OTF Wordle matchplay tournament 3

[Sam]

pebblethefish, a par 4 is all I could manage on the last hole. Over to you.

[Sean of the Shed]

It's a birdie 3 on the final hole, Sits

[Foot of Astaire's]

If there's just 2 options, it's uncanny how I always seem to pick the wrong one at present. Another dull 4 for me. Put me out of my misery ale

[pebblethefish]

pebblethefish, a par 4 is all I could manage on the last hole. Over to you.

Slotted home a 3 to take home the spoils. Thank you for a most enjoyable match.

[Simon G]

A par 4 on the final hole for me Rogin the Armchair fan

[nmrfox]

irony towers pressure applied with a birdie 3 on the final hole....

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

A par 4 on the final hole for me Rogin the Armchair fan

Simon G I spent a long time agonising over my birdie putt ... and lipped out! A par 4 for me means we shake hands on your win, and thanks for an enjoyable game. Good luck in the playoff if you get in!

[ale]

If there's just 2 options, it's uncanny how I always seem to pick the wrong one at present. Another dull 4 for me. Put me out of my misery ale

Bullet duly dispatched with a birdie 3 Foot of Astaire's. Your current run unfortunately coincided with an unforseen reversal of mine. Thanks for a good even game taken to the wire and if played again the result could well be different.

[Auntie Beryl]

Knees knocking, I bent over backwards to a birdie Harbinger of Hope

[lambers]

Well, we were warned... I only managed a 4, lambers.

Good luck, and thanks for a great match. You'll find me pissed, surrounded by adoring fans in the clubhouse.

Warned, or deliberately jinxed? *suspicious look at IT witchcraft*

I got a five, so your adoring fans have something to celebrate. Well played.

[Hot Orange]

WOM I fooled myself into a 5 this morning, giving you a chance to halve the match.

[San Bernardhinault]

I've ended my round with a 3

And I finished with a 4 and a victory for you. Which feels like a fair result after your very generous offer on the 7th. I do maintain my two current records - despite them being mentioned by irony towers in the round-up (and, in fact, I had no idea about them until that round-up) - of not having had a bogey (or worse) since round one and never having lost a Worldle Matchplay match by more than one.

[irony towers]

irony towers pressure applied with a birdie 3 on the final hole....

The pressure paid off as I talked myself out of the right choice for birdie and ended with a 4.

We go into a four- way playoff from tomorrow, along with Simon G and ad hoc.

[WOM]

WOM I fooled myself into a 5 this morning, giving you a chance to halve the match.

And I've surprised the gallery and myself with an uncharacteristic 3.

[Logan Mountstuart]

Warned, or deliberately jinxed? *suspicious look at IT witchcraft*

I got a five, so your adoring fans have something to celebrate. Well played.

Blimey, lambers, I spent the whole morning convinced I was a goner. Really nice match. I never actually led until the last hole.

[Simon G]

Simon G I spent a long time agonising over my birdie putt ... and lipped out! A par 4 for me means we shake hands on your win, and thanks for an enjoyable game. Good luck in the playoff if you get in!

A cracking game it was - think my Eagle got me over the line.

Now a playoff......Christ on a bike!!

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Golf history shows that often in sudden death, the least-fancied player wins. Remember Larry Mize against Greg Norman and Seve Ballesteros, Fuzzy Zeoller against Tom Watson, or Todd Hamilton against Ernie Els? So it's all up for grabs ...

[Sits]

It's a birdie 3 on the final hole, Sits

Well played, and my 4 means that the result is the only fair one. Thanks for an excellent match and I’m pleased to have taken it to the ninth.

[Sean of the Shed]

Well played, and my 4 means that the result is the only fair one. Thanks for an excellent match and I’m pleased to have taken it to the ninth.

Thanks also. It was a close fought contest all the way.

[Balderdasha]

Levin I've finished with a par 4 and await the outcome of the match. Thanks for playing.

[Harbinger of Hope]

Knees knocking, I bent over backwards to a birdie Harbinger of Hope

Balls. Got a 4.

[Logan Mountstuart]

Good luck to the 4 of you in the playoff tomorrow. I'll be cheering from the club house with a bottle of champagne in hand after my 24h bender. ( I've actually been trudging around Limburg for 12 hours, but in my head...).

[Levin]

Balderdasha all I could do was match your 4 which means you win the match. Congratulations on the victory and thank you for a good game with some swings in it.

[Auntie Beryl]

Balls. Got a 4.

A close match, which swung back and forth. Thanks for the game.

[irony towers]

Day 36 report:

Uneasy lies the head that may never get to wear a crown. What agonies I endured this morning, the tactical machinations spinning like Enigma dials: do I go early and set a target, or wait until I know what's needed? I'll do the first line and see... three greens - but oh no, it's one of those. Do I sacrifice a turn to eliminate options? Yes, I've got to narrow this down... hmm, not hugely helpful.

Then I drove the family to Harry Potter Studios, by which time nmrfox had posted a 3. GULP. This is exactly what I'd wanted to avoid: a one-shot stomach-churner for glory. In the queue for the broomstick ride, I thought it had come to me. Rats, no signal. We get the butterbeers in; now's the moment... only to find the imprecations of Birdiamus! had gone unanswered. Still, I can't grumble at halving with the illustrious nmrfox, who was always going to hit a groove at some stage. Many thanks for a fine match, Foxy, and very well done on a gutsy comeback.

A playoff will please the gallery, no doubt, and it does feel fitting for the most open and dynamic tournament we've had. With very few exceptions, everyone has been in with a chance in every match. Once everything is wrapped up I'll do the full statistical round-up, including the application of tie-breaks for 6th to 23rd places - unless lambers gets there first. Logan Mountstuart secured the all-important fifth place as yesterday's featured players, predictably, suffered a precipitous decline.

Three matches, and two further individuals, continued to the full extent of the match without carding a bogey; there had been just three such matches (over nine holes) in all previous WMT rounds combined. Eleven players were below par for the round without netting a full point; Sits has the strongest claim to the choreographed sympathy you get from an ITV studio audience, for going round in 6 under yet losing to the reinvigorated Sean of the Shed. The stroke averages of 3.71 across Round 4 and 3.82 for the entire tournament are new record lows in individual matchplay tournaments.

From 24 we are now down to four. Rogin the Armchair fan has read the runes of golfing lore and concludes that the outsider's chances may be elevated in a shootout; are there any takers for that mantle? If the standard tie-breaks were applied, based upon strength of opposition and proportion of holes won, the top performer in WMT3 would be Simon G followed by Foxy, me and ad hoc. Over the longer term, the tale of the tape is:

	Grade	WMT1	WMT2	Stroke ave.
nmrfox	229	1st	3rd	3.38
ad hoc	223	7th	2nd	3.55
irony towers	220	3rd	10th	3.73
Simon G	213	24th	13th	3.98

Stroke average is for all head-to-head holes in matchplay tournaments and Ryder Cups.

Gladiators: ready?

Completed Round 4 scoreboard:

	Pts	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Match
irony towers	3.5	5	3	2	3	5	4	3	4	4	Halved
nmrfox	3.5	4	4	4	4	3	4	4	3	3
Simon G	3.5	5	4	5	3	3	3	2	3	4	Won 1 UP
Rogin the Armchair fan	2.5	5	2	4	4	3	5	4	3	4
ad hoc	3.5	3	3	3	4	3	4	D	4	3	Won 1 UP
San Bernardhinault	2	4	4	3	3	4	4	3	2	4
Logan Mountstuart	3	6	3	3	3	4	4	3	2	4	Won 1 UP
lambers	2	4	3	3	5	3	4	3	3	5
Sits	2	3	4	3	4	3	4	3	2	4
Sean of the Shed	2.5	4	3	3	3	3	4	3	3	3	Won 1 UP
Hot Orange	2	4	4	4	3	3	3	3	4	5	Halved
WOM	2	4	4	4	4	3	3	F	3	3
Artificial Hipster	1.5	5	4	4	4	4	5	4
Sporting	2.5	4	2	5	4	3	4	4			Won 3 & 2
ale	2.5	3	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	3	Won 2 UP
Foot of Astaire's	1	4	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	4
Balderdasha	2	5	5	3	4	5	5	3	2	4	Won 1 UP
Levin	1	6	4	4	4	3	4	F	4	4
pebblethefish	2	3	4	2	3	5	4	3	3	3	Won 2 UP
Sam	0.5	2	5	3	3	4	5	3	3	4
Harbinger of Hope	0.5	4	4	4	5	4	5	2	3	4
Auntie Beryl	1.5	5	3	4	4	4	5	4	3	3	Won 1 UP
caja-dglh	1	3	4	5	3	4	4	1	5		Won 2 & 1
Discordant Resonance	0	4	4	4	5	3	6	5	5

Day 36 stroke average: 3.75