Global golf, a long and controversial time in the making, begins today. A great field, comprising the top 64 players in the world rankings; a good golf course in the shape of the La Costa resort in Carlsbad, California, and a $5 million prize fund are the ingredients for the launch of the World Golf Championships, in which the first event is the Andersen Consulting Matchplay.
The tournament, in addition to the intensive on-site media coverage, will be beamed to 150 countries in which a total of 250 million viewers will watch . . . well, just what will they watch?
Matchplay is a rarity in professional golf, and not just because most professionals detest the finality of it. Sponsors normally fight shy of it, too, because of what might be termed the DeWitt Factor which, being translated, means that you can never be sure of what you are going to get in your final.
This week Andersen Consulting are, naturally, hoping that Tiger Woods and just about anyone else gets to the last stage: Woods and, say, Colin Montgomerie would be ideal. But the problem is that you could also end up, this week, with Fred Funk versus Scott Verplank, and the DeWitt Factor shows clearly that this is not just determined pessimism.
In the early 1970s a tournament was created called the US Professional Matchplay and, to the dismay of all concerned, a journeyman golfer called DeWitt Weaver won. The sponsors were so upset that they re-jigged the rules, giving exemptions and byes to perceived good players, and, sure enough, Jack Nicklaus won the next one.
Having got the rules right, the event was played a third year and, guess what, DeWitt Weaver won again, beating fellow non-entity John Schroeder in the final. It was too much. The sponsors, by now at their DeWitt's end, pulled the plug and the tournament was never played again.
Matchplay, then, is risky, as illustrated when Lee Westwood said yesterday that he was hoping for a good week, before reminding himself that it might only be a day. He is as aware as the rest of the field that getting round in 66 is likely to be no good whatsoever if the other fellow is getting round in 64.
Westwood was asked about the Nick Faldo-Woods first-round match and was, as usual, perceptive. "This course," he said, "is set up for someone who hits the ball about 295 yards off the tee, not necessarily straight." As Faldo usually hits it about 230 off the tee, never deviating from dead centre, Westwood's meaning was clear, but he added: "Although there's not enough rough for my liking, Tiger could still take 72 and Nick, even playing badly, could beat that, so it's not a foregone conclusion."
The Worksop man is pleased with his form, having finished second in his last event, the Dubai Desert Classic. But he is aware that his first-round opponent, Eduardo Romero, although 55 places behind him in the rankings, at 60th, is precisely the type of dangerous opponent who could beat anyone on any given day.
That, indeed, was a lesson he learned early. When he was 17, the England Boys captain and playing off plus four, he took his father, John, handicap 14, out for a game. Westwood senior covered the first 10 holes in two-under par gross and won on the 11th. Lee won every remaining hole, but by then the gloating rights had gone.
Greg Norman, for so long the world number one but now, after, shoulder trouble and a long lay-off, down to 28th, was also canvassed for an opinion on Faldo's match. They are, of course, contemporaries, and Norman, winner of two majors, has a healthy respect for the Englishman's six.
"Knowing how strong his head is," said Norman, "I wouldn't be surprised if he found a way to win. He's been a great competitor for 20 years of his life and that never goes away."
And what does Faldo think? As usual, he has been a difficult man to speak to, greeting a bunch of journalists who dared approach his presence with expletive-littered, and short, sentences. Yesterday though, the local paper representative managed to get a reaction of sorts to an innocuous question about his game.
"My form," Faldo said, "is somewhere between karaoke and rap. Like, crap."
