MARANA, Ariz. ?It뭩 a love-hate deal, like first dates or your team landing the first pick in next year뭩 draft. If things were going that well you wouldn뭪 be in either situation, but all things considered life could be worse.
That Tiger Woods is in this week뭩 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship field is 밽lass half full?territory. Fourteen weeks ago Woods had slipped to 58th in the world golf ranking and was on the precipice of not qualifying for the first time in a World Golf Championship event.
Since then he뭩 posted three top-5 global finishes and climbed to 20th, safely inside the top 64 and suddenly exposed to the nuanced indifference of match play.
It뭩 a relationship that stretches back more than a decade and has been equal parts productive and painful for Woods. In 11 Match Play starts Woods has three victories, two one-and-done Wednesdays ?including last year뭩 Round 1 loss to Thomas Bjorn (19 holes) ?and everything in between.
But if Woods is haunted by the capriciousness of match play he didn뭪 sound scorned on Tuesday.
밒t brings us back to how I think all of us grew up playing,?Woods said. 밒t뭩 not often you get a guy head-to-head in the same group, sometimes it뭩 in different groups, two groups ahead or you뭨e a group behind. Here it뭩 eyeball-to-eyeball . . . one-on-one.?/p>
If Woods sounds partial to the mano-a-mano nature of match play he뭩 come by it honestly.
A few years ago your correspondent asked him what he considered his greatest accomplishment in golf. The answer, surprisingly to some, was his three U.S. Junior titles.
The window to win three Juniors, which is particularly confining given the age requirements, and the oddity of the match play format were the reasons why he held the under-aged trifecta in such high regard.
Similarly, his three Accenture keepsakes hold a special place in his trophy case, somewhere just below those 14 major championships but ahead of, say, the 2006 Buick Open.
The dichotomy of the accomplishment is what gives it its significance. This week뭩 champion will have beaten just six players . . . six. That뭩 more collateral damage than your average Saturday morning members game, yet he will do so via a format that is every bit as challenging as a 144-man field.
밒n theory I (can shoot) 65 and you뭨e going home, that뭩 just the way it is,?Woods said. 밳ou have to go low. But there are some matches, I remember (Colin Montgomerie) and (Ian Poulter) at La Costa, the winner shot 79. You don뭪 know who you뭨e going to get or how they뭨e playing.?/p>
In this respect, the season뭩 first WGC may be an even tougher climb following a slight format change last year. Prior to 2011 the Match Play뭩 championship frame was a scheduled 36-hole bout, but officials switched to 18 holes last year.
For Woods, 36-hole finals have been the tonic to mitigate match play뭩 unpredictability. The more holes you play, the theory goes, the better chance talent, and not the rub of the green, will prevail.
밒t뭩 a sprint,?Woods said of 18-hole matches. 밎enerally, if you get down early you rarely come back. It뭩 hard to make up ground when you뭨e only playing 18 holes. Thirty-six holes you can make a comeback.?/p>
It뭩 a theory that at least partially explains Woods?3-1 record in 36-hole finals. The only time he뭩 failed to win a 36-hole WGC finale was in 2000 to Darren Clarke.
So on top of a new swing and uncooperative putter Woods no longer has the perceived advantage that came with a 36-hole final, to say nothing of an increasingly deep talent pool that has made a No. 1 seed little more than a ceremonial position in recent years.
밒t doesn뭪 really matter if you뭨e a (No.) 16 or 5 (seed),?said Woods, a fifth-seed this week who will face Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano on Wednesday. 밃ny guy can win any match. The world ranking is done over a two-year revolving period. Here, it뭩 not just one day, but one round.?/p>
The best Wednesday in golf will beget the shortest work week for half the field at Dove Mountain, a stark and satisfying reality.
밃nybody can beat anybody at this level,?Woods reasoned. 밫hat뭩 what makes it so interesting for us as players.?/p>
That뭩 what makes the Match Play the Tour뭩 ultimate love-hate stop.