World Match Play / Bill Elliott / 21 February 2008 / Leave a Comment

Knuckle-headed JB prodded the Tiger at the WGC Match Play and got mauled. Bill Elliott on an opportunity wasted in Tuscon

Wednesday was a good night for channel hopping and an even better one for my wife to decide to go out.

Freed of spousal responsibility - pared down this amounts, for the most part, to pretending to care what she wants to watch on TV - I was able to flick betwixt United losing in France, Arsenal failing to score in London and, glory be, The Great One losing in Arizona.

Eventually, of course, it all more or less came good. The Mancs drilled in a late equaliser - well, the Argentine Manc drilled it in - The Gunners should have won but didn't, while, in the desert outside Tucson, Tiger got angry and whacked JB Holmes who had been three holes up with five to play in the Accenture Match Play. This was partly down to Woods' overwhelming ability to force events his way but mostly down to a curious decision by Holmes.

This knuckle-headed play by Holmes came on the 16th green when Woods had two putts from about 20ft for the hole. Instead of flipping Woods' ball into his hand, the clueless Holmes stood back silently and watched his opponent try to get down in two from 20 ft. The look of contempt that flickered across Tiger's face at this 'diss' was soon evaporated by the whoop of delight when he holed the first one. The rest is now recent history, Tiger holing another long one at the next hole for a typically bravdo-fuelled victory, landing odds of [15.0] to win the match in-running on Betfair.

The big point here is not that Woods won but that Holmes's naivety about match play helped his opponent come back from what should have been an impossible position. JB made Woods angry and an angry Woods is the most dangerous animal in golf. Superficially thick-skinned, Tiger actually is a rather sensitive soul who takes umbrage at the slightest perceived slight.

By not conceding the 16th, his opponent only increased Tiger's focus and determination. This is how match play works at their level. And, to be fair, at ours too. Psychology rarely enters stroke play scenarios but in knockout golf it is an ever present companion. The trick is to encourage your opponent to think that, really, you couldn't give a stuff about him. Instead, Holmes showed that he was crawling towards the line called 'desperate'.

Joe Carr, perhaps the finest Irish amateur ever to play the game, once remarked that while stroke play is the better test of golf, match play is the best test of character. It is a thought that still resonates 40 years after it was first uttered. On top of everything else he possesses, Woods has character in spades. He doesn't just enjoy being number one, he really, really, loves it, craves the attention and luxuriates in the compliments.

Sometimes, understandably, he gets just a tad bored by it all but what Holmes managed to do in Arizona was to give Woods an extra reason for wanting to make the next round. This is a good thing for the event and an even better thing for the TV channels as well as all you punters. The probability still remains that Tiger will not win this title - 18 holes match play is far too unpredictable for that - but while he is there the global TV audience will be massive.

Take him out of it and the ratings will fall by around 50 per cent. This is his power, this is why he is treated so royally and simperingly by event organisers and television interviewers who usually ask their inane 'how do you feel champ?' questions while lying on their backs and making meowing noises.

Two years ago this unedifying spectacle was gloriously interrupted when the BBC's Julian Tutt approached Woods who had just lost in the first round of the World Match Play at Wentworth and asked if he had been really trying that day. The look of shock that cascaded over Tiger's face at this audacity still drips wonderfully through my memory. Not so glorious for Julian, however, for last time I looked this perceptive bloke was not at Wentworth for the BBC.

As I said, Woods can be a touchingly sensitive wee soul.

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