In honor of Match Play, let's build our own fantasy competition

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What would you give to see a historic matchup like Byron Nelson vs. Gary Player?

Did you see the big event they hosted recently on the CNBC Web site? It matched the top 32 "As seen on TV" products for an elimination tournament.

Incredibly, the Sham Wow (the super-absorbent cloth from Germany that soaks up 12 times its weight in liquid) came out of nowhere to beat a litany of favorites. It downed the George Foreman Grill in the final and won the title.

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With that imaginary event filed away, and inspired by this week's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, we thought it might be fun to pair the 32 top players in the world together for a little fantasy championship.

The 32-man field was seeded according to the number of official victories recognized by the PGA TOUR. The idea was to take all the information -- wins, strength of competition, stroke average, money winnings, and endorsement money -- and put it into a computer program and see who was the best.

But since that would require computer programming skills and take an inordinate amount of time, the second-best option was chosen: The coin flip. A special coin with Tim Finchem's likeness on the obverse and the 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass on the reverse was minted and used to determine the outcome. First-round matches were determined by best-of-three flips.

That left Player vs. Trevino in one semifinal and Nicklaus vs. Nelson in the other. It was quite a contrast in styles.

The Player-Trevino match featured a lot of talking among the competitors. Player kept poking Trevino in the belly and telling him how he shouldn't neglect his personal fitness. "Who needs fitness? We're taking a cart," Trevino said.

But in the end, it was Player, doing sit-ups between shots, who closed the match out with a birdie at No. 17.

There almost wasn't a winner in the Nicklaus-Nelson match. Two of the game's finest gentlemen kept conceding putts to the other all afternoon. The tide turned late in the round, when Nelson learned that Nicklaus's father was a pharmacist.

"I hate pharmacists," said Nelson, who birdied the last hole for the victory.

That put Player and Nelson in the championship match, which was decided by a best-of-seven flip. The two exchanged leads throughout the 36-hole final, with no man ever going ahead by more than one hole. The match was decided on the last hole when Player, seemingly buried in the bunker, holed his shot from the sand to turn aside Lord Byron.

"It's probably the most gratifying fantasy tournament win in my long and illustrious career," said Player, who took home the first-prize gift of a Sham Wow.

Player's victory in this fantasy tournament underscores the fact that anything can happen in match play. It's not necessarily the best competitor who wins the Match Play Championship, but one who is resilient and capable of stringing together five days of solid play.

Look for the same thing to hold true this week at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. While Tiger Woods is unquestionably the best player in the world, he doesn't win this tournament every year. Coming off an extended layoff, Tiger can't be expected to defend his title.

Still, the event has never produced a less-than-stellar champion. Other than Tiger, who has won it three times, the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship has been won by the likes of Jeff Maggert, Darren Clarke, Steve Stricker, Kevin Sutherland, David Toms, Geoff Ogilvy and Henrik Stenson. Not a dog in the bunch.

And the winner can celebrate by wiping away their tears of joy. With a Sham Wow.

Stan Awtrey is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the PGA TOUR.