So Much For The Turkey Final's Medal-Match Play
/Who devised a format guaranteeing $300,000 for potentially just two days of golf?
We learned after day one of the Turkey Final--where Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy lost their opening day matches--that each must win their morning and afternoon matches tomorrow to have a chance of moving forward to Thursday's semi-final matches.
Unfortunately, the World No. 1 and No. 2 play each in the afternoon!
Wouldn't you play one match-a-day for three days, then have a 36-hole final day when you reduce to four players? That way you get three days of golf out of your big names, even if they throw in the towel as McIlroy did Tuesday.
From Corrigan's Telegraph story:
Kuchar said he believed his opponent “lost interest” after chopping around in the trees on his way to a triple bogey and McIlroy admitted as much. “I was playing pretty well until the 15th, then I hit it into the hazard on 16 and was just trying to get the round done,” he said
And from an unidentified wire story, McIlroy admitted as much:
"I was playing pretty well until the 15th, then hit a loose tee shot there and was messing about in the trees and making seven," said the world number one. "Then I hit it into the hazard on 16 and was just trying to get the round done. I lost a bit of concentration, went a few behind and gave up a bit."
This means the medal-match, designed to make players play all 18 holes, actually caused McIlroy to lose interest because he was so many strokes behind his opponent. Whereas in a normal match play event, he would have merely lost the hole.
So to review, other than the World No. 1 giving up, some of the press getting their plane tickets paid, the fantastic first tee assault by Turkey's leading golf official, no American television coverage and the look of pros in shorts, this has been an event for the ages!