Fantasy Golf Predictions – 2014 WGC Accenture Match Play Championship

Fantasy Golf Predictions for the 2014 WGC Accenture Match Play Championship

Tournament Preview

Last week was another solid round of fantasy picks with total fantasy selection winnings coming in at $904,276.  This week, as the TOUR heads back to Arizona, it’s time to set your picks for one of the hardest tournaments to predict, the Match Play event.

Sixty-four players will face off in the desert for this exciting match play atmosphere, but only one will walk away with $1.5 million and 550 FedExCup Points. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Adam Scott will all be absent from the field this week, but other notables such as Henrik Stenson and Rory McIlroy (who we haven’t seen on TOUR yet in 2014) will be there to square off against some other big names like Zach Johnson and Justin Rose.  Matt Kuchar will also be back to defend his title while Dustin Johnson and Jimmy Walker try to continue to rack up FedExCup points.

2014 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship

The 2014 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship returns to The Golf Club at Dove Mountain where the top 64 players in the world will go head-to-head in a win or go home competition. . SUBSCRIBE to PGA TOUR now: http://pgat.us/vBxcZSh Welcome to the official YouTube channel of the PGA TOUR.

The Course

The Golf Club at Dove Mountain measures in at a daunting 7,791 yards and plays to a par 72. Just northwest of Tucson, this beautiful Jack Nicklaus design was already granted a bit to host the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship before the club even opened its doors back in 2008.

Dove Mountain consists mostly of wide fairways with difficult carries over desert brush.  The trickiest part of this track is the fast, undulating putting greens. If you recall in 2013, Arizona received substantial snow during this event, which PGA TOUR officials to delay play and finish days later. According the forecast this week, snow will be present just about everywhere else in the country, but this time it looks like Arizona is in the clear.

Photo by DoveMountain.com

Weather Forecast at The Golf Club at Dove Mountain (from weather.com)

• Round 1: Wednesday (Feb 19) 80 degrees, 10% chance of rain, partly cloudy.
• Round 2: Thursday (Feb 20) 83 degrees, 10% chance of rain, partly cloudy.
• Round 3: Friday (Feb 21) 82 degrees, 0% chance of rain, mostly cloudy.
• Round 4: Saturday (Feb 22) 81 degrees, 0% chance of rain, mostly sunny.
• Round 5: Sunday (Feb 23) 78 degrees, 0% chance of rain, sunny.

2013 Results

Last year, amidst the unusually chilly Arizona weather, Matt Kuchar jumped out to an early lead against Hunter Mahan and managed to seal the deal with a 2 & 1 victory to notch his first WGC title. Kuchar will look to john Tiger Woods (2003-04) as the tournament’s only back-to-back winners. He carries an amazing 15-3 record in this event and holds the highest winning percentage (83.3) of anyone with at least 10 matches played.  Although he dominated this event last year, we still have doubts about his chances this week after witnessing his terrible performance at Riviera a few days ago (which ended his consecutive cuts-made streak at 30).  We’re going to steer clear of him this week just based on what we saw from his game of late.

Notes

With the top 3 seeds in the World Rankings missing this event, the No.1 seed in the brackets will see a bit of a shuffle, which should make things more interesting.  U.S. Open champ Justin Rose, along with Rory McIlroy and Zach Johnson will take those top 3 seeds if nothing else changes in World Rankings before Thursday.

Matt Kuchar will look to john Tiger Woods (2003-04) as the tournament’s only back-to-back winners.  He carries an amazing 15-3 record in this event and has the highest winning percentage (83.3) of anyone with at least 10 matches played.  It’s going to come down to the guys who know how to win in match play events, so keep an eye on those stats when you make your picks.

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Our Top 5 (and Top 2 Sleeper) Picks/Odds to Win the 2014 WGC Accenture Match Play Championship

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Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win the 2014 WGC Accenture Match Play Championship

• Dustin Johnson (Golficity Odds 10/1):  Dustin is ranked No. 2 in the Snead Bracket. Although DJ has been knocked out in the first round 4 out of 5 times, he recently seems to have found something significant in his game.  Already with a win, two 2nds & a T6 this season, its tough not pick this true competitor in a match play event.  Dustin really wants that Ryder Cup nod this year, and we’re sure he’ll be looking to use this match play format to show everyone that he’s worthy of that selection.
• Hunter Mahan (Golficity Odds 12/1):  Hunter is no stranger to this event (playing in the final match last year against winner Matt Kuchar) and he’s been playing pretty well as of late.  Mahan is ranked 8^th in the Snead Bracket and goes up against Gonzalo Fenz-Castano in Round 1. Despite his T52 at Riviera, Hunter has been known to sharpen his game during match play events.  We like him as a high pick this week.
• Rory McIlroy (Golficity Odds 15/1): Rory will be in the Hogan Bracket with a No. 1 seed playing 16^th seed Boo Weekley in Round 1. Rory was runner-up here in 2012 and has been playing well since November. If Rory wants to step back into the spotlight winning an event such as this week’s match play championship is the way to do it. We’re giving Rory solid odds to make some serious noise this week.
• Keegan Bradley (Golficity Odds 22/1):  Keegan comes in as the 6^th seed in the Snead Bracket and will take on youngster Jonas Blixt.  If his putting game comes to life, Keegan can become a serious contender this week.  He could however meet the hot Bubba Watson in Round 2, so we advise you to pick him low this week.
• Jason Day (Golficity Odds 30/1):  Day is ranked the No. 2 seed in the Jones Bracket and will square off against Thobjorn Olesen.  Day finished third here last year, and has what it takes to win a match play event.  Dove Mountain also suits his long game perfectly and the way he attacks greens should help put him in great position this week. It’s also worth noting that Day claimed a co-runner-up spot recently at the Farmers, making it his best finish for the season so far.

Sleeper Picks/Odds to Win the 2014 WGC Accenture Match Play Championship

• Jordan Spieth (Golficity Odds 40/1):  Jordan is a rookie to this event but will be placed as the 3 seed in the Player Bracket. We keep saying this, but if he can just trust his putter, he can win any tournament he plays in. We like his chances to get into the deep rounds this week.
• Ian Poulter (Golficity Odds 66/1):  Poulter is playing in the Hogan Bracket this week. We all know that Ian Poulter is a rock star in match play events, but his game still has some significant issues to work out and we’re not sure if he has the stamina get through this star-studded field.  Pick him as a sleeper and don’t be shocked if he makes it into the later rounds.

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Last Week’s Results:  Top 5 Picks/Odds to Win the 2014 Northern Trust Open

• Jimmy Walker (Golficity Odds 10/1):  T20
• Hunter Mahan (Golficity Odds 12/1):  T52
• Dustin Johnson (Golficity Odds 15/1):  2nd
• Webb Simpson (22/1):  T70
• Graham DeLaet (Golficity Odds 30/1):  T70

Last Week’s Results: Sleeper Picks/Odds to Win

• Ryan Moore (Golficity Odds 45/1):  MC
• Bill Haas (Golficity Odds 50/1): T23

As always, if you have a prediction of your own to share, make sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

(Cover Photo Credit)