With the game's top 64 players going head-to-head, the WGC-Accenture Match Play should be one of the most eagerly anticipated tournaments of the year.
But so far it has yet to capture the imagination of the public.
 Can Tiger Woods finally win the Accenture World Match Play? |
In theory, it is a compelling package. Match-play golf is cut-throat and a close contest never fails to enthral. Yet even though it is now into its fifth year, this event at the La Costa Resort and Spa in California has still to find a way into our hearts.
That is despite the fact that it boasts a bigger and better field than its Wentworth rival and which has few rivals in the golfing calendar.
The big problem faced by the Accenture is that it has never been won by one of the sport's top stars.
The nearest a big-name player came to winning it was in 2000, when Tigers Woods lost out to Darren Clarke in the final.
Otherwise, the title showdowns have been rather anonymous affairs.
Kevin Sutherland overcame Scott McCarron last year, Steve Stricker defeated Pierre Fulke 12 months earlier, and the inaugural final in 1999 was won by Jeff Maggert, who saw off Andre Magee.
 Kevin Sutherland beat Scott McCarron in 2002 |
Not exactly box office stuff - and it all boils down to logistics.
To play a knock-out event with 64 players, spread over just five days, means matches have to be 18-hole sprints.
Over that distance, at the highest level, anyone can beat anyone.
Phil Mickleson pointed out, ahead of the last Ryder Cup, that even though Woods is the best in the world he rarely shoots the day's lowest round at any tournament.
The cumulative effect over four rounds is another matter, however.
Mickleson's words were to prove famously prophetic.
He himself fell to Europe's supposed weak link Phillip Price in the closing day singles at the Belfry.
 In the Accenture, the headlines tend to be made in the early rounds, where we can expect upsets aplenty |
Significantly, the World Matchplay at Wentworth has a sufficiently small field to be able to play its matches over 36 holes.
That ensures that, more often than not, the best man wins, so much so that the event's roll of honour has become a who's who of golf.
In the Accenture, the headlines tend to be made in the early rounds, where we can expect upsets aplenty.
Last year, Woods was beaten in round one, 2&1, by Australia's Peter O'Malley.
Mickleson was another faller at the first while Ernie Els lost to Tom Lehman in the second round.
Much as we'd love to see top seed Woods taking on Els, the world number two, in Sunday's best-of-36-hole final, history suggests it will not happen.
MMIX
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