| Get out your brackets. And we're not talking about | | | | serious melodrama in the ice dancing at Torino? The |
| the road to Indianapolis. This is March Madness golf | | | | Italian pair, Maurizio Margaglio and Barbara Fusar Poli, |
| style, and this week's WGC-Accenture Match Play | | | | fell the day before the final Monday. Fusar Poli glared |
| Championship in Carlsbad, California, where 64 golfers | | | | at Margaglio after the fall, presumably because it was |
| will bracket down to one standing, who will be Tiger | | | | his fault. The evening of the final they didn't talk to |
| Woods.I could be wrong. And Duke could lose in the | | | | each other or even look at each other. It was all so |
| first round a month from now.This tournament is fun | | | | dramatic, all so perfect for the Olympics. They |
| to watch for upsets. Will Phil Mickelson make it past | | | | skated well in the final, then hugged and |
| Charles Howell III, will Gonzaga lose to Charlotte, | | | | kissed."There was no problem between us. I did not |
| should they meet?Unlike a regularly scheduled PGA | | | | know what my eyes were saying," she said later. I |
| Tour event, this is mano y mano for as long as | | | | had a pretty good sense what her eyes were saying. |
| you're standing, not you against a field of 150 or | | | | Chalk it up to serious competitiveness, however |
| more on Thursday. This one starts on Wednesday, | | | | wrong it was to publicly accuse your partner with the |
| too, and ends with a 36-hole championship match | | | | evil eye. In any case, I bet anyone playing Tiger this |
| that starts at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.Tiger had to bow | | | | week will have a pretty good sense what his body |
| out of the Nissan Open last week because he was ill, | | | | language is saying.In the outright, Tiger's getting 5-1. |
| as were many other players. You know how when | | | | Look at this as a bargain week as he'd probably be |
| you come over a sickness you feel like a million | | | | getting more like 2-1 if it wasn't match play. Take him |
| bucks, like you can run faster, jump higher, tear the | | | | at 5-1, 1 unit. Retief Goosen and Adam Scott are |
| cover off a golf ball with your driver? Tiger should be | | | | good bets at 20-1, 25-1, but if Tiger was at 2-1 he'd |
| healthy at La Costa this week. If so, he walks away | | | | still be my pick. Here's what he's done at La Costa |
| with his third win in this event.The proceedings at | | | | since 1999 (he didn't play in the tournament in 2001): |
| Riviera turned out to be pretty interesting, even with | | | | T17, 1, 1, T33, 2, T5. I don't expect a first-round |
| the announcement Saturday morning that Tiger had | | | | upset.In the first round, take Mark Calcavecchia over |
| withdrawn. Rory Sabbatini hung tough to win his first | | | | Chris DiMarco (11-10), 1 unit: I like Calc in match play. |
| PGA Tour event since 2003. I may have been the | | | | And despite DiMarco's success in the President's Cup |
| only guy in the world who supported Sabbatini after | | | | last summer, I don't see much to indicate DiMarco is |
| the Ben Crane episode last year. Golf needs to pick | | | | up to the competitive aspect of match play. That's |
| up the pace and to have a little fire. We only really | | | | my take, though. DiMarco finished second at La |
| see the fire from Tiger when he's going well. Sergio | | | | Costa last year (T9, T33, T17 and T33 before |
| to a lesser extent. God forbid you should play with a | | | | that).Jeremy Church is a documented member of the |
| little passion.Speaking of passion, did you catch the | | | | Professional Handicappers League. |