The Vagaries of Stroke Play

The fluky nature of match play is once again a consistent theme at La Costa. A few players have pointed that they can have a so-so day in stroke play, but still win a four-day event with the lowest score. In match play, they can play okay, run into one hot player, and lose. So stroke play is better.

Well if consistency over four days is the mark of a champion, isn’t stroke play just as peculiar if someone shoots four 69’s and loses to someone who shoots 63-71-70-71? Head to head, the 69 shooter would win three out of four days.

In the World Match Play you still have to do something pretty special for five straight days. In this AP story, Tiger says not quite so. He claims that if they were it was stroke play one year he won, he might have finished 25th.

Perhaps this statement by Phil Mickelson sums up why some of us consider match play more demanding, revealing, interesting and pure.

"The things I like about match play are the things that I don't like about it,'' said Mickelson. "And the toughest thing is the anxiety that builds up between rounds. But that's the thing I love about it, the uncertainty of it all."