Posted by Jason Sobel
MARANA, Ariz. -- Just how isolated is The Gallery, site of this week's Accenture Match Play Championship? Checking out the scenic view from the west side of the media center (and yes, the late-afternoon setting sun has left me squinting for the past hour), it's all blue sky, mountains, cacti and golf course for as far as the eye can see.
(Side note: I've been to the Southwest part of the U.S. a number of times before, but I'm always astounded by the abundance of cactus around these parts. More cacti in the Tucson desert than chewed gum on the sidewalks of New York City, I'd guess.)
Anyway, I got a chance to walk the course and chat with some players the last two days, so here are a few observations entering tomorrow's first round:
• I ran into Brett Quigley on the range. He and I chatted over the phone last week for a Hot Seat interview, half of which had to do with his first-round matchup with Tiger Woods. Well, wouldn't you know it, Charl Schwartzel pulls out of the event on Sunday, just about an hour before the field would have been set, and Quigley got bumped up to the 63rd seed, now facing Jim Furyk instead. He and I commiserated about losing half of our interview (it really was the best part; he said he bought Tiger's video game and was playing it to uncover weaknesses in Woods' swing), before he offered up this, with a straight face: "Guess I'll just have to play him in the finals." Atta boy, Brett. Gotta love the attitude.
• One of the things I like best about this event is getting to see some players I don't typically see on tour. So I spent about 10 minutes watching 2006 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Jeev Milkha Singh belt some drives on the range. Weird swing. Very loopy, slow backswing, big hitch at the top. Looks like his natural motion produces a high fade. One other thing: His golf bag -- and all of his headcovers -- seems to be made out of plastic, or at least protected in plastic. Kind of like that old sofa your grandma used to have.
• Players have been complimentary of the course so far. Not head-over-heels in love with the place or anything, but I think they're enjoying it. A few thoughts: Though it's desert golf, there's plenty of room left and right of the fairways, with no discernible rough -- that should give the advantage to long bombers over those who favor accuracy. And the two most-talked about holes will be Nos. 7 and 12, both of which are reachable par-4s. Said Woods: "I hit driver both times and got it on the green yesterday on 7, but not quite on 12." Everyone's pretty much in agreement that this format needs some holes like these.
• Traditionally, players would rather spend an hour in a water hazard than a minute in the media center, but Ian Poulter couldn't resist sitting among us ink-stained (uh, mouse-clicking?) wretches as his favorite team, Arsenal, played on the big screen at the front of the room. He even brought in a laptop to get up-to-date on the match. Oh, and he was wearing pink trousers and pink golf spikes. Just thought you'd like to know.
