Posted by John Anderson
It's very simple. If it involves golf, but not an actual golf swing, then I have a better idea.
Take the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.
Boring! But why?
The whole thing is built to copy the success and excitement of the NCAA basketball tournament: 64 spots (for this exercise, let's forget the 65th for hoops), brackets, a Final Four and yet, instead of March Madness, what do we get? Black Friday, Geoff Ogilvy and fairways filled with flocks of blackbirds instead of flocks of fans. Talk about hooking your drive into the middle of the office pool.
ABC's Ian Baker-Finch interviewed Ogilvy's wife for the telecast; she was wearing a typical golf spouse disguise: sponsor's baseball cap pulled low, blonde ponytail, designer sunglasses. Problem is, her husband was even more incognito, and he was wearing a melon-colored shirt and holding a driver on the 15th tee, 4-up in the final match.
The problem here is that the field at the Match Play is actually too good. It's too deep. (See, that's a compliment of Ogilvy's talent to make up for any slight I may have made or have yet to make about his popularity.)
It really is 64 guys with a chance to win.
That's not the hoops tournament's formula. The NCAA likes its upsets along the road to the Final Four, but in the end they want, need and -- most important -- get the big names to survive and advance.
If Stephen Ames doesn't drop the velvet insult about Tiger Woods' aim, he has a chance at La Costa on Wednesday. Tug on Superman's cape and you lose 9 and 8.
9 and 8!
Do you realize anyone reading this would have lost, at worst, 10 and 8? Ames halved one more hole than a dead guy!
No. 1-seed Ernie Els went down, and that never goes down at the NCAA tournament. A No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed (it's happened nine times at the Match Play) and No. 15 over No. 2 is so rare, it is to be celebrated with actual Cinderella status.
How is Bernhard Langer a No. 16 anyway? Bernie has two of Augusta's green jackets. Has there ever been a No. 16 in the history of the Dance with two national titles? No.
Speaking strictly in 2006 school terms here, Tiger Woods is Duke. Els is Connecticut. But Langer is no 11-17 scrub from a bottom-rung league that played its way into the field via the conference tournament.
The first two rounds of the Big Dance provide plenty of drama but very little damage to the top of the field. Contrast that with La Costa, where early-round carnage can leave a Bittersweet 16. Follow that with some hot putters and you get an Elite Eight replete with double-digit seeds.
"Who's No. 1?" is a rhetorical question. "Who's No. 13?" is a question that hurts the event.
So here's the solution:
• Thirty automatic berths for the top 30 players in the World Ranking.
• Any major winner not included in the category gets a pass in as well.
• That leaves 30 to 34 at-large berths to spread out worldwide. Diversify the field to include the nontraditional golf-playing countries. Ireland, yes, but India, too. If you can invite the French, you can invite the Finns. Czech Republic ... check.
And don't think there are too many spots on the globe and not enough spots in the bracket. The World Golf Championships uses qualifying tournaments to narrow its field for the 24-team World Cup; it can do it for the Match Play, too. Go Liechtenstein.
Think of countries as conferences.
For the United States -- a power conference -- Tiger gets in as the automatic. Mickelson, Toms, Furyk and others earn at-large berths.
Australia gets multiple players, too.
Monty gets Scotland's berth. Sergio is Spain's man (and he'd show), though Jose Maria probably gets in, too.
Mid-major golfing countries like Japan and Sweden could cross their fingers for more than one or two spots.
I'm telling you, it'll work.
Now seed up the field and watch Tiger blow through some guy from Switzerland 10 and 8 in the first round. Els takes out a Greek and a Belgian on his way to the Sweet 16 and doesn't have to cry about burning jet fuel to fly halfway around the planet for one lousy round of golf against a ringer.
Sure, on occasion a 15th-seeded Nigerian jumps up and bites David Toms, but you got yourself must-see TV.
And in the end you get suspense, pizzazz, nail-biters, blowouts and, eventually, a Final Four with star power -- which is a must, you see, for TV.
Hey, let's be honest here: Think with your head, not your pool sheet. Everybody loves Valparaiso and Northern Iowa in March, but only for the first couple of weekends. Nobody really wants them around on that last Monday night. They want Tiger and Phil and Ernie and Sergio.
