the list of eligible players from # 65 onward until all 64 spots in the field are full).

The format for the event is single-elimination match play. Players are seeded 1 through 64 based on their Official World Golf Ranking with the No. 1 seed playing the No. 64 seed, the No. 2 seed playing the No. 63 seed, etc. (player seedings combined add up to 64).

The World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship is simply one of the most unique and fun events on the entire golf calendar.

Multiple opening-day matches are intriguing, including Luke Donald vs. Ernie Els in the Bobby Jones Bracket.  When the dust settles, my prediction is that KJ Choi will emerge as the last man standing from this Bracket.

The Ben Hogan Bracket opens with a seemingly tortoise and the hare match up of David Toms vs. Rickie Fowler, but be careful in overlooking Toms.  Yes, Fowler’s aggressive go-for-every-pin approach is well suited for match play and his singles match victory at the 2010 Ryder Cup was brave, but Toms has had great success in this event (including winning it) and he is more silent assassin than easy prey.  Also in this Bracket, Matt Kuchar and Jonathan Byrd will stage a “battle for Sea Island,” as the neighbors duel.  Bubba Watson faces Ben Crane in a match that one has to wonder if this will be their “Yoko Ono moment” for the boy-band Golf Boys and Graeme McDowell will be looking to extract revenge on YE Yang, who bounced him out of the top 16 last year.  My pick to emerge from all of this in the Hogan Bracket is Matt Kuchar.

In the Gary Player Bracket, there is a potential round 3 match up of Rory McIlroy vs. Sergio Garcia that would be fun, but both have to fight their way through to get to that point.  Garcia’s path is formidable, indeed.  He would have to slash his way past Miguel-Angel Jimenez, a veteran European Ryder Cup campaigner, PGA Champion Keegan Bradley and two-time past champion (and past U.S. Open Champion) Geoff Ogilvy.  Ultimately, I see Rory McIlroy emerging as the last man standing from the Player Bracket.

In the Sam Snead Bracket, if Darren Clarke works his way past Nick Watney (neither have had the start to 2012 they would want) and Tiger Woods gets past Spain’s Gonzalo Fermandez-Castano, then it will set up a 2nd round rematch of the 2000 finals when Clarke took down Woods 4 & 3.  Webb Simpson, Bill  Haas and Justin Rose are among those lurking in the Snead Bracket.  Ultimately, my pick to make it into the final four from the Snead Bracket is Lee Westwood.  This pick is not as simple as it would appear as Westwood has not fared well in the Arizona desert, but my sense is that he has the pieces ready to assemble in 2012. So, I’ve tabbed Choi, Kuchar, McIlroy and Westwood.  My overall winner?  KJ Choi.  Choi is one of the nicest people on tour, but competitively he comes across like he will slice your throat if that is what it takes.

What’s yours?  Leave your comment below!

]]> http://www.fairwaysoflife.com/2012/02/2012-wgc-accenture-match-play-brackets/feed/ 0 http://www.fairwaysoflife.com/2012/02/2012-world-golf-championships-accenture-match-play-championship/ http://www.fairwaysoflife.com/2012/02/2012-world-golf-championships-accenture-match-play-championship/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:55:48 +0000 Matt Adams http://www.fairwaysoflife.com/?p=1360 Pre-Tournament Media Notes
***Click Here for Tournament Bracket***

Dates: February 20-26, 2012

Where: The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, Marana, Ariz.

Par/Yards: 36-36 – 72/7,791

Field: Top 64 from the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) as of February 13, 2012

Format: Match Play (hole-by-hole competition)

Defending Champion: Luke Donald (England)

Purse: $8,500,000; Winner’s Share: $1.4 million

Accenture Match Play Championship seeding to be based off OWGR as of Monday, Feb. 20.  The Accenture Match Play Championship will again feature the top 64 players in the OWGR, but new for 2012, the seeding for the tournament bracket will be based off the most recent rankings, released Monday, February 20. The change was instituted to ensure the brackets reflect the most recent OWGR to more accurately seed the players. If there is a shuffle at the top of the rankings or if a player makes a significant jump in one of the tournaments immediately preceding the Accenture Match Play Championship that will now be reflected in the brackets. The official bracket will be released at 7 a.m. on Monday, February 20.

The field
· Defending champion and World No. 1 Luke Donald enters his title defense as the top overall seed and will look to become just the second player to claim back-to-back Accenture Match Play Championship titles (Tiger Woods, 2003-2004).
· Donald headlines a field that includes 62 of the top 64 players in the OWGR. Phil Mickelson (No. 11) and Paul Casey (No. 23) will not compete. They are replaced in the field by Ernie Els (No. 65) and George Coetzee (No. 66), respectively.
· Six of the top 10 in the current FedExCup points list are in the field: Kyle Stanley (No. 1); Mark Wilson (No. 3); Brandt Snedeker (No. 4); Steve Stricker (No. 6); Ben Crane (No. 7); and Martin Laird (No. 8).
· Four of the first six winners of the season on both the PGA TOUR and the European Tour are in the field. The PGA TOUR winners are: Steve Stricker (Hyundai Tournament of Champions); Mark Wilson (Humana Challenge in partnership with the Clinton Foundation); Brandt Snedeker (Farmers Insurance Open); and Kyle Stanley (Waste Management Phoenix Open). The European Tour winners are: Louis Oosthuizen (Africa Open); Robert Rock (Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship); Paul Lawrie (Commercialbank Qatar Masters); and Raphael Cabrera Bello (Omega Dubai Desert Classic).
· Defending champion Luke Donald is one of seven past champions of the Accenture Match Play Championship in the field who have won a combined 10 titles.
- Luke Donald (2011) – David Toms (2005) — Ian Poulter (2010) — Steve Stricker (2001) — Geoff Ogilvy (2006, 2009) – Darren Clarke (2000) — Tiger Woods (2003, 2004, 2008)
· There are 11 players making their first-career start at the Accenture Match Play Championship. They are: Webb Simpson (No. 6, United States); Keegan Bradley (No. 26, United States); Jason Dufner (No. 34, United States); Sang-Moon Bae (No. 43, South Korea); Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (No. 49, Spain); Kyle Stanley (No. 52, United States); Gary Woodland (No. 56, United States); Robert Rock (No. 58, England); Rafael Cabrera Bello (No. 60, Spain); Nicolas Colsaerts (No. 64, Belgium); and George Coetzee (No. 66, South Africa). Simpson, Bae, Stanley, Cabrera Bello and Coetzee are all making their first World Golf Championships start.

Golf’s Global Summit
A total of 42 international players are among the field of 64, representing 13 countries. England and Australia lead the way with six players in the field each, followed by South Korea, South Africa and Spain with five each. Northern Ireland and Sweden each have three representatives. Denmark, Italy and Scotland each have two players in the field while Germany, Japan and Belgium have one apiece.

Luke Donald
Donald’s 2011 campaign, which ended with the Englishman becoming the first member to finish No. 1 on the PGA TOUR Official Money List and the European Tour Order of Merit, was jumpstarted with a record-breaking victory at the Accenture Match Play Championship. Donald defeated Germany’s Martin Kaymer in the Championship Match, 3 and 2, to claim his first World Golf Championships title. Donald’s 3-and-2 victory over Kaymer marked the ninth-consecutive year the Championship Match has failed to reach No. 18.  The No. 1 player in the OWGR since winning the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship last summer, Donald never trailed in any of his six matches en route to victory and none of his six matches were extended to No. 18. He joined Tiger Woods (2003) as the only players to win the Accenture Match Play Championship without playing the 18th hole. The deepest in any of his six matches Donald was all square was through 10 holes, which occurred in the Championship Match versus Kaymer and in the Second Round versus Italy’s Edoardo Molinari.

Luke Donald’s path to victory in 2011
—-Round 1 – 6 and 5 over No. 56 Charley Hoffman (USA).

—-Round 2 – 2 and1 over No. 24 Edoardo Molinari (ITA).

—-Round 3 – 3 and 2 over No. 57 Matteo Manassero (ITA).

—-Quarterfinal – 5 and 4 over No. 48 Ryan Moore (USA).

—-Semifinal – 6 and 5 over No. 13 Matt Kuchar (USA).

—-Finals – 3 and 2 over No. 2 Martin Kaymer (DEU).

Grabbing an early lead was critical for Donald on his path to winning the 2011 Accenture Match Play Championship. He won the first hole in four of his six matches, was at least two up through three holes in three of his six matches and played holes 1-3 at 8-under for the week. He was a combined 9-up through the first three holes for the week. Donald would go on to earn PGA TOUR Player of the Year honors and would win a second time at the seasonending Children’s Miracle Network Classic in November. He finished the season with a PGA TOUR-best 14 top 10s. Donald is making his PGA TOUR debut this week at the Northern Trust Open in Pacific Palisades, CA. In his only start so far in 2012 on the European Tour, he finished T48 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.

Key Storylines for 2012

· Americans have won the first six events (through AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am) on the PGA TOUR in 2012, the longest streak to open a season since 2001 when Americans won the first eight events before Robert Allenby claimed the Northern Trust Open.
· In his first appearance at the Accenture Match Play Championship in 2011, American Bubba Watson produced the best finish by a lefthander in tournament history, finishing 4th. His solo 4th was the best finish by a player in their first start at the event since Geoff Ogilvy won in 2006.
· A strong Asian contingent including reigning PLAYERS Championship winner K.J. Choi (South Korea), Ryo Ishikawa (Japan) and fellow Presidents Cup team members K.T. Kim (South Korea) and Y.E. Yang (South Korea) will look to become the first Asian-born player to capture a World Golf Championships title.
· Two-time Accenture Match Play Championship winner Geoff Ogilvy owns the best winning percentage in the event at 83.3 percent (20-4).
· Reigning FedExCup champion Bill Haas will look to improve on his record in the Accenture Match Play Championship in his second-career appearance. He lost in the first round in 2011 to Bubba Watson, 3 and 2.
· There were 11 matches that were extended past 18 holes at the 2011 Accenture Match Play Championship, the most in the three-year history of the event at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain.
· Fourteen upsets (lower seed defeating higher seed) occurred in the first round last year at the Accenture Match Play Championship, the most since the tournament’s first year in 1999 when there were 18.
· The No. 64 seed has defeated the No. 1 overall seed twice in the 13-year history of the Accenture Match Play Championship, most recently in 2010 when England’s Ross McGowan defeated American Steve Stricker. In 2002, Australian Peter O’Malley defeated Tiger Woods. Will Luke Donald be able to escape the first round in his title defense?
· The 2012 PGA TOUR Regular Season is 37 events over the course of 33 weeks, followed by four PGA TOUR Playoff events to determine the FedExCup champion: The Barclays (Dustin Johnson), Deutsche Bank Championship (Webb Simpson), BMW Championship (Justin Rose) and TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola (Bill Haas). Last year Haas joined Jim Furyk (2010), Tiger Woods (2007 and 2009) and Vijay Singh (2008) as winners of the season-long FedExCup competition.
· The Accenture Match Play Championship is the first of four World Golf Championships on the 2012 schedule. Following the Accenture Match Play Championship are the Cadillac Championship (March 5- 11), Bridgestone Invitational (July 30 – August 5) and the HSBC Champions (October 29 – November 4).

Youth Movement Continues
There are 24 players under the age of 30 competing in the Accenture Match Play Championship, the most in tournament history, bettering the record of 23 previously set in 2010 and 2011. For the second consecutive year, Italy’s Matteo Manassero is the youngest at 18 years, 9 months and 30 days (as of 2/17/12). He advanced to the third round in 2011 before losing to Luke Donald, 3 and 2.

There are six players currently ranked in the top 10 of the OWGR under the age of 30, led by Rory McIlroy at No. 3. Following McIlroy are Martin Kaymer (No. 4), Webb Simpson (No. 6), Jason Day (No. 7), Charl Schwartzel (No. 9) and Dustin Johnson (No. 10). Here is a complete list of qualified players under the age of 30:

Name, Country, Birthday, Age
Matteo Manassero Italy 4/19/1993 18
Ryo Ishikawa Japan 9/17/1991 20
Rory McIlroy Northern Ireland 5/4/1989 22
Rickie Fowler United States 12/13/1988 23
Kyle Stanley United States 11/19/1987 24
Jason Day Australia 11/12/1987 24
George Coetzee South Africa 7/18/1986 25
Sang-moon Bae South Korea 6/21/1986 25
Keegan Bradley United States 6/7/1986 25
K.T. Kim South Korea 2/9/1986 26
Webb Simpson United States 8/8/1985 26
Martin Kaymer Germany 12/28/1984 27
Charl Schwartzel South Africa 8/31/1984 27
Dustin Johnson United States 6/22/1984 27
Gary Woodland United States 5/21/1984 27
Raphael Cabrera Bello Spain 5/25/1984 27
Kevin Na South Korea 11/15/1983 28
Nicolas Colsaerts Belgium 11/14/1983 28
Alvaro Quiros Spain 1/21/1983 29
Hunter Mahan United States 5/17/1982 29
Bill Haas United States 5/24/1982 29
Louis Oosthuizen South Africa 10/19/1982 29
Francesco Molinari Italy 11/8/1982 29
Martin Laird Scotland 12/29/1982 29

Welcome Back!
A number of players are returning to the Accenture Match Play Championship after long absences, including past champion Darren Clarke (2000). After claiming the 2011 British Open Championship, Clarke will make his first start at the Accenture Match Play Championship since 2007. In addition to his victory in 2000, Clarke finished T5 at the Accenture Match Play Championship in 2003 and 3rd in 2004. Other players making their return to the Accenture Match Play Championship after lengthy droughts include:

· Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) – Claimed his first PGA TOUR victory at the 2011 Travelers Championship and will make first start at the Accenture Match Play Championship since 2005. His best result was a T9 in 2004.
· Paul Lawrie (Scotland) – Former British Open champion won the Commercialbank Qatar Masters last month to move back inside the top 50 in the OWGR and qualify for the Accenture Match Play Championship. Last appearance at the event came in 2003 and his best result was a T5 in 2000.
· Greg Chalmers (Australia) – Won the Australian Open and Australian PGA in back-to-back starts on the Australasian Tour to end 2011 and qualify for the Accenture Match Play Championship. Last appearance at the Accenture Match Play Championship came in 2001 when he finished T33.

Players Spotlights

Martin Kaymer – Germany
At No. 4 in the OWGR, Kaymer returns to the Accenture Match Play Championship as one of the four No. 1 seeds for the second consecutive year and will look to improve on his runner-up effort in 2011. He captured his first World Golf Championships title last November at the HSBC Champions, but his looking for his first victory in the United States since the 2010 PGA Championship. Kaymer has compiled a record of 7-4 in his four appearances at the Accenture Match Play Championship and has opened the season in good form on the European Tour. After missing the cut in his first start at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, he’s finished T9 and T13 at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters and Omega Dubai Desert Classic, respectively. The Accenture Match Play Championship is his first start in the United States in 2012.

Lee Westwood – England
The No. 1 overall seed at the 2011 Accenture Match Play Championship, Englishman Lee Westwood will look to advance past the Second Round for the first time in 12 appearances at the event. Currently ranked No. 2 in the OWGR, Westwood fell to American Nick Watney in the Second Round last year, 1 down. Westwood, who won the Ballentine’s Championship on the European Tour last May, is fresh off a runner-up performance last week at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. His last victory in the United States came at the 2010 FedEx St. Jude Classic. Like Kaymer, Westwood is making his first start of the year in the United States.

Rory McIlroy – Northern Ireland
The 2011 U.S. Open champion enters the Accenture Match Play Championship as a top seed for the first time in his career at No. 3 in the OWGR. McIlroy advanced to the Quarterfinals of the event in his first appearance in 2009, but has fallen in the Second Round each of the last two years. The 2011 Accenture Match Play Championship was definitely a tale of two matches for McIlroy as he defeated Jonathan Byrd, 4 and 2, in the First Round before falling to Ben Crane, 8 and 7, in the Second Round. The 8-and-7 loss to Crane was the most decisive outcome at the 2011 Accenture Match Play Championship.

McIlroy, who like Kaymer and Westwood is making his debut in the United States this week, opened the season with a runner-up performance at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the European Tour. He finished T5 in his last appearance at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Tiger Woods – United States
In search of his first PGA TOUR victory since the 2009 BMW Championship, three-time Accenture Match Play Championship winner Tiger Woods returns to The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, looking to avenge a First Round loss to Thomas Bjorn in 2011.Woods’ loss to Bjorn in 19 holes marked just the second time he has been bounced from the Accenture Match Play Championship in the First Round. He fell to Peter O’Malley in the First Round in 2002, 2 and 1.

Woods has been in contention in each of his first two starts in 2012, first at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the European Tour and then at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on the PGA TOUR. He eventually finished T3 at Abu Dhabi with a final round 72, but fell to a T15 at Pebble Beach with a final round 75. Woods holds the Accenture Match Play Championship record for both matches played (40) and matches won (32) as well as most appearances in the finals (4). He won a tournament record 13 consecutive matches from 2003-2005. He has 16 World Golf Championships victories to his credit:

Bridgestone Invitational 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Accenture Match Play Championship 2003, 2004, 2008
Cadillac Championship 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007

Ernie Els – South Africa
One of the last players to make it into the field at No. 65 in the OWGR, Ernie Els earned a trip to the Accenture Match Play Championship after Phil Mickelson announced he would not be competing. Els has competed in 11 previous installments of the Accenture Match Play Championship, including each of the last six, with his best result a 4th in 2001. Prior to 2012, Els lowest seed at the event was in 2010 when he was No. 15.

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain

A few facts about The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, as the course hosts the Accenture Match Play Championship for the fourth-consecutive year:
· Longest Match – 24 Holes (Paul Casey def. Camilo Villegas, 2010 Semifinals)
· Shortest Match – 8 and 7 (Ben Crane def. Rory McIlroy, 2011 Second Round)
· 28 – Number of matches to go extra holes since 2009.
· 38 – Number of matches decided on No. 18 since 2009.
· 31 – Number of matches that ended prior to No. 15 since 2009.
· 21.8 percent – Percentage of matches that ended on No. 17 since 2009, highest of any hole at The Ritz-
Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain.

“Follow the Leaders” at the 2012 Accenture Match Play Championship
“Follow the Leaders” is a new fan enhancement introduced for the 2012 Accenture Match Play Championship that gives fans an opportunity to fall in behind the Championship Match and follow the players down each fairway until the 2012 champion is decided. “Follow the Leaders” will give fans the unique chance to experience the crowd, walk the fairways and view the greens from a player’s perspective. All Sunday ticket holders will be invited to “Follow the Leaders” at the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Groups of volunteers will be stationed on two holes at a time – the hole currently being played and preparing for the next hole to be played – holding ropes that allow fans to follow behind the final group up to within 40 feet of play. The gallery will not be allowed near greenside bunkers, within approaches to the green or between a bunker and a green. Marshals will also ensure fans do not walk in front of the players at any point.

“I’m really excited to hear about the ‘Follow the Leaders’ program,” said 2011 Accenture Match Play Championship winner and World No. 1 Luke Donald. “Winning the Accenture Match Play Championship earlier this year was a career highlight and nothing beats the atmosphere of match-play competition. To have the gallery fill in behind the last match will make things even more exciting. I really hope I’m part of the experience in February, since that means I’m in the Championship Match and have a shot at successfully defending my title!”

Accenture Match Play Championship and Military Appreciation

On Friday, February 24, don’t miss the festivities surrounding Military Appreciation Day, and help us celebrate those who serve or who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces. There will be a special Military Appreciation Ceremony at 10 a.m. on the back clubhouse lawn – open to the public – featuring a color guard, performance of the National Anthem and a flyover by US Navy Squadron VFA-86 out of NAS Lemoore.

A corporate hospitality structure located adjacent to the 14th tee/17th green, the Birdies for the Brave Patriots’ Outpost offers all military and their dependents, including veterans, an opportunity to relax and enjoy free food and beverage throughout the week (Wednesday-Sunday). Free admission to the Accenture Match Play Championship is offered to all active duty, retired and Reserve military to thank them for their service. Veterans may purchase discounted tickets.

Please visit www.birdiesforthebrave.org for more information on the PGA TOUR’s support of the military.

A Swede, a Columbian and an Irishman walk into a scoring trailer…

Never mind, you definitely know the punch line and we’ve all heard this one too often.

Peter Hanson was stung by a one-stroke penalty in 2010 at Majorca when a super slow motion camera caught the sole of his wedge double-hit the ball.  The evidence was indisputable; only, Hanson didn’t even know it happened as the ball rebounded in the mere fraction of a second off the flange of the wedge.  Has this ever happened before?  You can by 100% certain it has, only until the advent of such digital technology, none of us knew it was happening, most notably, the players.  To Hanson’s credit, after the assessment of the one-stroke penalty under Rule 14-4 (“If a player’s club strikes the ball more than once in the course of a stroke, the player must count the stroke and add a penalty stroke, making two strokes in all”) he would go on to birdie the 15^th and 17^th Holes to put him back at the top of the leaderboard and to eventually go on to win the event in a playoff over Alejandro Canizares.

Hanson was balanced in his response, composure you could imagine him having given that he won the event: “It looks strange, but of course it was a double-hit. Sometimes it’s good to have these fantastic cameras and sometimes it’s bad – but it was fair.” 

At the 2011 Hyundai Tournament of Champions, Camillo Villegas was done in when he violated Rule 23-1 (“…When a ball is in motion, a loose impediment that might influence the movement of the ball must not be removed”), when he swatted away a divot that could have impacted the ball’s path while playing a shot to the 15^th green.  Only a viewer called in this rules infraction after the conclusion of play, so Villegas was DQ’ed the following day for signing an incorrect scorecard (the penalty is two strokes).

At the time, PGA Tour rules officials expressed regret over the course of action they were required to take,  “Anytime a call comes in, we’ve always gone on it, I have to react. That’s my job. That’s what the game is all about — if you break a rule, it’s all about the penalty. The sad thing is if the call comes in after the fact. Why didn’t you call in earlier so at least you can save the guy from disqualification?” said Jon Brendle (Source:  PGATOUR.com)

In fairness, why wasn’t the infraction caught earlier?  If a rule is a rule, isn’t it a better fitting of the crime with the punishment that a player receive a two-stroke penalty than to be disqualified after the conclusion of play?

Pádraig Harrington’s ethics are beyond reproach, as accounted by multiple players over many years, yet the Dubliner had his own share of misfortune at the 2011 Abu Dhabi Championship when he inadvertently moved his ball a dimple or so (violation of Rule 20-3, “…The ball must be placed on the spot from which it was lifted or moved…”).  Like Villegas, his fate was not sealed by the incident of the initial penalty, but due to the fact that he did not know the violation had occurred, he finished his round, signed his scorecard, only to find out later that by executing his name, it lead to his execution from the tournament (violation of Rule 6-6d, disqualification for signing for a lower score than what one really shot).  A DQ for signing an incorrect scorecard that at the time he thought was correct.

In the case of this bloodletting, golf’s governing bodies announced a “new interpretation” of this rule in April of last year.  Now, a player can be assessed with the appropriate penalty, even after he or she has signed their scorecard, if the rule they breached was “…because of facts that he did not know and could not reasonably have discovered prior to returning his score card…”.  This revision giving cause for one to believe that reason can be employed when otherwise a gapping inequity is found lurking in golf’s voluminous rulebook.   However, the even broader question remains as to how many rules officials players are subject to placate?  Harrington’s infraction was brought to light by a viewer who emailed the European Tour (given how many events are shown taped delayed or re-aired later in the day, it would seem that most professional golfers should sleep with one eye opened, you know, just in case).

Just like Hanson and Villegas, Harrington said all the right things in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

Harrington was equally as patient when at the 2011 Wells Fargo Championship when after posting a score of 68, tied for 9^th on -10, Harrington and playing competitor Phil Mickelson were forced to revisit the 13^th tee because a spectator alleged that Harrington had played his tee shot in front of the markers (I was assigned to their group that day, doing our on-course play-by-play and I did not see a violation of any kind).

Phil Mickelson quickly (and rightfully) came to Pádraig’s defense, saying, “it’s things like this that as a player you don’t ever want any calls under question because you value your integrity more than anything. And Pádraig has more integrity than anybody out here.  The fact that one person would say something, I don’t ever want that to come into question because he’s constantly checking to make sure he’s playing by all the rules.  I remember watching him move the ball back, and he checked it. I’m fine with it . . .it’s not an issue; Pádraig is one of the most honorable guys we have on tour.”

To Pádraig’s credit, this incident may have been one too far, noting, “…it really would be a question of being a martyr if I took a penalty. I’ve done that before but this was just inconclusive . .players know what’s happening out on the golf course, caddies know what’s happening . . in that situation, there was no reason for concern at the time.”

Hmm, there’s a novel idea, players, caddies, competitors and rules officials monitoring and protecting the integrity of the field by watching themselves and each other?  How about we give that a try?

Nobody is advocating that the rules of golf should not be enforced.  If a violation of the rules takes place, a player should pay the price for either their overt act or ignorance.  Viewers, emailers, spectators, bloggers, social media mavens and anyone else are free to enjoy the competition, but if you notice a rules infraction and it is not otherwise called, caught or pointed out by those directly involved, then do the same as you would when decrying the blind officiating while watching your favorite football team.  In other words, complain all you want, but unless you are part of the competition, you are not a part of it, period.

As to who is to blame for all of this, there is plenty of that to go around.  Can you blame the viewers for using a power they were permitted to have, even encouraged to use, given the examples above (and many, many more, Paul Azinger, Julie Inster and most recently, Peter Whiteford at the Avantha Masters)?  What about the rules officials from the various world tours?  At the time of Villegas’ disqualification the question was asked why there is not a rules official (or multiple officials) specifically assigned to monitor the television broadcast, meaning that if Fred in Des Moines can flag a violation of the rules, why can’t an expert on site that can take action before a player gets the red card?

“You’re taking a guy off the golf course to watch something for three hours that never happens,” said Slugger White, PGA Tour Vice President of Rules at the time of Villegas’ DQ.  “How many times does this happen?”

Maybe once is one time too many.

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*2-night package. Rates are per room, per night; $35 daily resort fee and tax are additional. Reservations for room and activities are based upon availability; some conditions may apply. Package includes one round of golf per night per guest with a choice of play on either your day of arrival or day of departure. Forecaddie gratuity additional. Excluding alcohol. Additional nights can be added at our Best Available Rate. Cannot be combined with other packages or offers.

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**One 1-hour group lesson for four people at the Sea Island Golf Learning Center.

**A welcome amenity

*3-night package. Rates are per room, per night; $35 daily resort fee and tax are additional. Reservations for room and activities are based upon availability; some conditions may apply. Package includes one round of golf per night per guest with a choice of play on either your day of arrival or day of departure. Forecaddie gratuity additional. Excluding alcohol. Additional nights can be added at our Best Available Rate. Cannot be combined with other packages or offers.

Call 888-598-5776 to book this package.

Fairways of Life Golf Group Custom Packages

Let us customize your Sea Island golf experience for groups of 8 or more golfers.  Our golf concierge can assist you with special room and golf rates, group golf lessons, dining and other activities.  During your stay, an assistant golf pro will be assigned to your group to help make the most of your golf getaway.

Call Sea Island’s golf concierge, Corwin Parker, at 888-756-4942 to plan your Sea Island golf experience.

The doorbell pierced the gloom, but instead of lifting me from my deep-winter blues, I was annoyed by the intrusion.  Whipping the door open I was verbally coiled to strike out against the gutter salesman or soul-saver that had invaded my cosset of self-pity.  Standing outside my castle’s gate stood a package delivery man looking more miserable than me. 

“Matt Adams?” he asked in a matter-of-fact-I-could-care-less-don’t-care-what-the-answer-is-you-are-taking-this-box manner while shoving a tricorder into my hands to sign away. 

In a flash, I was left with a medium sized box otherwise devoid of marks of identification.  Using scissors to snap away the box’s bands I carefully opened the box as if Carter about to enter the tomb, eager to reveal what jewels lay entombed within it’s cardboard esophagus.  I was not disappointed. 

Within were eight works of art, the new Mizuno MP-59 irons.   

I’ve always loved the look of a forged blade, but respected the forgiveness of a cast iron. Mizuno claims that with the MP-59’s, golfers can have the best of both worlds.  The MP-59’s feature “Ti Muscle” technology, meaning the cavity on the back side of the club’s face is designed to maximize forgiveness over a broad striking area.  How Mizuno accomplishes this in a traditional half-cavity design is by dropping pure Titanium (which is very lightweight) in place of 24 grams of what was forged carbon steel right behind the center of the clubface.  So this not only insures that the club has the ideal face thickness behind the impact area, but it also allows Mizuno’s engineers to reposition that freed-up weight along the club’s perimeter for enhanced playability. 

Mizuno says the results are exactly what they were hoping to achieve:  a players’ club that provides for the “soft” feel and workability of a forged club, while benefitting from the forgiveness of a game-improvement cast club.  The Mizuno MP-59’s are designed for golfers with handicaps under 14. 

The Mizuno MP-59’s are so good looking, I am not sure I want to hit them, but in the spirit of the “best of both worlds,” I also cannot wait to try!  Just what I needed to lift me out of my winter blues. 

For more information, www.mizunousa.com/golf

D.A. Points picked up his first career PGA TOUR win at the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. For the week, Points was solid tee-to-green ranking T-16th for total driving and T-14th for ball striking. D.A. missed 11 fairways for the week (44 of 55) ranking T-7th in the field for driving accuracy.  On the greens of Pebble Beach Golf Links he missed just 1 putt inside 10 feet (31 of 32) ranking T-2nd from this distance. He also ranked 5th in the field for putts gained outperforming the field by over 4 total strokes with his putter on the host course. For the week, Points made a career best tying 2 eagles and 23 total birdies (also made 23 birdies at the 2010 Greenbrier).

Hole out for Eagle on 14: On the par 5 – 14th hole (2nd toughest of the final rd), D.A. Points holed out from 100 yards for eagle to take the lead at the 2011 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. D.A. was the only player to eagle the 14th hole all week. In fact, the last player to eagle the 14th hole in this event prior to Points was 7 years ago in 2004 when Scott Gutschewski holed out from 67 yards for eagle in the 3rd round.

Difficulty of the 3rd shot on 14: The average 3rd shot on the 14th hole measured 118.7 yards. From this distance, about 1 in every 3 players (37%) found the green averaging just shy of 40 feet to the pin.

Risk / Reward: D.A. narrowly avoided the deep front bunker with his 3rd shot which could have been the difference between winning his first PGA TOUR event and another strong finish. Of the 14 players who found the front bunker on 14 in the final round just 1 got up and down for par.

2012 PGA TOUR FACTS & FIGURES

Course Statistics – Pebble Beach Golf Links, Spyglass Hill GC& Monterey Peninsula Shore Course

The following was developed by Matt McBreen, a high school student from Rhode Island. An avid sports and social media fan, Matt spent a week inside the ropes at a FedEx Cup event learning about how PGA TOUR stars use twitter, and what a high school student learns inside the ropes at the 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship.

“Although not all players are active Twitter users, the results of my survey at the DBC show that 83% of the DBC field use some form of social media and 75% use it to interact with fans”

How different would our relationships with the greatest athletes of all-time be if we could have known almost everything about them from where they hung out to the every day battles we face like eating right or keeping in shape? Would Babe Ruth have commented on the day’s political flow and ebb? Would Ben Hogan have tweeted pictures of his new blades? Would Vince Lombardi tweet out a pearl of coaching brilliance? While these questions are interesting, the reality is that the world of social interaction with sports heroes has forever changed. We are now allowed to ease drop on the minutest elements of their lives, to get to know them as people in ways that we never could have before and often times even interact. Burgeoning young journalist, Matt McBreen, canvassed the field at TPC Boston to investigate the social media phenomenon and his findings were compelling (he also does a good job of pushing a golf cart that has run out of battery charge!) – Matt Adams

As fans, our relationships with the athletes and sports we follow have changed dramatically in recent years. The speed and globalization of digital media had made almost all news real time. The advent of social media has created a new disruption in the typical media world. The use of Twitter has exploded into the sports world and golf is no exception. At the 2011 Deutsche Bank Championship I stepped inside the ropes and discussed the use of Twitter with PGA TOUR players, staff, and media. My experience was unique for many reasons; I am an avid twitter user and an avid sports fan.
When you jump on Twitter looking for PGA Tour players, a small and active group appears. Stewart Cink, Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter are the top volume guys. In addition, there are numerous players on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour who also use Twitter to keep fans and friends updated on their golf and lives.

To showcase the impact of Twitter and the relationship between the players and fans, a single tweet from any of these three players can reach millions of people!

Rickie Fowler 244,084
Stewart Cink 1,182,897
Ian Poulter 1,237,133

Although not all players are active Twitter users, the results of my survey at the DBC show that 83% of the DBC field use some form of social media and 75% use it to interact with their fans.
Curious about what apparel and equipment the European team would use for the 2011 Ryder Cup? No problem, Ian Poulter updated fans in real time and including photos of his gear. He recently kept fans involved in his fall Asia tournaments tour through his tweets. Ian often includes photos that help fans visualize his travels and experiences. During the DBC, Ian told me about how he uses Twitter to “Keep his views public and help shape the game of golf.”

Expecting to keep track of Rickie Fowler’s tournament schedule? Rickie’s Twitter page will serve you well. You may be surprised to learn about his passion for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, as well as his passion for motocross. I had the opportunity to talk to Rickie and I asked him about his use of Twitter. Rickie has been a Twitter user for many years to keep his family and friends up to date on his life and golf. As he became a well know tour player, his agent suggested Twitter could be a good way to involve his fans in his life. He does this very well, and as a result fans are very well versed on his interests, travels, sponsors (even where he likes to hang out and have dinner while on the road). It is not unusual for fans to greet Rickie with a “go time” greeting, thanks to his well know #GOTIME hashtag on his pre-round tweets. It may also surprise fans to know how often Rickie will pass along a request from a Twitter follower to re-tweet (“RT”) their message. With a click of a button he partners with a fan and sends the message to 244,084 worldwide followers. The connection this creates with his fans is very powerful (and remarkably personal).

In other cases, the players simply welcome their followers into their lives. Stewart Cink recently tweeted on traveling to an out of town hockey tournament with his son and soon was getting tips on local dining establishments from his followers. A follower of Stewart will also become well versed on southern barbecue, as Stewart tweets about grilling tips and experiences. A great example of his use of Twitter was the note I received from him about our failure to connect live during the tournament, the message was relayed from his Twitter account to mine!

As a fan, Twitter can be a fantastic way to get connected with the players in a new way. Every player offers a unique view into their game and life. The relationship between fan and player takes on a new level. Social Media outlets like Twitter offer a fan a chance to have an ongoing conversation with their favorite players. As I write this article, I got a Twitter update from Chad Ochocino of the New England Patriots about his love of his Prius, and encouraging other Bostonians to purchase a Prius as well. This is just one of many examples that show how Twitter can connect fans, athletes, ideas and brands both with and without the use of sports.  Ttyl, I’ve got to catch up some tweets from my favorite golfers…

Many have called him, “the Arnold Palmer of European golf,” and that comparison is not without merit. Palmer won seven Majors and sixty-three events on Tour. Ballesteros won five Majors and fifty European Tour events (First, all-time), and an additional four events on the PGA Tour. Like Palmer, Ballesteros was a spark of inspiration for his continent, instilling in all the belief that they too can be champions.

The indelible image of Ballesteros is from the 1984 Open Championship at St Andrews on the 18th green. After making a heroic birdie, he pumped his fist in triumphant repose and began a dance of jubilation. The image is more than a celebration of victory; it is a celebration of life. A full-bore embrace of a talent that flashed across our collective conciseness’ like a streaking comment; brilliant and intense in it’s all too fleeting glimpse.

Ballesteros will likely be best remembered for his role in the Ryder Cup. In eight Ryder Cup appearances, his record was 20-15-5, but his impact went well beyond such a staid measure. Ballesteros was the soul of the European Ryder Cup. Even this last fall while tending to the complications from the brain tumors, he addressed the European Ryder Cup team, via teleconference, in a secret team meeting that none present have ever revealed the content of, aside to say that it was the motivational spark that carried the team to victory. At that time, European Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomery simply said, “Seve is our Ryder Cup and always will be.”

Ballasteros had a reputation for gamesmanship and a liberal interpretation of the rules of golf if it suited his needs. His heated confrontations with Paul Azinger at the 1991 Ryder Cup stand out, but even Azinger conceded that his passion between the ropes did not give full credit to the man he was outside them. “Even thought we’ve had some tense moments, we respected each other and our differences were resolved after the ’91 Ryder Cup. He was one of the first players to call me when I got sick in ’93. We played a Shell Wonderful World of Golf match at St Andrews in ’95. One of the most talented and flamboyant players ever to play the game.”

While words, even hyperbole, seem inadequate at times like these, it can not be debated that Ballesteros was a complex genius. True genius defies the time period in which it exists, not constrained by such a mortal measure. Therefore, in a sport in which our heroes usually enjoy long, leisurely strolls into the sunset, at 54 years young, we said good-bye too soon to a man without his singular brand of artistry, the game simply would not be what it is today.

Good-bye, Seve Ballesteros and thank you.