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After not making a comeback as suggested he might in the World Match Play tournament, Tiger Woods will be making a statement about his future on Friday. He had decided to take an indefinite break from the game after certain aspects of his personal life came to a head in the media. No-one is certain as to what his announcement will be, but it should reveal all about his place in the future of the game of golf. There was a lot of spectulation that Tiger would come out of the woods and play in the Match Play tournament, sponsored by Accenture, who was one of the sponsors which dropped Woods after his alleged extramarital affair.

While his announcement will occur during the tournament in Arizona, this perhaps this is a sign that he is ready to get his life and his game back in order. There will no doubt be an apology to the people he has let down, including his fans. There is still plenty of time for Woods to add to his glittering array of Majors this year, but once he does step back onto the tee in competition, he will be under even more scrutiny than before. Perhaps this is the first step back towards the game, in which his absence is having some major knock on effects.

In the Match Play tournament itself, which is unique on the PGA Tour as it is a knockout tournament, England’s Ross McGowan came up trumps after he beat the tournament’s top seed Steve Stricker in the second round. This truly was a case of top against bottom, as McGowan is the bottom seed in the tournament. Stricker wasn’t the only upset of the first round, as Ross Fisher, Kenny Perry, Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Angel Carbrera and Henrik Stenson all fell victim to first round losses.

This tournament is like a tennis tournament, broken down into four quarters, with a straight knockout and players trying to progress their way through the competition to the final. Tiger Woods has won the tournament three times, and would have been the perfect return to time. Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy who is strong favourite to win the tournament, comfortably got through the first round against Alexander Noren 7 and 5. He now goes on to play Camilo Villegas in the second round, who endured a first round match of up and down fortunes, and will have his work hard to get the best of Ogilvy.

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, one of the rising stars of the golf tour is through to the second round, but had to kick things up a gear as he was faced with elimination. He was matched up against Kevin Na and had to stage something of a comeback to squeeze through 3 and 2, and now goes on to play Oliver Wilson who knockout out veteran Jimenez in the first round. Britain’s Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood should be in the mix through the latter stages of the tournament. Poulter in particular is perfect for Match Play as he has that air of flair for this type of thing, and Westwood has looked in food form throughout the first stages of 2010 and will always be in with a shout.

There is some great golf to be played, but the big announcement by Tiger Woods threatens to overshadow that a bit. Hopefully not, as the last 32 players left in the tournament give it their bests to reach the final in this incredibly exciting singles Match Play tournament.

1st Quarter – Bobby Jones Bracket
Ross McGowan v Ryo Ishikawa
Robert Carlson v Thongchai Jaidee
Jeev Milkha Singh v Matt Kuchar
Ian Poulter (10/3 favourite to win Quarter at Stan James) v Adam Scott

2nd Quarter – Ben Hogan Bracket
Martin Kaymer (7/2 favourite to win Quarter at Stan James) v Tim Clark
Sergio Garcia v Anders Handsen
Rory McIlroy v Oliver Wilson
Robert Allenby v Luke Donald

3rd Quarter – Sam Snead Bracket
Jim Furyk (5/2 favourite to win Quarter at SportingBet) v Charl Schwartzel
Sean O’Hair v Stewart Cink
Paul Casey v Mike Weir
Brian Gay v Zach Johnson

4th Quarter – Gary Player Bracket
Lee Westwood v Nick Watney
Ernie Elsa v Retief Goosen
Ben Crane v Y.E. Yang
Geoff Ogilvy (11/2 favourite to win Quarter 5/2 at SportingBet) v Camilo Villegas

World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championships Outright
Geoff Ogilvy – 17/2 at Boylesports
Paul Casey – 12/1 at SportingBet
Rory McIlroy – 12/1 at William Hill
Martin Kaymer – 12/1 at Stan James
Lee Westwood – 16/1 at William Hill
Ian Poulter – 16/1 at BetFred

Mathematically. Wow, that’s a big word with which to start an article. I suspect it’s a personal best. Sorry, where was I? Oh,yes! Mathematically, only three men can prevent Rory McIlroy from winning the European Order Of Merit on the new Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai this week. The 20-year-old is in pole position to win the Race To Dubai, as the Order Of Merit has been re-branded, following a second to Frenchman Gregory Bourdy at the Hong Kong Open in Fanling, overtaking Lee Westwood, who had a bit of a nightmare in the former colony. Also suffering disappointment last week was Geoff Ogilvy, who failed to make an impact at the JBWere Masters in his native Australia so, with Paul Casey ruled out with injury, that leaves only Westwood, Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher (who did us a massive favour in the World Matchplay) as potential challengers to McIlroy’s claims to be European number one. The young Ulsterman, in only his second season on the European Tour, is a general 1-2 to collect enough prize money to ensure he finishes ahead of the bunch and a general 9-1 to end the year on a high by winning the Dubai World Championship itself. But nerves are surely going to play a part here. Westwood (a general 16-1) is vastly more experienced and, though his form has tailed off a little in recent weeks, he’ll be trying to exert maximum pressure on McIlroy with the big four, in the opening rounds at least, set to be out on the course at the same time. Kaymer must be cursing the fact (I nearly wrote kicking himself) that he missed two months of the season having broken toes in a karting accident but a win in Dubai, for which he is a general 14-1 chance, would still guarantee him top spot and his fate is still in his own hands, unlike Fisher (a general 20-1) who could still miss out if McIlroy or Westwood were to finish in the frame. And of course, there are almost 60 of the world’s best players out to spoil the party. Ernie Els has a fantastic record in Dubai and is back in form. At a general 16-1 he might be worth a saver, while Padraig Harrington is reported to have been thoroughly refreshed by a family holiday and will have some takers at a general 18-1. Trying to end the year with a bang, though, this columnist will be relying on Justin Rose. The Englishman has had a bit of an up and down season, dividing his time between Europe and America, but has been in a rich vein of form over the last eight weeks, recording under par 72-hole scores in every tournament he’s contested in that time, including a 17 under to tie for fourth place in last week’s Children’s Miracle Network Classic in Florida. Rose is another who likes the desert (he was second in the Dubai Desert Classic back in February) so I’ll be having an interest at 30-1 with boylesports.