Predictions: Match Play Round 1

Like a true “golf geek”, I have picked winners of all 32 first-round matches at the WGC-Accenture Match Play:

* Steve Stricker v. Ross McGowan. McGowan was the last man in the field. He’ll be one of the first out. Stricker wins easily.
* Ryo Ishikawa v. Michael Sim. Ishikawa has President’s Cup experience, so I’ll give him the slight nod over Sim.
* Robert Karlsson v. Rory Sabbatini. Another one that’s likely to end pretty quickly. Karlsson wins.
* Ross Fisher v. Thongchai Jaidee. I consistently underestimated Fisher all last year. Not this year. Fisher wins easily.
* Padraig Harrington v. Jeev Milkha Singh. I’m not loving what I see from either player right now. Giving the edge to Padraig, though.
* Anthony Kim v. Matt Kuchar. First upset of the bracket. AK was great at the Ryder Cup, but hasn’t done anything since, while Kuchar’s game has finally awakened. Kuchar wins.
* Ian Poulter v. Justin Leonard. Speaking of Ryder Cup, expect to see Poulter back in form. Expect to see him advance.
* Angel Cabrera v. Adam Scott. Another match I’m not in love with. I don’t think Adam Scott is “back” yet. Cabrera wins.

* Lee Westwood v. Chris Wood. Chris Wood is a very good match player. Unfortunately, he’s running into one of the best-ever Ryder Cup players. Westwood gets the win.
* Nick Watney v. Yuta Ikeda. I’m picking Watney in this one, if for no other reason than I’ve never heard of Yuta Ikeda.
* Ernie Els v. Ryan Moore. Quite a few people are picking this as an “upset” match. I’m not. Els wins.
* Retief Goosen v. Soren Hansen. There are three Hansen/Hanson players in this year’s Match Play. As a spoiler for later brackets, I don’t have any of them getting past the first round. Goosen wins.
* Henrik Stenson v. Ben Crane. Even with Crane in it, this match will be over relatively quickly. Stenson wins.
* Y.E. Yang v. Soren Kjeldsen. No other comment, than Yang wins this one.
* Geoff Ogilvy v. Alexander Noren. Is anyone picking Noren in this one? I didn’t think so. I’m not, either; easy win for Ogilvy.
* Camilo Villegas v. Dustin Johnson. Obviously, the seeding was done prior to Johnson’s win on Sunday at Pebble Beach. An upset for that reason only. Johnson wins.

* Martin Kaymer v. Chad Campbell. Kaymer’s one of the best young players in the world. He gets the win here.
* Vijay Singh v. Tim Clark. Clark took down Tiger in this tournament previously. Vijay will pose little challenge. Clark moves on.
* Sergio Garcia v. David Toms. I’ve seen little signs of life from Sergio’s game so far this year. I don’t think that changes this week. Toms wins.
* Lucas Glover v. Anders Hansen. See my previous comments on Hansen/Hanson. Glover wins.
* Rory McIlroy v. Kevin Na. Easy win for McIlroy, no more need be said.
* Miguel Angel Jimenez v. Oliver Wilson. Ryder Cup teammates turned opposition. Jimenez just won in the Middle East, but I like Wilson’s match-play performance better. Wilson wins.
* Robert Allenby v. Peter Hanson. The third of the Hansen/Hanson trio, the third to go out in the first round. Allenby wins.
* Luke Donald v. Graeme McDowell. I’m calling for the upset here. Donald is a better overall player, but McDowell has been turning up very big in match play recently. McDowell wins.

* Jim Furyk v. Scott Verplank. Another match that’s getting a lot of “upset” predictions. Add me to those. Verplank wins.
* Hunter Mahan v. Charl Schwartzel. Schwartzel has a couple of wins in South Africa, but I’m not sure about his match-play work. Mahan wins.
* Sean O’Hair v. Simon Dyson. Should be an easy win for O’Hair.
* Stewart Cink v. Edoardo Molinari. Perhaps there’s a little bias against the Molinari brothers after they defeated my Ireland pick in the World Cup. Perhaps I just don’t think they have the experience to match up. Cink wins this one.
* Paul Casey v. Stephen Ames. Casey won’t give Ames the 9&8 treatment that Tiger did, but Stephen’s still going home. Casey wins it.
* Alvaro Quiros v. Mike Weir. Other than the tee box and the green, they likely won’t see much of each other. I’m going with Weir’s experience over Quiros’s length in this one, though.
* Kenny Perry v. Brian Gay. Another match where they won’t see much of each other between the tee box and the green. Perry wins this one pretty easily.
* Zach Johnson v. Francesco Molinari. Francesco can commiserate with his brother on Wednesday night. Zach Johnson wins this one.