MARANA, Ariz. -- Great day in the desert with most of the matches going to way we thought. After the first day, my record is 21 wins and 11 losses, not bad in this format. (1st day predictions
The biggest upset of the day had to be Ernie Els losing 4 & 2 to Bradley Dredge. Els was out of sort the whole day as he was even par for 16 holes. Putting was the key for Els who hit 14 of 16 greens but took 28 putts for 16 holes. Normally that is OK for 18 holes but very poor for 16. After a slow start, Bradley Dredge was three under on the back and cruised to an easy victory.
Another shocking defeat was Davis Love III losing to Ben Crane 3 & 1. It wasn't the case of Love playing that badly, he was 2 under while Crane was four under. But again putting proved to be the problem as Love took 30 for 17 holes. It seems that putting has become a problem for Love as he was practicing with a long putter on Tuesday and is thinking seriously of changing.
The best matches of the day was between a couple of European Ryder Cup teammates, first Padraig Harrington holed a 42 foot eagle putt on the first extra hole to beat Lee Westwood. Harrington had a flawless day of one eagle and four birdes for 19 holes as it took him 19 holes to finally take the lead. In another tough match Sergio Garcia beat Darren Clarke on the 19th hole in a see-saw match that saw the lead change hands nine times.
Of the top seeded players three of the four made it through as Adam Scott was the only victim. He lost to Shaun Micheel with a three putt on the 21st hole. As for Woods, he beat J.J. Henry 3 & 2, Jim Furyk beat Brett Quigley 2 & 1 and Phil Mickelson handed Richard Green a 1 down defeat.
Here is a look at Thursday's matches:
The 16 matches
9:48 a.m. - Bradley Dredge (60) vs. Ian Poulter (28)Dredge has to be very happy at handing Ernie Els such a big loss (4 & 2) but Thursday brings on a tough opponent in Ian Poulter who handed Bart Bryant a 5 & 4 lose.
My Pick: Poulter, is becoming a sleeper in this event, he had some great practice rounds and loves the course, look for him to have a easy time with Dredge.
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9:59 a.m. - Trevor Immelman (12) vs. Chris DiMarco (21)
Immelman made it look way too easy with his 6 & 5 win over Thomas Bjorn. DiMarco also made it look easy with his 4 & 3 win over Brett Wetterich.
My Pick: Immelman, but this is a toss up choice, it could go either way.
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10:10 a.m. - Retief Goosen (6) vs. Niclas Fasth (38)
Goosen was impressive in his 5 & 4 win over Scott Verplank. On the other hand Fasth had a bit of a tougher time with Joe Durant winning 1 up.
My Pick: Goosen, will have a easy time on Thursday.
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10:21 a.m. - Geoff Ogilvy (11) vs. Jose Maria Olazabal (22)
Ogilvy played great in his 4 & 3 win over Steve Striker while Jose Maria struggled in his match with Paul Goydos but was able to win on the 19th hole.
My Pick: Ogilvy, will extend his streak to 8-0 with an easy win.
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10:32 a.m. - Luke Donald (8) vs. Aaron Baddeley (40)
Donald had a easy go of Miguel Angel Jimenez, leading by as much as 5 up before winning 3 & 1. Donald was great into the greens hitting 16 of 17 greens. Baddeley didn't play as well as Doanld, but had the luck of the draw with Shingo Katayama in a 1 up victory that should of been better.
My Pick: Baddeley, wisdom says this shouldn't happen but funny things happen in match play and I feel if his putting is sharp it will be Donald's great iron play.
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10:43 a.m. - Henrik Stenson (9) vs.K.J. Choi (24)
After finding himself 2 down after eight holes to Zach Johnson, Henrik Stenson woke up and birdied four of his last 10 holes to win 1 up. Choi drew an easy opponent in Carl Pettersson and was only able to win 2 & 1.
My Pick: Stenson, will be way too good for Choi.
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10:54 a.m. - Vijay Singh (7) vs. Stephen Ames (39)
Too much fire power for Vijay as he was a easy 4 & 3 winner over John Rollins. After being drummed twice in this championship, Stephen Ames found out how it was to be the drummer as he beat all over Robert Karlsson 8 & 7.
My Pick: Singh, in a easy match to keep up Ames tradition of not seeing the later holes.
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11:05 a.m. - Padraig Harrington (10) vs. Stewart Cink (23) Harrington played flawlessly in his match with Lee Westwood, even though he made four birdies he had to scramble to get a tie and beat Westwood with an eagle on the first playoff hole. Cink on the other hand also played great beating Jeev M. Singh 3 & 2.
My Pick: Harrington, in a hard match to call, Cink is a better putter but Harrington is a all-around better player, look for him to nip Cink.
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11:16 a.m. - Phil Mickelson (4) vs. Justin Rose (36)
In a match that Mickelson could of easy lost to Richard Green, he fought back from being 2 down after 5 to win 1 up. Mickelson's game was crisp but his putting and chipping was as he took only 26 putts. Justin Rose had a easy time with Michael Campbell beating him 6 & 5. Again this was a case of a blowout as Campbell bogey three of his first four holes and made things easy for Rose.
My Pick: Rose, his game is sharp I fear that Mickelson's game is tired after six straight weeks of events.
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11:27 a.m. - Sergio Garcia (13) vs.Charles Howell III (45)
Garcia had a good match with Darren Clarke, beating him on the 19th hole but he didn't hit the ball or play as well as Howell did in his 4 & 3 win over Stuart Appleby. This is a bit of a grudge match because Garcia did get the best of Howell in the 2nd round of the 2002 Accenture, beating the American 1 up
My Pick: Howell, in a tight match, he is just hitting the ball so much better.
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11:38 a.m. - Shaun Micheel (63) vs. Rod Pampling (35)
Micheel showed some of his match play magic that saw him beat Tiger Woods but upsetting Adam Scott on the 21st hole. Pampling had a very easy opponent in Yong-Eun Yang who didn't make a single birdie and had 3 bogeys in a 5 & 4 defeat.
My Pick: Michell, if he could tame Tiger and Scott I think that Rod Pampling will be easy.
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11:49 a.m. - Paul Casey (14) vs. Colin Montgomerie (19)
Casey had a tough time with Mike Weir beating him 1 up while Colin Montgomerie looked to have a easy time of Johan Edfors 2 & 1.
My Pick: Casey, will have the upper edge on Monty, who is still remembering the 6 & 5 drumming that Casey gave him in the semi's of the HSBC World Match Play last September. Look for a repeat.
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12:00 a.m. - Tiger Woods (1) vs. Tim Clark (32) Tim Clark was so obscure that I neglected to give him a win against Robert Allenby. Clark finished was as many as three down to Allenby only to fight back with four birdies between 8 and 16. Again, no matter how great everyone thinks Woods is, Clark will be very dangerous and Woods will have to handle this match with great care. Woods looked good in his match against J.J. Henry and again showed why he is number one.
My Pick: Woods, but it will be a dogfight that if Woods isn't careful could find Clark, sneaking in and beating him.
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12:11 a.m. - Nick O'Hern (16) vs. Rory Sabbatini (48)
A couple of scrapers that in a way surprised us with there wins. O'Hern played very steady in his defeat of Lucas Glover who was the favorite. O'Hern did it with good putting taking only 23 putts in 15 holes. On the other side, Sabbatini had a poor front nine and was four over after five holes and was 3 down to David Howell. But he scraped back on the back to get his 2 up win.
My Pick: O'Hern, is the better ball striker and if he putts half decent will win.
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12:22 p.m. - Jim Furyk (2) vs. Chad Campbell (34)
Furyk had a tough match with Brett Quigley, Furyk was 5 under and only won 2 & 1. On the other hand, Campbell had a sloppy finish with Angel Cabrera and was lucky to just get by him 1 up
My Pick: Furyk, but this is another tough one to call. That is because Campbell is great at match play but the nod goes to Furyk for being a better putter, he took only 25 putts on Wednesday
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12:33 a.m. - David Toms (18) vs. Ben Crane (50)
Toms probably had the easiest match of the day playing against Arron Oberholser who has been injured and gave him a 5 & 4 beating. Crane played OK down the stretch and it was enough to beat Davis Love III 3 up.
My Pick: Toms, this is a easy one to call.
