Video: Ben Martin's 17th Hole Ace, WGC Cadillac Match Play

It was the shot of the day on an otherwise mixed-bag day of golf at Harding Park.

Ben Martin, playing 239 on the par-3 17th:

Favorites didn't fare too well on day one, but they have two more days to get things right, as Rex Hoggard notes for GolfChannel.com.

Consider that seven of the day’s first nine matches went to the lower-ranked player and that when the final putt dropped past 10 p.m. on the East Coast things had only gotten slightly better for the favored, with 13 of 32 matches going to the lower seed on Day 1.

It’s always been the axiom at the Match Play, which defies the pathological desire in sports to clearly define favorite and underdog. This however, is no NCAA tournament, where Cinderella stories are the stock in trade.

Rory McIlroy noted that the energy wasn't quite the same as previous match play Wednesdays. Jeff Babineau reports for Golfweek.com:

“I’m not sure the urgency on this Wednesday is right there,” McIlroy said, comparing it to the one-and-done format used in the past. This week, players are guaranteed three matches. “It’s very important to win any match, but obviously your first match. You’re facing a bit of an uphill struggle if you don’t win that one today. … All of a sudden, you’re not in control of your own destiny.”

We ended up with 245 in the GeoffShackelford.com league. Many thanks! I'm still sorting out how we're going to get results and do prizes, but it'll sort itself out. This should be fun come Friday night when we can start seeing results. And next week with the new PGA Tour Fantasy launch this may be a good test run.

Update on Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 08:58 AM by Geoff

**Steve Elling previews some of the best day two matches.

Update on Thursday, April 30, 2015 at 10:30 AM by Geoff

**Doug Ferguson with this for the some-things-never-change-department of the match play:

Four of the top-10 seeds lost Wednesday - Henrik Stenson (3), Justin Rose (6), Jason Day (7) and Adam Scott (9).

Meanwhile, it was the fourth time in the last six years that the No. 64 seed won in the first day of matches. The difference this time is that Francesco Molinari didn't have to play the No. 1 seed, Rory McIlroy. There was a lottery draw to fill out the teams. Molinari wound up playing Scott, and beating him with ease, 5 and 4.

Comments

[Chicago John]

What a turnout Shack! What are you giving away, free front row Dodger tickets or something?

[GW]

I think people are under-rating the urgency of winning the first match because it isn't a true one-and-done format. Those who lost yesterday have about an 8% chance of advancing out of the group stage (winners 42%). Such a player would have to win both his remaining matches and then hope the guy he lost to either goes 0-2 (which would allow him to advance) or goes 1-1 in which case would get him into a three-way tie half the time.

Hopefully we'll see a few groups where everyone is 1-1 going into Friday.

[BrianS]

@GW - I agree - the absence of ties is what makes this so different from the World Cup group stage, where you have a good amount of ties and the ability to accumulate some points via that route.

[threeputtblues]

In the not too distant future, as this revamped structure matures, any discussion of the wannabe "5th major" will revolve around this event, and justifiably so. Great field, a longer test of golf to determine a champion, and the match play format simply distinguishes it from the sameness of every other major. The pool system adds an element of entertainment, intrigue, and potential drama that no other tournament can offer on a Friday afternoon. I

[Convert]

New format is great for many reasons, there is still hope if you run up against a buzzsaw in the first match. Will be interesting if there are some 3 way ties on Friday afternoon.

Doubt it gets to 5th major status, but if successful, I could see PGA Championship adopting the format to go back to its match play roots.

[nancy]

I had to yawn...it was kind of boring. Can some of the posters here help me get excited about this?