All in all, Ian Poulter wishes Rory McIlroy’s bags were already packed.
Nothing personal, mind you.
The 45-year-old Englishman just longs for the days when the World Golf Championship events were win or go home.
Just his personal preference.
“I prefer the old way. I kind of like the s— or bust attitude, to be honest with you,” Poulter said after, well, busting up McIlroy in dominant fashion Wednesday by the lopsided 6 and 5 score. “It gets the adrenaline going, the ticker starts going and quite frankly you’ve just got to be – s— or bust. You got to pony up and hit shots, right? So you got to suck it up and s— or bust.
“I mean, it’s an Englishism.”
And American-ism, too, if you will.
WGC- Match Play: Tee times, TV | Photos
Of course, Poulter’s known as the Match Play Ninja, partly because of his eight Ryder Cups and 17 worldwide wins. Oh and partly just because of his competitive nature.
“I played against my brother all the time,” he said, “and I hated losing.”
Still does.
Poulter’s dead on with his blunt opinion because there’s nothing more thrilling, nothing more take-your-breath-away than sudden death.
No mulligans allowed, and that’s unfortunate.
The beauty of match play is its complete 180 from the normal stroke-play events on the tour, but even there the Dustin Johnsons and Justin Thomases of the world aren’t guaranteed to make the cut, just likely to.
However, television dictates life these days, and the beer and chicken wing and insurance sponsors understandably want to keep the marquee players around for as long as possible.
However, that works at cross-purposes. Shouldn’t it be only about the golf and the best man or United Kingdom man wins and all? You know, the American way, as well. Wouldn’t that be more TV-friendly?
“Early in the week, yeah, it would be. Definitely,” third-seeded Jon Rahm said. “And hey, the better players are going to make it to the final. I mean, you need to play good. In this format I guess you can have one bad day and still somehow make it through, right? So I think it defeats the purpose of match play a little bit.”
But it doesn’t exactly hurt ratings when nine double-digit seeds pull off stunners in the basketball affair, and an 11th seeded Syracuse reaches the Sweet 16.
The tension in these matches are palpable as they are almost tournaments within a tournament.
“The interesting thing about this tournament is it feels like the last round every day,” said Patrick Cantlay, a first-day winner. “If you’re comfortable with that feeling, then it’s to your advantage. Fortunately, I feel like I like that feeling. I feel like it brings out the best in me.”
But the suspense is always present and can be energy-draining for a tournament where the two finalists play seven rounds.
“It’s so weird,” said Cameron Smith, who was 2 down with three holes to play but survived to beat Lanto Griffin 1 up. “We were just saying before, like in the first round of a tournament it’s usually kind of a bit of a cruisy day. You’re still kind of getting your legs for the rest of the week, and to be put in that situation on a Wednesday — it’s not even Thursday yet — is crazy.”
Crazy good, that is. And it could be even crazier.
Besides in this group format where every golfer is guaranteed three matches the first three days, if a McIlroy or a Justin Thomas has no chance of advancing after two days, where’s their motivation in even playing a third day?
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, hits off the fifth tee during a first round match at the Dell Technologies Match Play Championship in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
In the previous format, this 11th seed at the Dell would have been out the door when McIlroy was crushed 6 and 5 by 60th-seeded Poulter in the first round of group play of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play event, which started on an overcast Wednesday in front of pandemic-induced, sparse crowds.
McIlroy was hardly the only casualty, but he can go on to fight another day with a second-day match — and a third — in a pod with Smith and Griffin. Justin Thomas, the No. 2 seed, fell to Matt Kuchar 3 and 2, No. 7 seed Patrick Reed tied his match with Bubba Watson, and No. 5 seed Bryson DeChambeau lost 2-up.
“It’s not exactly like winning a golf tournament each match, but you get some of these feels,” said Jordan Spieth, who beat Matt Fitzpatrick 3 and 1. “I was pretty calm out there and then, all of a sudden — I hit a really good putt on 15 to win the match and it just went right by the hole, and then I lost 16, all of a sudden I’m walking up there feeling some significant nerves going to 17. That wouldn’t happen in a stroke play Thursday round.”
Rahm avoided the upset bug. He beat 56th seed Sebastian Munoz 1 up to start out strong, but he’s partial to the old ways too.
“I like the sudden death format,” he said. “We played so many events in Europe like that, that if it wasn’t sudden death, you had 36-hole qualifying rounds to get to 64. So I do like the sudden death. I understand it’s a little bit harder for the sponsors and TV because your best guys might be gone, but I think it’s more thrilling. You’re competing for your life every single event. Well, not your life, but it’s a little different.”
It’s totally different, but that’s what makes the suspense so damn compelling.
McIlroy was his own worst enemy Wednesday. He three-putted from 18 feet on the fourth hole, and he went swimming on the fifth, launching a shot into a neighbor’s backyard pool. Not his A game.
McIlroy has been struggling of late and might want to withdraw to work on his game with new swing coach Pete Cowen after missing the cut at TPC Sawgrass two years after he won that event. He declined to talk to the media after getting eliminated on the 13th green.
Poulter got off to a great start with a birdie on the opening hole and, after McIlroy cut his lead to one, rattled off five consecutive holes to take the easy win.
Poulter, however, may not be the crowd favorite. Longhorn Nation remembers his win at the Houston Open where his long playoff putt kept Texas ex Beau Hossler out of the winner’s circle.
But with the pool format that’s been in place for all the Dell tourneys at Austin Country Club, McIlroy’s not out of the running and could still qualify for the weekend knockout stage. He won this event back in 2015 before it moved to west Austin.
“I wanted to keep the foot down because it’s too easy to let him get back in the game like he did and then he takes control of the match,” Poulter said.
That, of course, didn’t happen. Alas, for McIlroy and 31 others who dropped their first match, there’s always Thursday.