I tell ya… these West Coast tee times and late starts are taking a serious toll on me. The rounds aren’t finishing until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. in the morning over here in the European time zone and it’s not helping me win my epic battle with insomnia. Be that as it may, the world has had sufficient time to come to grips with numbers 1 & 2 in the world getting dispatched quite expediently from the competition, and the show out in Zona continued today with some very good golf being played.
Snead Bracket
The biggest surprise Friday was Scott Piercy’s total annihilation of world #3 Luke Donald, which quite frankly would’ve happened to anyone playing Piercy today. He was 6-under through 12 holes when the 10-run rule went into effect, ousting the Donald to the tune of 7 & 6. Piercy faces the ever cagey Steve Stricker Saturday morning, as Stricker needed extra innings to take care of Nick Watney in his match earlier today. That should be a very good match, with Piercy apparently coming into the tournament this week with something to prove. On the bottom half of the Snead bracket, Ian Poulter ended Bo Van Pelt’s week with a 3 & 1 victory, and the ever-confident Poulter says that the extended break this winter has served him well, feeling refreshed and on top of his game. He faces a bulldog of a competitor Saturday against Tim Clark, who cruised to victory against Thorbjorn Olesen 3 & 2. Although the Poulter vs Clark match should be fairly even from the tee and the fairway, Clark will have his work cut out for him tomorrow morning against one of the best putters in modern matchplay competition. Clark will need to utilize his exceptional wedge play to keep the pressure on Poulter in this match.
Player Bracket
Hunter Mahan continues his successful bid to defend his matchplay title, making quick work of Richard Sterne with a 4 & 3 win in the bottom half of the Player bracket. Heading into tomorrow morning’s match against Martin Kaymer, who defeated Rafael Cabrera Bello 2 & 1 Friday afternoon, Mahan talked about how the layout at Dove Mountain suits his game. “I feel like I just have a good understanding of this place. Once you get on the greens, the greens are pretty difficult. They have a lot of slopes and a lot of variations,” Mahan said. “I’ve got a good feel for these greens, so I don’t feel like I’m giving too many holes away on three putts or anything like that. Confidence is high. I know I can play this place well, and I know I can beat anybody on any given day.” Beating Kaymer Saturday will be no easy task, however. The Mahan vs Kaymer match should be very entertaining, and don’t be surprised if extra holes are needed. Looking at the top half of the Player bracket, Webb Simpson barely eked by Peter Hanson in their match Friday, with the reigning US Open champ advancing in dramatic fashion with a birdie on the final hole to take a 1-up victory. Simpson faces Gonzalo Fernandez Castano Saturday morning, as the Spaniard made quick work of Charles Howell III with a 6 & 5 margin.
Hogan Bracket
The Hogan bracket has had its share of upsets through the first two rounds as well, as Robert Garrigus is probably the unlikeliest of stories to develop in the top draw of the bracket. Garrigus easily moved into the 2nd round with a 4 & 3 win over Branden Grace on Thursday, and earlier today added Louis Oosthuizen’s scalp to his trophy case with a convincing 3 & 2 win. He’ll face a very tough opponent in Fredrik Jacobson, who continues his good form from last week at the Northern Trust Open. The Swede put away Australian Marcus Frazar 4 & 3 in his second round match on Friday. Turning to the bottom half of the Hogan bracket, Matt Kuchar and Sergio Garcia needed 17 holes to decide their match this afternoon, with Kuchar taking the honors with a birdie on the 17th hole to claim a 2-up victory. He’ll face a tough competitor in Nicolas Colsaerts Saturday morning, as Colsaerts soundly upset #2 seed Justin Rose 4 & 2.
Jones Bracket
The most interesting story thus far this week is Shane Lowry, who topped Rory McIlroy Thursday in the opening round. His story continues, as he put a shellacking on Carl Pettersson with a 6 & 5 rout. The other player to advance in the top half of the draw in the Jones bracket is Graeme McDowell, who eked out a 20-hole, hard-fought 1-up victory against Alex Noran. Lowry will face McDowell Saturday morning in what should be deemed the battle of the Fighting Irish. At the bottom half of the Jones bracket, Bubba Watson needed 20 holes to overcome fellow American Jim Furyk, in what was a nip-and-tuck match all the way to the finish. He’ll face Jason Day, who needed an extra hole to overcome the season’s biggest rookie success story – Russell Henley. Henley maintained a 1-up lead midway through the match, until Day got the upper hand with a birdie on the 14th to take a 2-up lead. Henley bounced back with a birdie on the 15th, and then drained a clutch 14 footer on the 18th to push the contest into overtime. In the end, Day’s clutch iron play sealed the deal, with a timely laser-like approach on the first playoff hole to 4 feet, clinching the 1-up victory with birdie.
Closing Thoughts
For those who didn’t notice, Jason Day conceded absolutely nothing unless Henley’s ball was virtually hanging on the lip of the cup in their match Friday. Some may recall Day’s self-serving bravado a few years ago in which he basically told a reporter that rattling his matchplay opponent with mind-game ploys was a tactic he personally employed, essentially deeming it fair play. He’s obviously not backed off the strategy, which could end up getting under Bubba Watson’s skin Saturday in their match. Bubba struggled with some relatively simple short putts in his match against Furyk, so it’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out Saturday. In fairness to Day, it’s obviously his prerogative whether or not to concede short putts, but on a few occasions Friday Henley could be seen smiling and shaking his head as he walked off the green after having to tap-in the short ones. There could be a few fireworks tomorrow in his match with the high-strung type that Bubba Watson is.
As it relates to my dark horse predictions… I’m sad to report that my underdog picks haven’t panned out, but then again – I think this format was designed to have people burning their brackets after the second day, if not the first. Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson, David Toms, and Rickie Fowler were all early exits after the opening round, and Freddy Jacobson is the only horse I have left running the race.
Saturday’s action should be very entertaining, but then again – matchplay format most always is.
(all players quotes courtesy of PGATOUR.COM, the most trusted source for tournament news and player insights)
The first round at the Blue Monster was completed this morning, with Hunter Mahan getting 2 birdies in his remaining 8 holes of play. He would also card his only bogey in the round on the par4 7th, so he’s currently atop the leaderboard at 8-under par. Ryo Ishikawa is only 1 shot back at 7-under heading into this afternoon’s 2nd round. Ishikawa posted 8 birdies and one bogey in his round of 7-under 65. The world’s #1 ranked player Martin Kaymer is currently in 3rd, after finishing up his opening round of 6-under 66. Five players are tied for 4th at 5-under – Thomas Aiken, Martin Laird, Charley Hoffman, Luke Donald, and Nick Watney. Lee Westwood ran into a bad stretch of holes as he finished up the remainder of his opening round Friday morning, bogeying the 12th, 13th, and 15th holes to drop back to 2-under 70.
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