Some Random Thoughts on day one of the Accenture Match Play Championship:
It was good to see Tiger back, but I don’t agree with the tenor of much of the media: that Tiger was back in form and put a whoopin’ on poor Mr. Jones. I actually thought
Woods looked rusty, and his victory was more a reflection of Jones’ poor play. If Tiger had faced a better player—one who, perhaps, didn’t flub chip shots—it might have been much closer.
He probably still would have won, though.
As I thought, the Mickelson-Cabrera match was one of the ones to watch. It also showed why Phil is no Tiger. The striped one would never have let Angel back into the match.
I’m looking forward to the possible Woods-McIlroy match.
Kudos to the Golf Channel for their coverage. While Tiger clearly was the focus of the day, I thought TGC did a good job of moving about and keeping us in touch with the other groupings. I thought they dropped the ball a bit in noticing the big swing in the Weekley – Rose match. That would have been exciting to follow.
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I never for a second doubted Rory McIlroy.
Well, okay, maybe a little when he was 2-down. What a great comeback. He really closed strong today. The putts on the last two holes were huge.
Too bad Tiger didn’t make it through, but I’m not too surprised. Like you said, yesterday was as much a function of his opponent’s poor play as anything else. He’s the best in the world, but he is, as you said, rusty. And every player in this field is capable of winning on any given day.
About coverage, I am basing this comment on Rd 2 coverage, but I thought it was way too Tiger-centric for the first half of the broadcast. I was interested in McIlroy who was one group behind. There was really no McIlroy coverage at all until hole 16 when they covered every shot the rest of the match. But I can’t really blame them. Fans love to watch Tiger. Me, too. It’s just sometimes I have other players I want to keep an eye on. I was surprised that McIlroy got so little coverage. They would need a “story” if Tiger lost (which he did) and McIlroy is a story. And if Tiger won, the matchup would have been a ratings bonanza. (Well, for a weekday.)
I guess the broadcasters are happy Mickelson is still going. He seems to be the one they market if Tiger is not playing. At least in this tourney, Tiger played, so it isn’t tainted by being “Tiger-less.”
When Tiger jarred his bunker shot on 14, I thought, “here we go, it’s Tiger Time.” Then he hits O.B. and it looks pretty hopeless again. But wait, Tiger hits the green and has a putt for par. Oh boy, he is going to pull it out! Oops, I guess not.
The ride was short but what a roller coaster for 30 minutes. Tiger doesn’t always pull off the miracle but it sure is fun watching him try. There is absolutely no “quit” in that man.