Match Play once a year is best

Seen as purest form of golf, but sport is more about entertainment

Rory Mcilroy loves match play because he believes it is the purest form of golf. Most would agree.

He also prefers single elimination, which he referred to as “straight knockout.” In simple terms, lose and go home.

Most players would agree on that, too, with a few exceptions.

It wasn’t much fun for Thomas Bjorn, who in two straight appearances flew from Dubai to San Diego and lost after 13 holes of the opening round. And for those who believe the word “upset” doesn’t apply at this level of golf, they probably didn’t see Ernie Els after he lost in the opening round to Phil Tataurangi.

What this World Golf Championship has shown is that golf is no longer all about competition.

This is the entertainment business.

It’s not just about birdies

and bogeys. It’s television and corporate hospitality.

That’s why Match Play switched to group play in 2015, and it’s difficult to argue with the results. After 16 years of a few surprises — Jeff Maggert and Kevin Sutherland come to mind — the winners under the new format have been Rory Mcilroy, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson.

Mcilroy and Johnson joined Tiger Woods as the only No. 1 seeds to win. Day was the No. 2 seed. Watson, the two-time Masters champion, is considered the outlier in this context as the No. 35 seed.

So something is going right. But even with the change, it still doesn’t solve one problem that exists in just about any format — the longer the tournament goes, the less interesting it gets because there are fewer possibilities.

Think back to The Players Championship two weeks ago when eight players had a share of the lead on the final day. In the Match Play, it comes down to two players over the final four hours, and that’s assuming it lasts that long. Watson only had to play 12 holes to win.

There are 12 matches involving 24 players on Saturday. There are four matches involving the same four players on Sunday, and that includes the consolation match, which is for world ranking points, Fedex Cup points, the difference of $138,000 and mostly something to fill dead time on television.

What would make the consolation match compelling is having Tiger Woods. In his 13 appearances, Woods has lost in every round except the semifinals. Put him in the consolation match, and it would be fun to compare which match had the biggest gallery and how much TV time each would get.

This is why the PGA Championship abandoned match play in 1958.

But it is still good to have match play once a year because many believe it is the purest form of golf. But no more than that.