My Final Four for the Match Play

When they determined who would be in each of the 16 businesses Monday on GC's selection show, I need to admit to a second of panic.

In the beyond, my habitual turned into to examine the 4 brackets -- typically named for famous gamers of the beyond -- and pick out one winner from every, then permit the only who made it via be my typical choose to win. (At that factor I would pick out one if multiple made it via, however this is in no way passed off.) Faced with 16 extraordinary businesses, I changed into momentarily paralyzed by way of the range of selections I might ought to make for this publish.

That is, until I realized we still have only four brackets. They're just named for the Top4 players in the OWGR, because each of those players was placed in a different bracket. (You can download a PDF of the brackets from this link at worldgolfchampionships.com. Just look for the words "Printable Bracket" and click them.)

The only real distinction this yr is that players will now must play 7 suits in 5 days as opposed to the 6 in five they did last 12 months. And while the primary 3 fits may be pool play, the only way to make certain you make it via remains to win all your fits. (If you win only 2 in pool play, the fine you could hope for is sudden loss of life with only one other player. And do you really want to play for 3 days, handiest to have your fate probably determined by way of a single hollow? I assume not.)

So here are my Final Four from the brand new brackets. As common, the truth that I didn't choose somebody is not any mirrored image on their capability to win this issue; I'm actually limited to choosing four gamers.

In the McIlroy bracket, I'm going against logic and picking Paul Casey . Casey is finally healthy this year and has been focusing his attention on the PGA Tour, so he hasn't been traveling quite as much. Given that Casey has had a pretty decent match play record in the past -- besides his amateur and Ryder Cup records, he also won the Volvo Match Play (then the HSBC) back in 2006 -- I think he could do well this year.

In the Spieth bracket, I'm going chalk and taking Jordan Spieth . I don't think Jordan will win overall, but I do think he's likely to come out of his bracket. (Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if Mikko Ilonen came out of the bracket, but I believe the 15-hour jetlag he's fighting will derail his chances.)

In the Stenson bracket, I simply can't talk myself out of picking Justin Rose . Although I'm concerned about fatigue -- 30 holes of golf Sunday, then all this golf starting Wednesday -- I simply can't ignore how well he's playing. In fact, I believe he'll get through simply because he won't play as many holes in each match as his opponents do.

And from the Watson bracket, I'm taking Graeme McDowell . Despite a relatively poor 2015 thus far, his match play record is too good for me not to pick him. I think a good match play tournament may be exactly what he needs to get his year kickstarted.

Last yr I had my best end result ever, as Victor Dubuisson turned into the simplest one in all my 4 selections to make it thru and he got here in runner-up. Let's see if I do better this yr.

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