Day 1 at Harding Park full of intriguing matchups

SAN FRANCISCO – While the one-and-done pressure that made WGC-Cadillac Match Play Wednesday the best hump day in golf has gone the way of the dodo bird, in its place is three days of round-robin roulette.

Players from each of 16 groups will square off at Harding Park on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (96 matches in total), which, in theory, would mean increasing pressure as hopefuls vie for a spot in Saturday’s Sweet 16.

Conversely, while Wednesday’s opening match isn’t exactly do-or-die, there will still be an exponentially increasing level of intrigue for the PGA Tour’s only individual match play event starting with what may be the proverbial “group of death” that includes world No. 1 Rory…