WGC-Accenture Match Play final: Ogilvy holds almost all the aces

There’s a current of opinion that Geoff Ogilvy’s luck cannot last for ever. To quote Fred Albers’ colourful analogy on XM radio: “You can only make so many passes at the craps table before you come up snake eyes.” Coupled with the fact that Henrik Stenson is playing some superlative golf in the Arizona desert, it gives us all hope that at least Sunday’s final will be a contest to remember.

But I cannot see Ogilvy coming this far to have an off day at the final hurdle. He has been the man of the week by a country mile and, as this ESPN article admirably details, he has the experience that could prove the clincher in this exhausting weekend format. So that’s it, pure and simple.

Perhaps things might have been different if at least one of my fellow countrymen hadn’t flopped when the chips were really down. I guess I let my patriotic emotions get the better of me Saturday. I should have known better.

Paul Casey openly admits he played rubbish against Ogilvy in one of the tournament’s more disappointing encounters.

But for me Justin Rose’s failure against Trevor Immelman was much the more upsetting because, yet again I find myself bamboozled and frustrated by the player everyone keeps telling me is the next big thing. When, for goodness sake? “Oh you don’t understand,” they say, “he’s building up, he’s getting there, he’ll flower into a great player, you’ll see.”

All I see is crushing disappointment, again and again. “If it was strokeplay, I would have played some of the best golf out of anybody the first three days,” Rose said after his defeat. God give me strength. It’s no good, in strokeplay or matchplay, having three great days if the fourth is pants. I’m sorry, where’s that straitjacket and muzzle. That’s about the only thing that will shut me up about *!&*%$*!*! Justin.

Anyway, thank goodness someone finally found out how to halt the runaway Immelman train. I really can’t stand people who don’t do what I predict they will do.

PS: Back down south again and all credit to Fred Funk for seeing off that back pain to carve a two-shot lead.

There remains the question of whether, given his problems, he can hold up to a strong Sunday challenge. Trouble is, where is that challenge to come from?

Jose Coceres has posted some good numbers, but probably needs to hit another 65 or 66 Sunday to stand a chance. And the rest of the pack is at least five strokes adrift. Looks to me as if Funk only needs to fire something in the order of three under Sunday to clinch the deal, a fact clearly reflected in his price of just over 1.7.

But I have to say that, clearly in concert with the majority of punters, I cannot work up any enthusiasm for this competition whatsoever.