Cadillac World Match Play groups http://www.buschleaguesports.com/index.php/wgc-cadillac-match-play-group-draw-is-out/
World Golf rankings http://www.owgr.com/
There is a new and in my opinion much more exciting set up for this week's WGC match play event. First it has moved from Dove Mountain in Arizona, a nice enough spot but void of any significance to Harding Park, a tight, tree-lined public course in San Francisco that hosted the 2009 Presidents Cup and a World Golf Championship in 2005 on the coast in San Francisco
Second this Cadillac Match Play Championship features 16 groups of four players, with the best record from each group advancing to the weekend. Numbers 1-16 serving as the top seed in each group and the other players were broken down into 3 sections numbers 17 to 32, the. 33 to 48, and finally 49 to 64 with a blind draw selecting one from each group, to join the top seed.
For example:
#1 Rory McIlroy drew Billy Horschel (18), Brandt Snedeker (35) and Jason Dufner (53).
#2 Jordan Spieth, drew Lee Westwood (26), Matt Every (40) and Mikko Ilonen (62).
Are you following me ? Further there will be no halved matches during round-robin play. Tiebreakers will be determined by head-to-head matches, and in case of a three-way tie in a group, there will be a sudden-death playoff to see who advances.
So the good news is all the guys get at least 3 matches for their sojourn to San Fran' eliminating the dreaded 1 loss and gone which the guys detested... except for the winners.
The round robin starts on Wednesday, then the round of 16 is on Saturday morning and will be followed by the quarterfinals in the afternoon, and then the semifinals and championship match on Sunday.
I like it, it gives the cream a better chance to rise to the top, and may help eliminate some of the dreadful finals the event has featured in the past like 1999 Jeff Maggert beat Andrew Magee in 38 holes...or Kevin Sutherland beating Scott McCarron in 2002...or the always exciting Aussie Geoff Ogilvy beating Davis Love in 2006 then Paul Casey in 2009.. all ratings killers.
Tiger saved the event winning in 2004, 04 and 08, but now with the change in venue and format and all the young guns from around the world in the field, it's future looks bright, even with Tiger and Phil not competing...
Bryan Angus
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