Ritz-Carlton GC
Dove Mountain - Marana, Arizona, USA
For the fourth year in a row Arizona hosts the WGC Match Play Championship and the top 64 players in the world in a knock-out format. However, it is only the second year that the Ritz Carlton has been used for this tournament and it has been noted that two tournament nines - the Saguaro and Tortolita - form a par 72 that measure 7,833 yards and will pose a significant challenge to the world's best players. The match play element to the WGC sees golfers face off over 18 holes in a single elimination match until just two players remain and the winner is decided by 36 holes on the Sunday. With the rather unpredictable format that is match-play as opposed to the stroke-play that we are used to it is going to be difficult to look at any specific stats that would shape a consistent four rounds. It is for this reason that this week's picks will be based on prior course form and focus on the players who evidently thrive in a match-play situation.
Players that interest in Arizona are as follows.....
Geoff Ogilvy - Last year's champion here, his record in match-play events speaks for itself especially in the WGC Championship which over the last four years reads 1st (2009), T33 (2008), 2nd (2007) and 1st (2006). He also boasts a 17-2 record in matches won, an 89% win average and although he sits in a tough draw bracket which includes players such as Westwood, Els and Stenson most of these players either do not favour the match-play format or are quite simply out of form. Coming into this tournament with a win at the SBS in Hawaii and a T34th in Dubai, the Australian sounds positive in his approach, "Obviously this has been very close to my favorite event on TOUR, for sure. The Tucson Open was one of my favorite events, too. I live most of the time in Scottsdale, so driving down here was always one of my favorites. And then sad to see the Tucson Open going away, but then my favorite event came to Tucson, so I get to play the Match Play here. It's one I really look forward to. I've had a lot of success. Just an enjoyable event. I think it's a great format. I kind of wish we did it more often, the Match Play." 1pt e/w and 1pt win @ 16/1 (numerous)
Paul Casey - Faced Ogilvy in the final here last year and put in a decent show despite a 4&3 loss. He is a resident of nearby Scottsdale, Arizona and a former Arizona State University attendee so he will have plenty of experience of the desert conditions and similar styled courses of the area. It is also important to note that Casey is an experienced match-play specialist who not only has a record in the WGC which reads 2nd (2009), T9th (2008) and 5th (2007) over the last three years (not by coinciedence that they were all held in Az.) but was a winner in the 1999 Walker Cup as an amateur, Ryder Cup winner in 2004 and 2006 as well as a 2004 WGC World Cup winner. After a rib injury in the second half of 2009, results in Hawaii and the Middle East so far this year show that he has fully recovered and back on track. 1pt e/w @ 22/1 (numerous)