Jordan, Bubba, Justin, Dustin, Kuch Out: New Match Play Format Has Problems

Halfway through the WGC-Cadillac Match Play, you needed breadcrumbs, bloodhounds, a couple seeing eye dogs and the Long Island Medium to figure out who was in and who was out and what each match meant. The hope was that this new format would keep more top players around for the weekend.

So much for that.

In the Round of 16, which started Saturday morning, there were five of the top 16 players remaining. Four of them were playing each other. That meant only three would make it through to the Round of 8.  

It was hoped that this new format would keep top players around for the weekend and increase fan interest, but as Hank Haney said on his PGATour.com program, the format is too hard to understand. Plus, the idea of two guys playing each other for a Friday match that was meaningless seemed ludicrous. Not one to sugarcoat it, Haney tweeted, "Format is awful. Top 64 in the World, what do they care about a few extra $ and a few extra Fed Ex points?"

The following top 16-ranked players were dismissed before Saturday: (2) Jordan Spieth, (3) Henrik Stenson, (4) Bubba Watson, (6) Justin Rose, (7) Jason Day, (8) Dustin Johnson, (9) Adam Scott, (10) Sergio Garcia, (11) Jimmy Walker, (14) Matt Kuchar, and (15) Patrick Reed. And that might not be what the creators imagined.

So much for the goal of having the higher-rated players around for the weekend.

No offense to those who played their brains out and advanced. They succeeded in the format as presented. That's all they needed to do.

Meanwhile, we learned who Danny Willett is. We found out there's a Fleetwood other than Fleetwood Mac. We were treated to a cliffhanger Saturday evening when the Rory McIlroy/Paul Casey match did not finish due to darkness, although not having a conclusion was slightly unsatisfying after all that time on the sofa.

In addition to either McIlroy or Casey for the Sunday rounds, we will see the aforementioned Danny Willett, Gary Woodland and Jim Furyk. Furyk is currently No. 5, Woodland is No. 52, and Danny Willett has been hovering in the 50s since the Abu Dhabi tournament in January. Before that, his ranking was in the 80s.

The way the brackets shake out, it means one semifinal could pit two top-10 players against each other or it could be one top-10 guy and one in the 30s. The other semifinal will be two players ranked in the 50s.

No matter what, the final will have a top-10 player facing a 50th-plus-ranked player. Maybe that's an OK outcome, but it seems a little lopsided, although match play often is.  

Before every match play event, people say they love it. What they love is the idea of seeing guys like Tiger and Phil playing each other on Sunday afternoon. That never happens. Then people get disenchanted. They complain about the format, as though there should be some other outcome expected in match play when the nature of match play is unpredictable.

While the PGA Tour felt it needed to try something new, given this week's results, maybe it's back to the drawing board. Or like the first two years of the FedEx Cup, it needs "tweaking."

So what do other events with match play do?

The U.S. Amateur starts the field with two rounds of stroke play and then it has a cut. What would be wrong with two rounds of stroke play and a cut of 50 percent of the field, except for the top 16?

Then go to match play and seed the players, No. 1 through No. 16, in brackets.

If they want an extra twist, they could offer lower players a chance to move up to become a seeded player on the basis of their score in the stroke play rounds.  

The top 16-ranked players who made the cut could be seeded according to their world ranking. Then the rest of the 16 slots could be filled out by picking players out of two air-powered ping-pong ball machines, or by having sponsors draw from two fishbowls.

One would contain players who made the cut and were not in the top 16 in the world, and the other would contain those in the top 16 who participated in stroke play and had a poor finish for the stroke play rounds, even if they missed the cut.

The first drawing would fill out the seeded players to get to 16 guys. It would come from those who made the cut and were not top 16 in the world. No more would be drawn from that bowl until the second drawing was concluded.

The second drawing would be from those top 16 players who did not score well in the stroke play.

That way, the top 16 could be protected as participants through the Round of 16 no matter where they finish in stroke play. But their seeding could be affected. They would have to take their chances in the draw.

If there are any slots left in the matches, it's back to the first fishbowl.

For example, if Rory McIlroy were to finish 64th out of the stroke play, he would enter the Round of 16 by being drawn from the fishbowl of top 16 players who played poorly in the stroke play. He would not be seeded No. 1. He could be anyplace.

Is that equitable? No. But neither is it equitable to group players in groups of four based on their world ranking and have them all play each other when one guy is ranked first and another one might be ranked 56th or 64th. There is nothing fair about No. 1 playing No. 64. It's just the way sports people have chosen to do it.

Fairness left a long time ago. It's about opportunity.

The two fishbowls give the ranked players an advantage. But so does the current format if they are playing to form.

In the current system, the top players should emerge in the Round of 16 if they are playing to their ranking, but it does not guarantee they stay around for Saturday and Sunday.  

Regardless of any other modifications that might be made for 2016, the "go home or go home" matches (as Ian Poulter called them), where guys who are 0-2 play each other, should be scrapped. If both competitors are 0-2, they should both be excused and get last-place money. It's enough pain to have the two losses and know you are not advancing. Playing another match that is totally meaningless to anyone is about as much fun as getting antiseptic on a scraped knee.  

Kathy Bissell is a Golf Writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials from the PGA Tour, USGA, R&A or PGA of America.