MARANA, Ariz.
Trevor Cahill Diamondbacks Jersey . -- Its easy to love the format at the Match Play Championship on Tuesday. Opinions can change quickly Wednesday on the way out the door. Thomas Bjorn flew halfway around the world to La Costa in 2005 just to play 13 holes. He took the next year off with a neck injury, then came all the way to Arizona in 2007 and again lasted only 13 holes. Tiger Woods won three times. And then there was the year he lost to Peter OMalley in the opening round, walking from the 17th green all the way to the clubhouse at La Costa with an army of reporters walking behind him, no one saying a word. There is no such thing as an upset in Match Play. That doesnt mean there arent 16 guys who are plenty upset when they lose in the first round. They call Ernie Els the "Big Easy." They might as well call him "Heisman" when he loses on Wednesday and sees a reporter approaching. The do-or-die nature of Match Play is what makes it so compelling to fans -- and so maddening to sponsors and fans. This tournament operates in reverse. Any other event, the drama builds toward the back nine on Sunday. Wednesday is one of the most exciting days in golf at Match Play. Thursday is not far behind. Friday is pretty good, too. On Sunday, there are only two possibilities -- one guy wins, one guy loses, and its like that for four hours. Now might be the best time for a change. Accenture is in the final year of a title sponsor. This most likely will be the final year at Dove Mountain. With the never-ending, globe-trotting nature of the golf schedule, theres not even a guarantee the Match Play Championship will be at the end of the West Coast Swing on the PGA Tour. As one top tour official said, the future of this World Golf Championship is wide open. The tour is talking to one potential title sponsor, and so much would depend on that. Its not as simple as finding a great golf course to host 64 of the worlds best players. The modern era of professional golf is about entertainment, and that includes a company that pays some $10 million a year to entertain clients. There was chatter about Harding Park, but it was nothing more than that, especially after one potential sponsor was not interested. Colombia is at least in the conversation -- the country in South America, not the golf club that hosted the 1921 U.S. Open outside the nations capital. Of more interest is the format. Woods gets all the attention, and rightly so, as the player everyone hates to see leave on Wednesday. That has happened three times (though he didnt leave until Thursday last year because the first round was postponed by snow). And it doesnt help when he has company -- three of the top four seeds lost in the first round last year. The European Tour has a blueprint for its World Match Play Championship -- four groups of four players, each playing 18-hole matches, and then players advancing out of those groups. But thats only 16 players. This WGC has 64 players. But if the tournament can move to a 36-hole complex, then there are more options. Its not about the course in match play. Youre only trying to beat your opponent. "You can have lots of fun with it," two-time winner Geoff Ogilvy said. "The format can be better, dont you think? Some guys are there for three hours and you go home. You can see why some guys dont want to go. Ive been 5-under on the 14th hole and shaking hands. Youre driving home saying, How fair is that? I beat 30 of these guys and Im going home." Rory McIlroy and Ernie Els raised the idea of 36 holes of stroke-play qualifying, with the top 32 players advancing to match play. Thats how the U.S. Amateur works (it uses two courses). That would keep players around for at least three days, and eliminate some of the luck factor. "I see nothing wrong with that," McIlroy said. Lee Westwood is among those -- and its a longer list than some might realize -- who like it the way it is. His one beef is the consolation match for third- and fourth-place. The difference is $120,000, along with world ranking points (both important in a Ryder Cup year). But as Westwood points out, the points and money is easily split. No one cares about the consolation match. It just gives TV something to show between shots of the championship match. One year, the consolation match was moving so slowly that it actually held up the main event. Woods has lost in every round except the semifinals. Imagine him on the golf course Sunday playing for the third place. Who are the fans following? Who is TV showing? We wont find out this year. Woods isnt around, and Dove Mountain plays no small part. Woods only saw the weekend one time in Arizona, and that was the year he won. He wont have to worry about that next year as the Match Play is sure to move -- at least off the mountain. As far as changing the format? That would be assuming its actually broken. "If you get defeated, you should be packing your bags and going home," Poulter said. "Thats how Ive always known match play, rather than a round-robin affair where you get a couple of bites of the cherry. The loser should go home. I think its perfect. I think its a great format." He plays the opening match Wednesday against Rickie Fowler.
Aaron Hill Authentic Jersey . Now he can be had by any team willing to pay his salary. According to a report from ESPN, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are shopping the veteran CB and plan on releasing him Wednesday if they cant find a trade partner.
Diamondbacks Jersey . - Russell Wilson is getting on the diamond again.SAN DIEGO -- It was a rally that truly came out of left field. James Ward won 10 of the last 11 games to take a stunning five-set victory against Sam Querrey and give Britain a 2-0 lead against the United States in the first round of the Davis Cup on a temporary red clay court in the outfield of Petco Park, the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Ward, ranked 175th in the world, was two games from losing the match when he began his rally that gave him a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory. With dusk approaching and the lights on at the downtown baseball park, Ward won the match with an overhand smash. He leaned back, pumped his fists and hollered as his teammates, watching from one side of the court, jumped to their feet in celebration. "Its great to be around a group of guys you dont really have the support of normally, every week of the year," Ward said "Its certainly a different feeling. Youre not just playing for yourself, youre playing for everyone else." Wards victory in 3 hours, 11 minutes, followed Wimbledon champion Andy Murrays easy straight-set victory against Donald Young, who was making his Davis Cup debut. Murray has won 17 straight Davis Cup singles matches. Britain can clinch the match on Saturday if it wins doubles. Murray and Colin Fleming are scheduled to face Bob and Mike Bryan. Captains have until an hour before the match to make any changes. Murray, who had back surgery in September, said he feels good to go for doubles. Querrey, the United States No. 1 singles player in this tournament and ranked No. 49 in the world, had a 4-2 lead in the fourth set after winning the sixth game at love. But Ward rallied to win the next four games and the set to force a deciding fifth set. He jumped to a 4-0 lead in the fifth set before Querrey broke serve with a bleeder over the net to pull to 4-1. Ward then closed out the match. Ward didnt break Querreys serve until the eighth game of the fourth set to tie it at 4-4. "I thought Sam served really well from the beginning to the first three sets," Ward said. "It wasnt me returning badly. He made a lot of good serves. But in the end I got some chances and it happened." Ward improved to 9-5 in Davis Cup play. "Look, I love playing for my country," he said. "Every time I do it, it obviously brings something out in me thats a bit different, which I didnt see in the first set." He said team captain Leon Smith told him to come out of his shell. "And I did," Ward said. Ward said his parents travelleed to San Diego for the match and are staying with long-time friends.
J.J. Putz Jersey. "I came here when I was a kid," he said. "People always said, Where is your favourite place in the world youve been, and I have often said San Diego. Its a great place. I love being here. Again, to play a great match like today was pleasing." Querrey said he was "a little bummed obviously that I couldnt help the team. But its not over. You have to win three points. And if we can bounce back tomorrow and Bob and Mike win the doubles and then I think our side takes two on Sunday. "I thought he played well," Querrey said of Ward. "He came up with some good shots. A few break points that I had earlier, maybe if I had come through on those it could have been different. But he played well throughout the match. I started missing a few first serves when I needed them. But he did a good job of putting returns in later in the match and ended the match." U.S. captain Jim Courier said Ward played the way the Americans thought he would. "He was up, he was down, he was all over the place, but in the end he fought all the way through and the quality he showed shined through." Murray overwhelmed Young 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in 1:38 in the opener of the World Group match. Murray was barely challenged by Young. The two-time Grand Slam winner took leads of 5-0 in the first set and 5-1 in the second set. Young never broke serve but took the sixth game of the third set to four deuces before the British star had an ace and then won when Young netted a backhand. "I played a good match today," Murray said. "I gave him very few opportunities when I was serving. I gave him a couple in the third set which was due to his good play and him playing better and me making some mistakes. But overall it was a good match for me." Murray, who had back surgery in September, said playing a relatively short match on Friday gives him a good chance of playing in the doubles match Saturday. "That obviously helps," he said. "Weekends like this you want to try conserve as much energy as you can when possible. Days can be quite long, and playing three days in a row is challenging so its good to get one three sets so we have options when we play tomorrow." In other World Group matches, France leads Australia 2-0, Kazakhstan leads Belgium 2-0, Germany is up 2-0 against Spain and Switzerland leads Serbia 2-0. The Canada-Japan, Italy-Argentina and Netherlands-Czech Republic matches are tied 1-1.
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