When Lee Westwood left England for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, his 5-year-old daughter, Poppy, asked when he'd be back.
The answer, he explained, was complicated.
"I said, 'Historically, Thursday. Optimistically, Monday,' " Westwood said with a laugh. "They looked at me quizzically."
Welcome to Match Play, where no golfer - not even a top seed like Westwood - is guaranteed a tomorrow. The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship will begin today with 32 first-round matches at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain.
There will be surprises, upsets and routs. That's the beauty, and agony, of match-play golf.
Unlike stroke play, which rewards the players with the lowest total score over the length of the tournament, match play yields a daily decision for each competitor.
People are also reading…
The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship pairs players based on seeds, and pits them against each other in head-to-head matches. The winner plays another round; the loser goes home.
Germany's Martin Kaymer, another high seed, called it "man-against-man" golf.
Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy used an art analogy. "A 72-hole tournament is different. It's like painting a picture. It's a big project you've got.
"Whereas this is 18 little projects," he said.
Each contest in match-play format is unique, the circumstances seemingly changing with each shot. Players can shoot low rounds and lose, or play terribly and win. Matches can go as few as 10 holes or drag on interminably.
Take Westwood.
The reigning European Tour Player of the Year has struggled in his nine previous Match Play appearances, never advancing past the third round.
Worse, Westwood's losses typically are excruciating, extra-hole affairs.
In 2006, Westwood lost to Scott Verplank in 26 holes. A year later, he fell to Padraig Harrington in 19. Westwood advanced to the second round in last year's tournament, the first held at Ritz-Carlton, only to lose to Stewart Cink on the 23rd hole.
"I think I've played more holes here for the least gain over the last four years," Westwood said.
For some, however, the unpredictability of the match-play game can be a comfort.
Sunday's winner at Pebble Beach, Dustin Johnson, called Match Play "a bit more laid-back" than the average tournament, in part because he needs to worry about beating one golfer instead of the entire field.
Mistakes are easily forgotten, he said, in part because they don't count against a total-round score. Players, in turn, are more aggressive off the tees and from the fairways. The every-man-for-himself mentality that permeates many stroke-play tournaments is replaced with competitive camaraderie.
"I think it can be a lot of fun, especially for the spectators as well," Kaymer said. "We will play more aggressive. You'll see a few more birdies, a few more eagles out there. It's going to be an interesting and fun week."
Some players' weeks will last longer than others.
"It's different from the usual weeks where you can ease your way into it," Westwood said. "You have to get your way into this fast."
DON'T MISS THIS MATCH
No. 23 Camilo Villegas vs. No. 42 Dustin Johnson, 8:42 a.m.
Johnson is on deck in golf's "next-big-thing" category after winning at Pebble Beach last week and climbing to No. 2 on the money list. Villegas was the "next big thing" entering the 2009 season.
Look out!
The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship has its annual share of first-round upsets. Here's a year-by-year look at them:
Year/Number of upsets (top player eliminated)
2009: 13 (No. 2 Sergio Garcia)
2008: 13 (No. 4 Ernie Els)
2007: 11 (No. 3 Adam Scott)
2006: 13 (No. 4 Ernie Els)
2005: 13 (No. 5 Mike Weir)
2004: 12 (No. 5 Retief Goosen)
2003: 13 (No. 2 Ernie Els)
2002: 13 (No. 1 Tiger Woods)
2001: 12 (No. 2 Hal Sutton)
2000: 11 (No. 6 Vijay Singh)
1999: 18 (No. 3 Mark O'Meara)
Nobody's safe
A brief history of first-round upsets at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Southern Arizona:
• 2007: Shaun Micheel, the tournament's No. 62 seed, stuns third-ranked Adam Scott in 21 holes on the first day of Match Play at The Gallery Golf Club, South Course. Scott wasn't the only household name to fall: Fifth-ranked Ernie Els was rolled by No. 60 Bradley Dredge 4 and 2.
• 2008: Els is upset again, falling to No. 61 Jonathan Byrd 6 and 5 in a match that ended after the 13th hole. Boo Weekley, the No. 60 ranked player, took down No. 5 Martin Kaymer later in the day.
• 2009: Second-ranked Sergio Garcia and third-ranked Padraig Harrington fall in the first round, losing to No. 63 Charl Schwartzel and No. 62 Pat Perez, respectively. Former Match Play champion Henrik Stenson, the tournament's No. 6 overall seed, loses to Davis Love III.
