T.J.'s Take: Anything can happen

By T.J. Auclair, PGATOUR.com Interactive Producer

As an avid fan of the game of golf, I yearn for this particular week on the PGA TOUR schedule every year. With all do respect to my amigos in Mexico, I'm not talking about the Mayakoba Golf Classic, although I am a huge fan of Corona, burritos, piņatas, margaritas and MTV's Spring Break in Cancun.

T.J. Auclair

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No, no. I'm talking about the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. It's either a dream come true -- like 2000 when Darren Clarke and Tiger Woods met in the final, or a comedy of errors -- how else do you explain what happened in 2001 when Woods was sent packing after a first-round loss to No. 64 Peter O'Malley?

For the casual golf fan, this could be the worst event on the schedule to watch. There's a chance that the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els could go one and done. In the nine previous Accenture Match Play Championships, the Big Three have been knocked out in the first round on seven occasions, with Els carrying (or waving) the flag for the trio, having been dismissed in round one four times.

But hey, that's the beauty of this event. It could be the most tired expression in the game of golf, but few phrases ring truer than, "anything can happen in match play."

Like Nick O'Hern. Nick O'Who? O'Hern. The kryptonite to Tiger's Superman when it comes to match play, as the Aussie and Presidents Cup team member has sent Tiger home early twice, first in 2005 (the only year Woods wasn't the No. 1 overall seed in the event, as that title belonged to Vijay Singh) and again in the third round last year. Both times the match went extra holes and both times everyone on the planet except O'Hern figured Tiger would squash the Aussie in overtime.

There are, of course, occasions in match play when the expected does happen, and in a large way. Case in point, Tiger taking Stephen Ames to the woodshed in the first round of the 2006 event with a 9&8 victory.

That rout was the result of some comments Ames made when asked about his chances against Woods. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that Ames lit a fire under Tiger after stating, "Anything can happen... Especially where he's hitting the ball."

What ensued was arguably the most thorough beating in match-play history. Woods won the first nine holes.

With seven birdies.

When he met with the media following the win, Woods was asked if he had seen Ames' pre-match comments. Tiger offered a one-word answer, "Yes."

And what was Tiger's reaction when he saw the comments?

"Nine and eight."

Possibly the greatest line since Carl Spackler in Caddyshack: "So we finish the 18th and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, 'Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know?' And he says, 'Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.' So I got that goin' for me, which is nice."

The Accenture Match Play Championship isn't all about trash talking and thrashings. In fact, it's far from that. It's just great, intriguing golf. Players go for broke on every shot because, well, a double or triple bogey doesn't matter in this format provided you don't make too many of them. This is the epitome of taking it one hole at a time.

Every other week during the PGA TOUR season, whether we believe them or not, players always say they're sizing themselves up against the course, not fellow competitors.

But match play is different and more compelling. Go ahead. Go for all the blue chips on that one shot. It's reckless golf -- the kind every hacker who thinks he can thread a 3-iron through a forest of trees on Saturday mornings can relate too (aside from the outcome of the shot, of course).

This week matches will end the way you thought they would, but there will also be upsets. There's a chance, albeit slim with the way he's playing, that Tiger could go home before the Mayakoba Golf Classic begins on Thursday. There's also a chance that Tiger could face Rory Sabbatini in the quarterfinals, Els in the semifinals and Mickelson in the championship. Will all of that happen? Probably not, but we can dream, can't we? Who knows? Maybe Tiger meets South Africa's Richard Sterne in the championship after getting through nail-biters against Denmark's Soren Hansen and Japan's Toru Taniguchi.

And why is there a chance that all of that nonsense could happen?

Say it with me, "because anything can happen in match play!"