The tournament starts on Wednesday this week. Get you picks in early!
• FIELD: The 64-man field is set.
• FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 points.
• COURSE: TPC Harding Park, 7,115 yards, par 71. First opened in 1925 along Lake Merced, the Willie Watson/Sam Whiting design is enjoying a second heyday following a major restoration to save the historic course from decay. Best known for producing U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi and longtime host of the San Francisco City Championship, Harding Park fell into disrepair in the 1980s until former USGA president Sandy Tatum stepped in. Backed by the PGA TOUR, the course underwent a 15-month renovation with the intent of hosting a WGC event. Tiger Woods won the 2005 WGC-Cadillac Championship at TPC Harding Park, beating John Daly in a playoff, and the Presidents Cup made a visit four years later.
• FIELD WATCH: New Masters champion Jordan Spieth and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy head the revamped brackets as all but two of the top 64 players in the Official World Golf Ranking converge on the California coast. … Former world No. 1 Luke Donald will bypass the event to attend his brother’s wedding; Tim Clark is sidelined with another elbow flareup. Their absences open the door for No. 65 Miguel Angel Jimenez and No. 66 Francesco Molinari. … Phil Mickelson will compete for just the second time in the past six WGC-Cadillac Match Plays, as the previous date usually conflicted with his children's spring break.
• LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY: 9 & 8, Tiger Woods def. Stephen Ames (1st round, 2006 at La Costa Resort & Spa).
• LONGEST MATCH: 26 holes, Mike Weir def. Loren Roberts (1st round, 2003 at La Costa), and Scott Verplank def. Lee Westwood (1st round, 2006 at La Costa).
• LAST YEAR: Australia’s Jason Day survived Victor Dubuisson’s display of escape artistry down the stretch to finally claim his first World Golf Championships trophy with a birdie on the fifth extra hole at Dove Mountain. Day stood on the verge of winning at 2-up with two holes left, only to see his French foe sink a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 17 and win the 18th with a par-save from the bunker. Dubuisson went long with his approach at the first extra hole, but hammered his pitch through cactus needles and a TV cable to see it crawl within 4 feet for par. The next hole was much the same, as Dubuisson whacked a wedge through desert bush and rocks to save par again. Three holes later, Day finally ended it with a pitch to 4 feet for a winning birdie.
• STORYLINES: A new round-robin format in the opening stage keeps everyone around through Friday, eliminating the specter of a “Bloody Wednesday” that has sent top draws packing after one round. Players now are grouped into 16 four-man pods, with group winners moving into a single-elimination bracket for the weekend. … Each of the top 16 in Monday’s Official World Golf Ranking will be placed atop a group, with the other slots filled via blind draws from players ranked Nos. 17-32, Nos. 33-48 and the remainder. … Day, already a 2015 winner at the Farmers Insurance Open, seeks to join Tiger Woods (2003-04) as the WGC-Cadillac Match Play’s only back-to-back champions. He now sports a 14-3 record in the event, having reached the semifinals one year earlier.
• SHORT CHIPS: England’s Andy Sullivan, twice a winner in South Africa this year, and Ben Martin (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open) are set to make their WGC debuts. Nine others will tee it up in their first WGC-Cadillac Match Play. … The old format produced 39 first-round upsets in the past three years – a 40 percent success rate for the underdogs. Two of those three opening rounds ended with 15 upsets. … The event will be on the move again in 2016, relocating to Austin, Texas, and a date two weeks before the Masters.
• TELEVISION: Wednesday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Friday, 5-10 p.m. (GC); Saturday, 3-7:30 p.m. (GC), 7:30-11 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (NBC).
Last week's winner NoleLizards. Congrats!
Updated Standings
1. dfs - 8539
2. Sea - 8393
3. Bobcat - 7912
4. Ed - 7567
5. 2952 - 7145
6. NMT - 6763
7. Liz - 6607
8. 67810 - 5869
9. Bill - 5507
10. NiA - 5423
11. Ocala - 4857
12. DL - 4214
13. ktnole - 3536
14. Baldy - 1926
Good Luck!
• FIELD: The 64-man field is set.
• FEDEXCUP: Winner receives 550 points.
• COURSE: TPC Harding Park, 7,115 yards, par 71. First opened in 1925 along Lake Merced, the Willie Watson/Sam Whiting design is enjoying a second heyday following a major restoration to save the historic course from decay. Best known for producing U.S. Open champion Ken Venturi and longtime host of the San Francisco City Championship, Harding Park fell into disrepair in the 1980s until former USGA president Sandy Tatum stepped in. Backed by the PGA TOUR, the course underwent a 15-month renovation with the intent of hosting a WGC event. Tiger Woods won the 2005 WGC-Cadillac Championship at TPC Harding Park, beating John Daly in a playoff, and the Presidents Cup made a visit four years later.
• FIELD WATCH: New Masters champion Jordan Spieth and world No. 1 Rory McIlroy head the revamped brackets as all but two of the top 64 players in the Official World Golf Ranking converge on the California coast. … Former world No. 1 Luke Donald will bypass the event to attend his brother’s wedding; Tim Clark is sidelined with another elbow flareup. Their absences open the door for No. 65 Miguel Angel Jimenez and No. 66 Francesco Molinari. … Phil Mickelson will compete for just the second time in the past six WGC-Cadillac Match Plays, as the previous date usually conflicted with his children's spring break.
• LARGEST MARGIN OF VICTORY: 9 & 8, Tiger Woods def. Stephen Ames (1st round, 2006 at La Costa Resort & Spa).
• LONGEST MATCH: 26 holes, Mike Weir def. Loren Roberts (1st round, 2003 at La Costa), and Scott Verplank def. Lee Westwood (1st round, 2006 at La Costa).
• LAST YEAR: Australia’s Jason Day survived Victor Dubuisson’s display of escape artistry down the stretch to finally claim his first World Golf Championships trophy with a birdie on the fifth extra hole at Dove Mountain. Day stood on the verge of winning at 2-up with two holes left, only to see his French foe sink a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 17 and win the 18th with a par-save from the bunker. Dubuisson went long with his approach at the first extra hole, but hammered his pitch through cactus needles and a TV cable to see it crawl within 4 feet for par. The next hole was much the same, as Dubuisson whacked a wedge through desert bush and rocks to save par again. Three holes later, Day finally ended it with a pitch to 4 feet for a winning birdie.
• STORYLINES: A new round-robin format in the opening stage keeps everyone around through Friday, eliminating the specter of a “Bloody Wednesday” that has sent top draws packing after one round. Players now are grouped into 16 four-man pods, with group winners moving into a single-elimination bracket for the weekend. … Each of the top 16 in Monday’s Official World Golf Ranking will be placed atop a group, with the other slots filled via blind draws from players ranked Nos. 17-32, Nos. 33-48 and the remainder. … Day, already a 2015 winner at the Farmers Insurance Open, seeks to join Tiger Woods (2003-04) as the WGC-Cadillac Match Play’s only back-to-back champions. He now sports a 14-3 record in the event, having reached the semifinals one year earlier.
• SHORT CHIPS: England’s Andy Sullivan, twice a winner in South Africa this year, and Ben Martin (Shriners Hospitals for Children Open) are set to make their WGC debuts. Nine others will tee it up in their first WGC-Cadillac Match Play. … The old format produced 39 first-round upsets in the past three years – a 40 percent success rate for the underdogs. Two of those three opening rounds ended with 15 upsets. … The event will be on the move again in 2016, relocating to Austin, Texas, and a date two weeks before the Masters.
• TELEVISION: Wednesday-Thursday, 4-10 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Friday, 5-10 p.m. (GC); Saturday, 3-7:30 p.m. (GC), 7:30-11 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (GC), 2-6 p.m. (NBC).
Last week's winner NoleLizards. Congrats!
Updated Standings
1. dfs - 8539
2. Sea - 8393
3. Bobcat - 7912
4. Ed - 7567
5. 2952 - 7145
6. NMT - 6763
7. Liz - 6607
8. 67810 - 5869
9. Bill - 5507
10. NiA - 5423
11. Ocala - 4857
12. DL - 4214
13. ktnole - 3536
14. Baldy - 1926
Good Luck!
