New format brings flat Match Play performances; more changes could be coming

SAN FRANCISCO — It all looked so good on paper.

The game's biggest stars playing at least three matches. Prime-time TV on NBC for more than half the country on Saturday. A sparkling new venue in the hills of San Francisco.

It was a flawless facelift, if you will, for the World Golf Championships-Cadillac Match Play, which had grown a tad tired over the years in the mountains above Tucson. A new format this year that abolished the lose-and-go home, bracket-busting system was a welcome change for sponsors and fans, who wanted assurance that above-the-title stars such as Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth would stick around for more than one round.

With the field of 64 split into 16 groups and the addition of round-robin play the first three days, the studio heads at PGA Tour headquarters nailed the makeover for one of their premier events.

Or so it seemed.

Quick, get rewrite.

Shortly after its grand opening Wednesday at TPC Harding Park, reviews of the mano-a-mano presentation already were coming in and let's say at best they were mixed, with many players already calling for another script.

Heck, for some, the old format didn't seem so bad after all.

"There was no urgency on Wednesday this week. It was sort of dull out there," said defending champion Jason Day, who lost all three round-robin matches. "I liked the way it was. You win you move on. You lose you go home. It was that simple."

Nothing was simple for some players who arrived Monday and didn't know if matches could end in a tie. Others didn't know about the tiebreakers for each group. Many didn't realize players could make it to Saturday's Round of 16 after playing just two matches. Some players thought a point-system would be in play, such as in the Volvo World Match Play Championship on the European Tour, where the winner receives 2 points and a tie would earn one point for each player.

In Wednesday's first round, No. 3 seed Henrik Stenson went to shake John Senden's hand on the 18th hole after the match finished all square. That's when Senden told Stenson that they had to go to the first tee for a playoff to decide a winner because there are no ties.

"I thought it was half games, I hadn't read the papers carefully. It's all kind of coming out a bit flat," Stenson said Thursday. "I think they try to get something going here with the change. But now in my group we're all done, except John (Senden) has already gone through, with two wins, he's got himself through today. So no one has anything to play for tomorrow.

" … I take it as a glorified practice round, I guess."

Yes, many players already were eliminated — on Day 2. Which meant on the last day of round-robin play on Friday, Stenson and 21 players had nothing to play for except a bit of prize money, world ranking points and FedExCup points.

"Well I'm about to play the most pointless round of golf of my life today. Could be a thriller Hahahaha," tweeted Ian Poulter, who lost his first two matches.

Spieth, the reigning Masters champion, made 16 birdies in three matches — and flew home Friday night after losing to Lee Westwood.

"Makes sense to do stroke play first 3 rounds, then top 16 into bracket. Agree?" Spieth tweeted.

Some agree. Others don't.

Some suggest going back to the old format of one-and-done. Two days of stroke-play before rounds of match play has been suggested. Or cut the field down to 32 and play double-elimination, which would mean the game's leading stars are around at least two days.

The PGA Tour has been down this road before (see FedExCup). The four-event playoff to determine the season-long champion has undergone major remodeling since making its debut in 2007. Despite all the changes, there remain scenarios that would prove embarrassing. For instance, one could win the FedExCup without winning a single tournament. Or, one could win 20 tournaments and not win the FedExCup.

So it came as no surprise when PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem said tinkering with the Match Play format is a distinct possibility after hearing some players tee up a few opinions.

"I've heard some of that. It's like when we did the FedExCup we learned a lot, we made some changes. We like this but we'll evaluate it," Finchem told reporters. "We'll talk to all the players and see how we can make it better."