Seedings count for nothing in golf

Tennis players usually don't stand a chance in an opening-round match against the world's No. 1 player.

But this is golf, which means that while Pete Sampras and No. 64 Jiri Novak are nowhere to be seen, Tiger Woods might well have his hands full with Nick Faldo in the opening round of the Match Play Championship at La Costa Resort.

The Woods-Faldo match helps inaugurate both a new tournament and a new order of world golf in the first of three $5 million events this year.

By the time the last putt is sunk in today's opening round matches, half of the world's top 64 golfers will have been eliminated. And no less an observer than Greg Norman says it's very possible the casualties could include Woods, the top player in the field, who plays the 64th-ranked Faldo.

"Sometimes the underdog finds that little extra inside him," Norman said. "Somebody like Nick, knowing Nick's mentality and how strong his head is, he has found ways to win golf tournaments. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if he can find a way to win this."

Woods, the top seed because of his position atop the world golf rankings, plays Faldo in one of the premier matches of the day as match play returns to the PGA Tour in the most talked about new tournament in decades.

On Sunday, the lone player in the field who survives six matches -- the final one stretching up to 36 holes -- will walk away with a $1 million first prize.

"It's dog-eat-dog, every round," said Nick Price, who plays the first match of the tournament against Frankie Minoza. "It's going to be a survival."

The drama of match play and the magnitude of the field has done what didn't seem possible before -- turn a February tournament into an event that has attracted attention rivalling a PGA Championship.

"There is a lot of excitement in the air, a lot of buzz in the air," said Mark O'Meara, whose No. 3 ranking got him an opening match against Michael Bradley. "There is going to be some great matches and there is going to be some upsets."

Woods and David Duval, the No. 2 seed, are obvious favourites in the $5 million tournament that is the first creation in a series of three tournaments put together by golf's five world governing bodies.

But any player who gets on a birdie binge for a few holes is capable of an upset -- although it seems unlikely that Duval faces that kind of a threat from Australia's Stephen Leaney, his first-round opponent.

"The No. 1 seed, or basically any seed here, is kind of thrown out the door because the top 64 players are capable of beating each other on any given day," Woods said.

Woods, coming off a win just down the coast at Torrey Pines two weeks ago and a second-place finish at the Nissan Open last weekend, brings a potential to overpower a La Costa course playing much faster than previous years when it hosted the season-opening Mercedes Championship.

He also brings a pretty impressive history in match play -- including three straight U.S. Amateur championships before turning pro.

"You're going to have to make a lot of birdies," said Woods, whose most recent match play win came against Norman in the President's Cup in December. "It is a different type of format where pars here are just not going to get it done."

Faldo, on the other hand, is in the worst slump of his career, having not won in two years. The player who was once No. 1 in the world for 81 straight weeks has gone to a new instructor in search of a swing that can bring him back into contention.

Faldo, though, is an expert at match play, having won more Ryder Cup matches than any golfer in the world. Two of his 39 victories around the world came in England's World Match Play Championships.

"It's a good opportunity," Faldo said.

The first day of play features some intriguing matches, and one of the best might be Ernie Els against Paul Azinger. Tom Watson faces Bob Tway, while Vijay Singh opens against Rocco Mediate, winner of the Phoenix Open last month.

The winners advance to a second round Thursday, which will narrow the field to 16 players, and the winners of those matches Friday morning will have to play again in the afternoon to get to Saturday's semi-final matches.

Sunday's final is scheduled for 36 holes, with the winner picking up $1 million and the loser pocketing $500,000. The two semi-final losers play a consolation match, with $400,000 to the winner and $300,000 to the loser.

"That's not what I'm here for," England's Lee Westwood said of the huge purse. "But it is always handy."