The WGC-Accenture Match Play started today with a 64-man field. This is Rory McIlroy’s first start of 2014 in North America (and 5th appearance at this tournament) and before the start of it, he joined Stephan Watson from the BBC to talk about the Match Play format, his game plan leading up to the Masters and playing under pressure. There should be plenty of pressure this year as he comes off a disappointing 2013 season, winning only once at the Australian Open.
His game will need to be sharp and hopefully, he won’t have too many errant shots like the one you see below! We love his reaction after the shot – it’s definitely something we’ve all done before! We hope the person that got startled by his shot is doing okay though!
Rory is also continuing his tournament bag auctions for charity in 2014. For the WGC-Accenture Matchplay, he is using a Bose golf bag which will be auctioned off at the end of the tournament with all the proceeds going to the Rory Foundation.
In other Match Play news though, as expected, it was a day full of surprises. The first surprise being Rickie Fowler defeating Match Play master Ian Poulter 2 & 1. Other popular names that failed to advance include Luke Donald (who lost 5 & 4 to Matteo Manassero), Zach Johnson, Dustin Johnson, Keegan Bradley, Lee Westwood, Graham DeLaet and Steve Stricker. We’ll see how the rest of the tournament goes – who is your pick to win the Match Play this year? Let us know in the comments below – we’re hoping for a McIlroy or Stenson win!
