"At this stage - without a contract for 2012, without a word from PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem or the Accenture high command - paranoia creeps in."

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Greg Hansen notes the uncertainty surrounding the Accenture Match Play's future at Dove Mountain.

When the Tucson Conquistadores aggressively chased the Match Play event, then located in Carlsbad, Calif., it wasn't much of a secret. Conquistadore Russ Perlich, who was also a PGA Tour board member, estimated he flew to the tour's Florida headquarters "umpteen times" over several years to broker the deal.

About 18 months before leaving golf-saturated Southern California, the Match Play people scouted potential sites in Las Vegas, the greater Phoenix area and in Santa Barbara, Calif. It settled on Tucson for five reasons: climate; the Conquistadores; a 60-year history of community support for the Tucson Open; the promise of a new golf course, designed by Jack Nicklaus; and an on-site hotel built by Ritz-Carlton.

It seemed to be enough to please the golf people for at least 10 years, but business is business, right?

Where Would You Take The Match Play?

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It's sounding more and more like the WGC Accenture Match Play will be leaving Tucson's Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain Resort and Cholla Nursery sooner than later. Accenture is not thrilled with the place and we know how the players, media and fans feel about the Nicklaus course that was designed for this event and yet somehow manages not to include much in the way of charm of memorability.
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Day One WGC Match Play This And That

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All 32 matches are summed up at PGATour.com and the current bracket is here.

Jim McCabe files notes on the highlights from day one while Gary Van Sickle says Tiger's loss wasn't much of an upset. He also offers day two predictions.

Besides reporting on the pathetic pace of the Poulter-Cink match, Doug Ferguson's notes include this on Jason Day's savvy gamesmanship in his win over K.T. Kim.

"I made the choice to walk in front of him all the time, to be in front of him, just to show him that I was there, show him that I'm still around, instead of walking behind him and him being in front," said Day, a 3-and-2 winner.

"So, it was a little bit of a tactic to say, 'I'm still here, I'm still going to fight and I'm going to try and win as good as I could.'"

Steve DiMeglio points out that it was not a great day for the elite American players.

The Americans had four of the top 10 seeds at Dove Mountain, and Mickelson is the only one left. Matteo Manassero (FSY), the 17-year-old Italian, became the youngest winner in this tournament with a 2-and-1 victory over eighth-seeded Steve Stricker (FSY), while Jim Furyk (FSY) (No. 10) continued his struggles in losing to Ryan Palmer (FSY), who was making his Match Play debut.

In previewing the obvious match of day two (Mickelson v. Fowler), Randall Mell quotes Phil as saying he's well rested in part because of his daily jet commute during the L.A. and Pebble Beach stops.

Jim Moriarty suggests that the wackiest match crown belongs to the Els-Overton battle.

What's Bugging Sergio Files, Vol. 591

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Stephanie Wei tries to get to the bottom of what exactly it was that Sergio said to Ian Poulter after his semi-final drubbing that included an odd ruling situation. The whole thing is strange in the timing of Sergio's comment to Poulter and while not particularly important, it is fun to think of these two lovebirds as teammates in September.
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Finchem: "That's just a screw-up on my part."

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No, he's not talking about the recipe he dug up for his Commissioner-hosted Southern-style pig roast at last year's Players Championship and how it left the pork a tad dry. He's actually talking about something of substance: Wednesday's horrible handling of the Tiger statement-reading announcement.
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"If we lose Match Play, Tucson will surely turn to dust and be blown to El Paso."

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Greg Hansen makes a plea to Accenture to keep the Match Play in Tucson beyond 2011 when they can take it elsewhere. Love the hometown spirit, but the event falls painfully flat as a form of entertainment and it's hard not to blame a soulless, spread-out and not-particularly engaging Nicklaus course as the main problem. Throw in small crowds and it just isn't working.
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"So it was the timing of it and the fact that Finchem just dropped everything and said, 'okay, whatever you want Tiger'. That's embarrassing when you think about it."

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John Huggan talks to a player who suggests WGC Match Play contestants were more upset with Tim Finchem than with Tiger over the timing of this week's statement reading.
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