ESPN Golf Online: Match play made in heaven


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Match play made in heaven

By Mike Tirico
Special to ABC Sports Online
August 1 12:44pm ET

This match-play event is about money, exposure and viewers. It has nothing to do with a rivalry. At least for now, anyway. Over the last two and a half years, Tiger Woods and David Duval have been the two top players on the PGA Tour. If this continues for another eight years and involves a couple of head-to-head battles in majors, then you can call it a rivalry.
The bottom line is that people like to watch money-driven events. They like to see pressure mount, faces contort, and bodies shift. This should make Monday's primetime duel an exercise in both building pride and building bank accounts.

Mike Tirico.

I expect to see two players out enjoying the opportunity for the first nine holes. For the second nine holes, you will see players who are less talkative and trying to win. If the Skins game has taught us anything, it is that all the fun and laughs stop when there is a big money putt on the line. But since this is match play, if it stays close, then once we get to the last eight or nine holes where every shot is important, the competitiveness will change the chemistry of the conversation between the players.
As far as the audience itself, golf viewers should be very excited about this event at Sherwood. Most amateur golfers play match play almost every week at their club. They see match play on TV maybe twice a year. They almost never see match play between the two top players in the world. Monday will be an opportunity to see 18 holes without another match competing against it.
This match will also provide a great opportunity for new golf fans. Non-regular golf viewers have an opportunity to see the sport in primetime where there is always a need for fresh programming. It could help them better understand, appreciate and even get to know two players who could be at the top of their sport for quite some time.
When you look at Duval, he can win because there is no weakness in his game. His consistency in all facets of the game at a course like Sherwood -- which tests all facets -- will be crucial. However, Duval admitted back in February at the Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship that he is not a big fan of match play golf.
On the other side of the ledger, Woods can win simply because he is playing the most consistent golf of his brief career. Moreover, he loves match play. The only possible drawback to his game: If his putter struggles as it did at the British Open.
All in all, I am looking forward to this event, not so much for the rivalry it will create -- that is something we will have to wait on -- but for the emotion it will bring out from these money players as they compete in this primetime, match play environment.

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