Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2009 11:25 am
Posts: 15126
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Last chance to qualify for the WGC-Matchplay..... And since my sources tell me Nike has yet to come up with an acceptable design for a padlock on Tiger's zipper - and Phil the Wedge having publicly declared that he will be vacationing with his family rather than taking on the Match Play challenge - we are looking for who will crack the top 66 this week - and of course also who will be the opponent for Mike in the first round.
And in terms of strength of field, the attention again turns back to the PGA Tour rather than the Euro Tour's desert swing. Riviera has traditionally drawn a top notch field - although the schedule juggling this year appears to have really hurt. Being opposite the Euro Tour's prestigious Dubai event is new, and not being the warm up for the match play for many of the overseas players limits the field to primarily PGA Tour regulars. However, it is still the strongest field of the year so far for the PGA Tour. Headliners are Mickelson, Stricker, Furyk, Harrington, Allenby, Cink, Els, Cabrera, Kim, Singh, Mahan, Watney, Yang, Ishikawa, Donald, Sim, Mike and Clark. This all adds up to 58 OWGR points for the winner - down form 62 last year and 68 in 2008 - and top 54 required for points.
Over in Dubai the strength of the field is also down - the most notable US participants this year are Tom Watson and Mark O'Meara - Champions indeed, but nothing like Tiger and so many other Americans who have helped put a stamp on this event. Also, the Euro support is slightly down, after "above normal" participation in Abu Dhabi and Qatar. The headliners this week are Westwood, Kaymer, Casey, McIlroy, Stenson, Karlsson, Fisher, Quiros and Schwartzel. Good enough for 50 OWGR points for the winner, and top 51 required for points - down from 52 last year when it was played opposite Phoenix.
We will likely see a jump in field strength at Pebble next week - both because it is this year's venue for the US Open and because a lot of overseas players need a US warm-up the week before the WGC-Matchplay. Next week's Euro event is a co-sponsored event with the Asian Tour in India - and the only top 66 player in action will be Jeev showing up on home turf. So look for some Europeans as well as Ikeda taking in the views at the Monterey Peninsula next week.
Talking about overseas - this week's stop on the Nationwide Tour is the Moonah Classic down under - again co-sponsored with the ANZ Tour. The same list of Canucks as last week will be in action. I am looking for a better result for Trudeau this week, and maybe Jarosch can build on last week's T16 and get inside the top 10..... 
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