MARANA, Ariz. -- So what does Maury Beasley and Nick O'Hern have in common? They have the claim of fame of beating Tiger Woods in Tucson. For Beasley he beat Woods in 1992 at the AJGA Rolex Championship. Woods was a 16-year-old kid playing in the first round of that junior championship and came to the last hole all tied up with Beasley. But when Woods three-putted the final hole he lost 1 down and hadn't been back to Tucson since.
Another question, what does Nick O'Hern and Brian Barnes have in common? They have the claim of fame of beating the best player in the world twice, Barnes beat Jack Nicklaus twice in the 1975 Ryder Cup and O'Hern is the only player to beat Tiger Woods twice in his career in singles match play.
O'Hern did it in a gutsy manner, basically playing his own game and not worrying about Tiger. Of course O'Hern got lucky because he caught Tiger on a day that he didn't play well playing a stretch of holes in bogey, double, par, double bogey, pick up. After the sixth hole O'Hern was four up on the number one player in the world. If O'Hern was playing anybody else that would be a easy go, but against Tiger Woods a four up lead with 12 holes to play is no sure thing. Matter of fact it wasn't, O'Hern played those 12 holes in 1 under par and saw Tiger ram home a 5 footer for birdie and to carry the match into overtime.
You had to wonder if O'Hern had a guardian angel on his shoulder because we saw some un-Tiger-istic play. On the first playoff hole Woods missed a 2 foot, 10 inch putt that would of missed the match and then Tiger made bogey on the next hole to give the match to O'Hern. Now that could be a bit unfair considering that O'Hern drilled a 13 footer on the 20th hole to seal the victory and go down in history as the only player to ever beat Woods twice Mano-o-Mano.
So just like that some of the wind on the Accenture Match Play Championship has been taken out of the balloon that has been flying sky high in this championship. Not only has the golf been great, but the crowds have made this Championship top-notch and given it an identity that it didn't have at La Costa. Yes Australia was great as far as the crowds and the venue, but with a lack of players that was a bit unsuccessful. But this year the tournament will be a big success, even with most of the stars in the game gone.
Still all of the marquee players are gone, but the eight players still left are first class that have won titles before and could very easily win here.
Thursday produced another great day at the Match Play, yes the golf course isn't much to talk about and the best players in the world are tearing it apart, but it's proved to be a fun venue for the players and the sold-out fans. The weather has been great, unfortunely some showers and predicted for Friday and colder temperatures over the weekend.
As for my picks, I suffered a downturn on Friday as only four of my eight picks won, no problems since my record for the 56 matches is 34 and 19.
For a recap of my picks here is a look at
(day three picks,)
my (day two picks )
and my (day one picks.)
The weather on Friday turned cold and windy, which made it tough on a lot of players. For the weekend it's suppose to be cold but the sun will be out and the wind decrease.
Saturday brings two rounds, the quarterfinals in the morning and the semi's in the afternoon. As for the matches, yes the marquee names are just about gone but there are some first class players here and it should bring a great day of golf on Saturday. Here is a look at the quarterfinal matches:
The Quarterfinals
7:22 a.m. - Nick O'Hern (16) vs. Henrik Stenson (9)O'Hern Record:
Round 1 - beat Lucas Glover 4 & 3
Round 2 - beat Rory Sabbatini 2 & 1
Round 3 - beat Tiger Woods 20 holes
Stenson Record:
Round 1 - beat Zach Johnson 1 up
Round 2 - beat K.J. Choi 2 up
Round 3 - beat Aaron Baddeley 4 & 3
Stat comparison for the week
Holes played:
O'Hern - 52
Stenson - 51
Fairways hit
O'Hern - hit 33 of 42 fairways, 80.49%
Stenson - hit 26 of 40 fairways, 65.00%
Greens hit
O'Hern - hit 38 of 52 greens, 73.08%
Stenson - hit 46 of 51 greens, 90.20%
Scrambling
O'Hern - got it up and down 10 of 14 times, 71.43%
Stenson - got it up and down 2 of 5 times 40.0%
Sand Saves
O'Hern - got it up and down 3 of 6 times, 50.0%
Stenson - got it up and down 1 of 5 times 20.0%
Putting average per holes
O'Hern - 1.6 putts per hole
Stenson - 1.8 putts per hole
Number of one putts
O'Hern - 16 over 52 holes
Stenson - 9 over 51 holes
Number of three putts
O'Hern - 1
Stenson - 2
putting from inside 10 feet
O'Hern - 44 of 46
Stenson - 47 of 51
Eagles, birdies
O'Hern - 2 eagle, 9 birdies
Stenson - 1 eagles, 15 birdies
My Pick: Stenson, has so much more fire-power in hitting a lot of greens and making a lot of birdies. Stenson has also avoided trouble, he hasn't had to pick up and made only 2 bogeys and two doubles. For the week he is nine under. For O'Hern he has made five bogeys and no doubles, but is only five under for the week. For O'Hern even though he is a quiet type and won't focus on beating Woods you have to think that he may not have anything left.
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7:33 a.m. - Justin Rose (36) vs.Trevor Immelman (12)
Rose Record:
Round 1 - beat Michael Campbell 6 & 5
Round 2 - beat Phil Mickelson 3 & 1
Round 3 - beat Charles Howell III 3 & 2
Immelman Record:
Round 1 - beat Thomas Bjorn 6 & 5
Round 2 - beat Chris DiMarco 3 & 1
Round 3 - beat Ian Poulter 2 & 1
Stat comparison for the week
Holes played:
Rose - 46
Immelman - 47
Fairways hit
Rose - hit 27 of 36 fairways, 75.00%
Immelman - hit 26 of 37 fairways, 70.97%
Greens hit
Rose - hit 36 of 46 greens, 78.26%
Immelman - hit 40 of 47 greens, 85.11%
Scrambling
Rose - got it up and down 7 of 10 times, 70.00%
Immelman - got it up and down 5 of 7 times 71.43%
Sand Saves
Rose - got it up and down 1 of 1 times, 100%
Immelman - got it up and down 1 of 2 times 50.0%
Putting average per holes
Rose - 1.5 putts per hole
Immelman - 1.7 putts per hole
Number of one putts
Rose - 15 over 46 holes
Immelman - 12 over 47 holes
Number of three putts
Rose - 0
Immelman - 1
putting from inside 10 feet
Rose - 35 of 40
Immelman - 42 of 48
Eagles, birdies
Rose - 1 eagle, 14 birdies
Immelman - 0 eagles, 11 birdies
My Pick: Rose, first because I have him in the Sky-Sports pool but more importantly he is putting a notch better than Immelman, no matter this is a pick-em match that any player could win.
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7:44 a.m. - Chad Campbell (34) vs. Stephen Ames (39)
Campbell Record:
Round 1 - beat Angel Cabrera 1 up
Round 2 - beat Jim Furyk 19th hole
Round 3 - beat David Toms 1 up
Ames Record:
Round 1 - beat Robert Karlsson 8 & 7
Round 2 - beat Vijay Singh 19th hole
Round 3 - beat Stewart Cink 3 & 1
Stat comparison for the week
Holes played:
Campbell - 55
Ames - 47
Fairways hit
Campbell - hit 30 of 43 fairways, 69.77%
Ames - hit 27 of 37 fairways, 72.97%
Greens hit
Campbell - hit 41 of 55 greens, 74.55%
Ames - hit 33 of 47 fairways, 70.21%
Scrambling
Campbell - got it up and down 9 of 14 times, 64.29%
Ames - got it up and down 10 of 14 times 71.43%
Sand Saves
Campbell - got it up and down 0 of 2 times, 0%
Ames - got it up and down 3 of 6 times 50.0%
Putting average per holes
Campbell - 1.6 putts per hole
Ames - 1.4 putts per hole
Number of one putts
Campbell - 21 over 55 holes
Ames - 18 over 47 holes
Number of three putts
Campbell - 2
Ames - 0
putting from inside 10 feet
Campbell - 47 of 52
Ames - 35 of 88
Eagles, birdies
Campbell - 0 eagle, 17 birdies
Ames - 3 eagles, 13 birdies
My Pick: Ames, because he is on top of his game and putting very well, that is always a key. But more importantly, this could be a case like his Players Championship win in which nothing bothers him and he can free-wheel everything.
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7:55 a.m. - Paul Casey (14) vs. Geoff Ogilvy (11)
Casey Record:
Round 1 - beat Mike Weir 1 up
Round 2 - beat Colin Montgomerie 4 & 3
Round 3 - beat Shaun Micheel 2 up
Ogilvy Record:
Round 1 - beat Steve Stricker 4 & 3
Round 2 - beat Jose Maria Olazabal 2 up
Round 3 - beat Niclas Fasth 2 & 1
Stat comparison for the week
Holes played:
Casey - 51
Ogilvy - 49
Fairways hit
Casey - hit 26 of 40 fairways, 65.00%
Ogilvy - hit 20 of 38 fairways, 52.63%
Greens hit
Casey - hit 38 of 51 greens, 74.51%
Ogilvy - hit 36 of 49 Greens, 73.47%
Scrambling
Casey - got it up and down 11 of 13 times, 84.62%
Ogilvy - got it up and down 9 of 13 times 69.23%
Sand Saves
Casey - got it up and down 1 of 4 times, 25.0%
Ogilvy - got it up and down 0 of 1 times 0.0%
Putting average per holes
Casey - 1.5 putts per hole
Ogilvy - 1.5 putts per hole
Number of one putts
Casey - 18 over 51 holes
Ogilvy - 18 over 49 holes
Number of three putts
Casey - 1
Ogilvy - 0
putting from inside 10 feet
Casey - 44 of 49
Ogilvy - 42 of 44
Eagles, birdies
Casey - 3 eagle, 13 birdies
Ogilvy - 2 eagles, 18 birdies
My Pick: Casey, in a toss-up match. Both of these players have great match play experience, Ogilvy as the defending champion in this event and Casey as the winner of the HSBC World Match Play at Wentworth. But the nod goes to Casey because I feel he has played against three better players who gave him better matches and had Casey working tougher.
