The Big Easy report

I’ll actually be in Hawaii for only one day and then I’m heading back to California, to San Diego to be precise, for this week’s Accenture World Matchplay – the first WGC event on the 2006 schedule. It’s the first time I’ve played in this event since 2003. I imagine you’ll all be familiar with the format; 18-hole matchplay for the first four days and, if you make it to the final, a 36-hole showdown on Sunday.It all kicks off on Wednesday and I’ll be making sure I get in a couple of practice rounds before then. If I’m being honest, this is one event on the PGA Tour where my record really isn’t good. It’s a tough thing to explain.

The good news is, I’ve just sneaked ahead of Phil in the World Rankings, up to number 4, so I get one of the seeded spots in the four different ‘brackets’, along with Tiger, Vijay and Retief. That means I don’t get to play any of those guys until at least the semi-finals, although let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. I’ve got to make it that far yet – and I haven’t managed that since 2001 in Australia, where I lost in the semis. (More here.)