More On The Match Re-Match

Alan Shipnuck has gone beyond the Tweets to offer an account of Tuesday's Cypress Point First Tee fat cat get together where "The Match" was to be recreated. But as Shipnuck points out, with Fred Couples WD'ing, the old guys v. young guys vibe of the original could not be recreated.

More important though was Cypress holding its own against today's players. Granted, it took tucking the holes in wacky places, but with Tom Fazio and a sector of the membership itching to turn his mediocre mitts on another masterpiece, we'll take anything that convinces the membership the course is just fine the way it is.

The club has steadfastly -- some would say heroically -- refused to touch its timeless 6,524-yard layout. There is a feeling among much of the membership that by not supersizing Alister MacKenzie's original design, Cypress has become a living, breathing monument to how much modern equipment has affected the game. On the subject of retrofitting Cypress, Tom Fazio, who has overseen the lengthening of Pine Valley and Merion, once told me, "There have been some discussions, but nothing official. Defiance is too strong a word, but Cypress is a unique place, and change is not a priority."

Ugh.

Anyway, the players loved it...as you'd expect.

The match ended on the next hole, 2 & 1. For the round Love shot 67, Watson 70, Watney 71, Fowler 73.

Love called it "a newspaper 67" in a nod to a few gimmes, but PGA Tour rules official Mark Russell defended his scorekeeping.

"It's about as official as the first time around," Russell said. "If Hogan made a 30-footer for birdie I don't think Byron was grinding over his five-footer for par."

On a windless day, with soft greens, the scoring wasn't nearly as torrid as what the old-timers managed with their pre-historic equipment; in addition to Hogan's 63, Venturi shot a 65 and each of their partners carded 67.

Fowler ranks 58th on the PGA Tour in driving distance, at 293.2 yards a pop, but he found Cypress Point spacious enough to hit driver 10 times. "I think it stands the test of time," he said.

Love opted for more 2-irons and 3-woods off the tee. "Any MacKenzie course you have to think your way around it," he said. "This place is going to give you some birdies, obviously. But if you get out of position you can make a double bogey in a hurry."