Weir is still winning
Able to handle differences of match play format
By KEN FIDLIN -- Toronto Sun
A few years ago, golf's guru of good thoughts, Dr. Bob Rotella, captured the psychological essence of match play.
"You don't have to play the game any differently in match play, but you have to realize you are playing a different game," he said.
Rotella has been the head doctor for dozens of high-calibre professionals over the years, including many in the field at the WGC-Accenture Match Play championship in Carlsbad, Calif., this week.
Obviously, it's still all about hitting it straight, hitting it close and hitting it into the bottom of the cup. But, for the most part, today's players, even the great ones, are accustomed to playing the golf course, not their playing partners, and that's where match play becomes such a head game.
"A lot of the time, the lower seed feels like he has nothing to lose," Mike Weir said after polishing off a lower seed, Rich Beem, 3 and 2 yesterday in the first round.
"I don't think either of us brought our best game to the table but Rich won a major not long ago (2002 PGA Championship) and he's a very dangerous player."
The underdog thing is alive and well at the Accenture, despite yesterday's predominance by the favourites. Of the 32 matches, 21 were won by higher-ranked players, but historically the underdogs have won more than half the first-round matches at this event.
John Rollins, the guy who was handed the Canadian Open title two years ago when Neal Lancaster came unglued on the 72nd hole, just about pulled off the upset to end all upsets yesterday.
Rollins, ranked 67th in the world, got into the tournament only because Kirk Triplett decided to go to a friend's wedding and drew Tiger Woods, the No. 1 player in the world and the defending champ. Rollins had Woods on the ropes, two up with six to play but he couldn't summon the killing shot. It came down to a chipping contest from the middle of the 18th fairway with the match all square. Each had about 90 yards to the hole. Tiger hit his shot to about 20 feet. Rollins drilled his long, into a bunker, then chunked the sand shot, handing the match to Woods after fighting so hard all day.
"The key to neutralizing the underdog factor is to put pressure on your opponent to make mistakes," Woods said. "I didn't do that very well (against Rollins)."
Perhaps, but he did it at the crucial moment and his opponent gagged. Despite that, Rotella is still a big believer in the underdog theory.
"The underdog always has the advantage," he said. "You spend all day in the positive, thinking about how great it would be to win. The favourite is prone to negativism, worrying about how embarrassing it would be to lose."
Weir jumped out to an early lead on Beem, winning the first two holes. He wasn't able to put Beem away, however. By the time he and Beem headed to the 10th tee, the match was all square and would stay that way until Weir won the 13th and 14th holes. Weir left the door ajar when he missed a tiny putt at the 15th, but sent Beem scurrying to the airport with a firm 20-foot birdie putt at the 16th.
"It's a totally different animal than stroke play," Weir said. "You have to be wary of whomever you play. It's more tiring mentally because there's more pressure on each and every shot as compared to a stroke-play event where the pressure builds slowly toward Sunday.
ONE MISTAKE
"Here, you can make one mistake on Wednesday and be on a plane that night."
Weir didn't make that fatal mistake yesterday and today he has drawn Stephen Leaney, a strong player from Australia who was one of Weir's teammates at the Presidents Cup this past November. Weir is No. 4 in the world. Leaney is No. 33. Advantage Weir, right? Not so fast.
"The thing about stroke play is that the best player that week wins," Woods said. "In match play, the best player that week doesn't necessarily win. It's just the best player that day. It's two totally different things. You just have to be better than your opponent that day."
Same game, just different.
