Well Well Well....
Whilst Geoff Ogilvy was taken out early (as can happen in match play), Paul Casey did me proud and made it all the way to the Final again. I was predicting a replay of Casey & Ogilvy before the draw, but Geoff just couldn't get it done this year.
The interesting thing I take out of the Accenture Match Play, is that out of the final four, one was a Columbian, but the other 3 semi-finalists were all European. We have a Ryder Cup coming up later this year, and Poulter, the 2010 Match Play champ, was a star for the Europeans at the last Ryder Cup at Valahalla Country Club, Kentucky.
This year we see not a single American in the top 4 at the match play, whilst Poulter, Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia are all staking their claims, with Colin Montgomery, (the new Euro captain, replacing NicFaldo). Mrs Doubtfire must be rubbing his hands with glee after this weekend, especially regarding Ian Poulter. Having won his 1st title in America, his confidence is going from strength to strength - not that Poulter ever had a confidence problem in the 1st place. With this years' venue on home soil at the Celtic Manor in Wales, lets hope the Euros can steal the Samuel Ryder Cup back from those "ugly Americans".
There was something else I wanted to mention, before moving on to next weeks' tourney, but I am having trouble remembering what it was. Oh yes, that's right...... The Who Gives a Fuck Classic from Cancun, Mexico !
A bunch of fucking no-names, battling it out with a bunch of fucking has beens, with them all hoping they could pick up some money list action, whilst the real golfers were playing match play. Well I know at least one guy who was giving a shit, picking both JP Hayes & Chad Collins and taking it to the wire. Unfortunately though Gordon, the reason these guys are no-names, is that they can't be relied upon in the clutch. Both golfers bogeyed the last hole and denied Gordon a big Skinny.
None the less, Gordon is the only guy to have not had a really shitty week yet. Due to his solid pickings from the beginning, he has climbed up the ladder and now sits on top in the overall standings. This week the Skinny moves to $96, the overall climbs to $64 and we all owe $40.
When it came to admitting new members, I was able to get past all manner of obstacles re maths formulas etc, for paying out in fairness. However Rick's email, pointing out the 10 pick per pro limit, shut it down for me. I could just not come up with a fair way of dealing with that. Hence, our mates are free to join the game to get the hang of it for next year, but they can't get into the money for now.
This week we go to the Waste Management Phoenix Open, originally known as the Arizona Open, and then had it's name changed to the Phoenix Open. It was played various good courses in the area, until the PGA Tour built the TPC Scottsdale, otherwise known as the "Stadium Course", home of the Colusseum like par 3 16th hole, where Tiger Woods made a hole in one in 1997 - his first year on tour.
The Phoenix Open attracts the largest crowd of the year at around 500,000 spectators. Bare in mind that the 16th is completely surrounded and has seating for approximately 110,000 people. Imagine that guys. An entire AFL Grand Final worth of spectators waiting to boo you if you screw things up. Some pros love it and other hate it, but it's what makes this tournament special. The most popular golfer here by far, is Phil Mickelson, as Phil was an 3 time NCAA All American for Arizona State University during his Amateur days.
Well, the course is fairly straight forward. It is in the desert, so expect good weather, and it is designed for this tournament. The honour roll for the last 10 years includes Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, Tom Lehman, Mark Calcavecchia and Kenny Perry. All Major winners except for Kenny, who fucked things up at last years Masters. So when picking, you ARE going to need at least some quality in your team. If I'm not mistaken, this was also the scene of Aaron Baddeley's last victory on the PGA Tour in 2007.
Arnold Palmer, Phil Mickelson, Ben Hogan and Johnny Miller are all multiple winners of this event, but most of these players won this event early in their careers. This means that the Phoenix has been a place to identify future stars - not surprising, only the best can handle the intensity of the 16th.
This week sees the return to Fantasy Golf of the best players - this may have something to do with the fact that many of them live in Scottsdale, thanks to favourable Tax treatment for professional athletes. I think now, we are past most of the Mickey Mouse events, such as the pro-ams and that silly little thing last week in Mexico. The run to the Masters starts here for many of the top flight professionals and the year starts proper.
It's now that we really need to start to think about our players, benchers and number of starts they have had ....
Good luck all and Happy Picking
The Long Reef Fantasy Golfer
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