"On Our Mind" Golf Blog

Day two at the Accenture World Match Play Championship saw number one seeds Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson sent packing as the underdogs continued to prove that anything can happen in a match play scenario.

Westwood, the #1 player in the world, continued his unimpressive record at this event as he lost 1-up to American Nick Watney. The 37-year-old Englishman, who has still never made it past the second round, struggled all day with his putting.

"I putted very poorly all day long. The game's in good shape, but I have just not worked hard on my putting and it showed today," Westwood lamented.

14 upsets, 8 matches going to extra holes and the defending champ being eliminated all highlighted a wild first round at the 2011 Accenture World Match Play Championship held at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona.

2010 champ Ian Poulter of England was dethroned by American Stewart Cink on the 1st playoff hole.  Poulter, who never trailed in the match, became the first champion since 1999 to exit in Round 1.

"It's a big win for me,” said Cink. “Poulter is clearly one of the toughest golfers in this format so my attitude was basically that I can’t win the title unless I win the first match so I simply went for it”.

One extra day of play followed by two extra holes were just what Mark Wilson needed to win the 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Wilson nailed a 9-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole at the TPC-Scottsdale’s Stadium Course to defeat Jason Dufner and earn the $1,098,000 winner’s check. Wilson finished the five day event with a -18/ 266 and skillfully posted all four rounds in the 60s.

The gorgeous weather finally returned to the 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open on this Super Sunday and 61,923 fans witnessed loads of good golf before departing to watch the Big Game.

Wisconsin native and rabid Green Bay Packer fan, Mark Wilson held a two shot lead over Tommy Gainey, Vijay Singh and Jason Dufner when the PGA TOUR suspended play for the day.

For tomorrow’s Monday final, he and Gainey will resume the final round on the 13th green. Both will have 20 foot birdie putts to start their last round.

Friday began with precautionary, later-than-normal scheduled tee times. It ended at just after 6 pm with darkness closing out a fine day of golf at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

In between, the unusual became the norm. There was yet another frost delay, although this one lasted “only” 90 minutes. Camilo Villegas, the world’s 41st ranked golfer, withdrew from the event citing a bad back caused from the cold weather. No word on whether Villegas’ tournament worst Round 1 score of 78 caused his pain.

After a 4 hour delay, the 2011 Waste Management Phoenix Open finally got underway. Frost and frozen turf was again the culprit at the TPC-Scottsdale. The temperature eventually rose to 48 degrees and under bright, clear sunny skies, golfers went to work at 11:40 am.

Because of the setback, only 72 of the 132 player field finished the entire 18 holes. These 60 players will finish their first round tomorrow.  Tournament officials have optimistically set the initial tee time for 9:30 am while hoping for a minimal frost delay.

The Waste Management Phoenix Open Xerox Silver Pro-Am was cancelled today due to unseasonably cold weather that actually created a frozen golf course here at the famous TPC of Scottsdale.

The “high” temperature was just 44 degrees Fahrenheit. To put that in perspective, today’s peak number was 25 degrees lower than the average high for this day. Additionally, 20-30 mile per hour winds and a negative dew point made the day feel drier and even colder.

With a new name, the PGA Tour’s most entertaining event teed off earlier today. The 75th annual Waste Management Phoenix Open featured crystal clear blue skies, 75 degree temps and lots of solid golf.

A larger than usual field, 144 golfers, entered and well over half of them shot below par.

Camilo Villegas, fresh off his solid 3rd place finish at last week’s Accenture World Match Play, ripped off a 9 under, 62 to become the first round leader. The 62 was a career low for the Columbian star and the mark tied the lowest first round score in Phoenix Open history.

Here are the four Monday Qualifiers for the 2010 Waste Management Phoenix Open played earlier on Monday, February 22 at McCormick Ranch Golf Club in Scottsdale, AZ. Two amateurs with local roots both made the field.

- Philip Francis (amateur) from Scottsdale, Arizona. Junior at UCLA

- Braxton Marquez (amateur) from Scottsdale, Arizona. Senior at Arizona State University

- Bret Guetz (professional) from Fresno, California.

- Ben Fox (professional) from Sherman Oaks, California.

Decked head-to-toe in pink on a cloudy Sunday in the desert, England's Ian Poulter picked up his first PGA Tour victory and valuted to No. 5 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Poulter downed fellow Englishman Paul Casey 4 & 2 in the 36-hole final of the World Golf Championships - Accenture World Match Play Championship a day after making short work of Sergio Garcia (7 & 6) in the semifinal round. The tournament was held at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona.