Accenture Match Play: Brackets and Matchups

[FrankoSport]

Greetings ...

Here are the scheduled round-one brackets for the 2006 Accenture Match Play.

Let's start with the Ben Hogan Bracket. The ultimate would be an Els-Mickelson showdown in the quarters, or perhaps Els and Michael Campbell. Besides Campbell, Mike Weir, Stewart Cink and Fred Funk loom as potential roadblocks for Els. A possible 2nd-round match between Mickelson and John Daly could be fun. If Mickelson gets to the third round, watch out for Lee Westwood, who played well in Los Angeles. Finally, Michael Campbell needs to reach the quarters in order to secure Special Temporary Membership, which would make him eligible for the Memorial and Barclays-Westchester events.

Of course, longshot Tom Lehman just might screw up the equation.

In the Bobby Jones bracket, you have - besides Tiger - David Toms, KJ Choi, Stuart Appleby and Jose-Maria Olazabal. The round-1 match between Adam Scott and Lucas Glover should be fun to watch. If Scott survives that, he could potentially face fellow Aussie Stuart Appleby in round-two. A possible round-three match might have Tiger Woods face Tim Herron. Tiger and Lumpy seem to mesh well together, and you may recall their pairing in the 4th round of the 1999 US Open at Pinehurst.

In the Gary Player bracket, I'd like these potential 3rd-round matchups: Vijay Singh vs Padraig Harrington, and Chris DiMarco vs Davis Love III. Others to watch are Rory Sabbatini, Tim Clark and Kenny Perry.

And finally in the Sam Snead Bracket, Retief Goosen, Jim Furyk, Justin Leonard and Luke Donald might be close to the top as favorites. If he's on "GO", then Colin Montgomerie looms as a spoiler, while Fred Couples will be the sentimental pick. Let's hope all is well with Darren Clarke, and keep an eye on Sean O'Hair. Finally, brace yourself for the slowest gun in the west - the one and only Ben Crane!

[davevandyk]

Stephen Ames just got added to the field. Thomas Bjorn pulled out with a sore neck.

[shovellover]

Yeah!!

Tiger vs. Ames in round one!!

Go Ames!!

It might happen...

[LobWedge]

Nike must be loving that matchup...

[davevandyk]

Nike must be loving that matchup...

I doubt it, they know guaranteed that one of their guys will be out in the first round. It will be good though, cause that match will get a lot of play.

[larry]

Just noticed that the match play starts Wednesday. Better get my picks in.

[ironmaster15213]

I just missed being in the Charles Barkley bracket by one stroke!!! man I got to work on my swing!!!!

[Shivas Irons]

Tiger 6 up after 6 over Ames. Not looking too good for Ames right now.

[Nat Williams]

DAMN, I was really hoping for 10&8 ... but 9&8 ain't bad LOL

[spackler]

I too was hoping for 10&8. I wanted to know that today, I would have been as good as Stephen Ames. Man, 7 birdies on the front 9? Ouch.

[ironmaster15213]

Holy sh*t batman!!!! whoever heard of someone beating another professional every hole on the front side, not even one tie till number 10!!! I don't know about you but that just blows my mind! Has it ever been done before????

[Nat Williams]

I'm pretty sure it happened i nthe women's amateur this year, but I haven't heard of it on the PGA.

[Kilroy]

They just said on the broadcst 9 & 8 hapened only once before on the PGA in the mid 50's. Pretty sketchy info for sure.

[LBH]

Wow!!! Holy s***! Was Stephen playing that bad???

[Shivas Irons]

Wow!!! Holy s***! Was Stephen playing that bad???

No, Tiger was that good. Birdies on the first 6 holes and another on #8 - pretty amazing .
After the comments Ames made about Tiger on the Golf Channel it's no surprise Tiger ate him for lunch.

["Richard"]

What did he say? Link?? I love golf trash talk

[Shivas Irons]

What did he say? Link?? I love golf trash talk

The interview is here:

http://www.worldgolfchampionships.co...y/r470/9258579

It's not the first time Ames has bad mouthed Tiger either.

[ironmaster15213]

How about it sport fans Tiger is down 2 after 2 holes today playing against Robert Allenby. I know there's a couple of smiling faces up there.

[mpare]

Did any of you see the match today? 4 up with 5 holes to play and, yet, victory eluded our favourite son. The boy needs a heart transplant. Maybe Cindy Klassen or Chandra Crawford have an extra one for him. Come to think of it, these never say die women should have tranferred a bit of their spirit to our men's hockey team. They needed a lift badly. But that's another matter. If Mike doesn't start to believe in himself, this is going to be a very long year for him.

[Nat Williams]

Mike,

I've got to tell you, as I said to the guys on TGN I sould have been betting on this tournament...

In addition to calling the melt down at up 4 for Mike (which I imagine could have fetched a good return price considering there were 5 holes left), I picked Langer in round 1 for the upset, and DLove & Howell in this round...

Overall I'm about 85% on the picks this tourney...

[mpare]

Mike,

I've got to tell you, as I said to the guys on TGN I sould have been betting on this tournament...

In addition to calling the melt down at up 4 for Mike (which I imagine could have fetched a good return price considering there were 5 holes left), I picked Langer in round 1 for the upset, and DLove & Howell in this round...

Overall I'm about 85% on the picks this tourney...

You certainly should have been placing a few bets on this. The secret to success should be betting on the guys that I don't pick. If I pick them, they're doomed. This summer when we play, I'm going to place a small side bet for you to win when we play against each other. You won't have a chance!