How much is your handicap worth to you? For one golfer in Ireland, it's apparently worth €10m (about $13.2 million USD). In a bizarre story that, honestly, belongs in The Onion, 75-year-old golfer Thomas Talbot is suing his former club, Hermitage Golf Club, after the handicap secretary reduced his handicap by 7.7 shots between 1999 and 2004.

As the Irish Independent reported, Talbot claimed the handicap reduction took a personal toll on him over the last six years, as friends at his former club refused to play with him and labeled him a cheat.

The golf club claimed  that based on GUI Rule 19, they had an obligation to lower his handicap if they felt it was too high relative to his ability on the course. But Talbot didn't see it that way, and so here we are ... talking about a guy suing his golf club for a lowered handicap. A LOWERED handicap.

"This case has been going on for the past six years. It has been hugely stressful. I didn't care so much about the handicap issue, it is more the principle of it.

"I'd turn up for a competition and there would be nobody to play with. I have learned the hard way that friends are a funny species -- they're never there when you want them.

On one hand, I feel bad for Talbot because playing golf with friends is one of the best things on earth. But on the other hand, I want to know how he went five years without questioning his handicap. If this was such a big deal back then, why didn't he just talk to someone at the club and get things cleared up? That's the real question that needs to be answered.

You have to love guys like Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano. Most golfers -- with the exception of Stephen Ames -- wouldn't dare call out one of the greatest match-play competitors in the history of the sport just days before a head-to-head battle on the course.

You just don't talk trash when you're the underdog. There are rules about these sorts of things, you know. But the Spaniard didn't get the memo, telling the gathered media on Monday that Woods was "beatable."

"I think he's beatable," Fernandez-Castano said. "Of course, I need to play good. That's all I can think about and that's all I'm going to try on Wednesday, just try playing my best game and hope that he doesn't play his best."

Gulp. After talking about his chances against Woods, Fernandez-Castano went on to say later that he didn't think Woods "was at his best." Now I'm all for confidence in golf, but based on what's happened in the past when guys have trash talked Woods, it would have made a lot more sense for the Spaniard to stay low-key and go for the upset on the course.

[Video: Tiger Woods talks about his putting, match play format]

Woods, of course, responded on Tuesday by saying, "I feel exactly the same way as he does.  I feel he's beatable, too." Even though he claimed the comments wouldn't light a fire under him as they maybe would have in the past, you have to believe there will be some added motivation when he steps on the first tee tomorrow -- and the last thing you want to do is give Tiger Woods another reason to send you home with a 9&8 parting gift.

There's always a chance Fernandez-Castano could back up the words and look like a genius on Wednesday afternoon. But if he doesn't? Well, he'll go down in the books as just another trash talk wannabe with some serious chutzpah.

More from Yahoo! Sports: Tiger's funny response to diss

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It's tournament time! We continue the season at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, the only non-stroke play event on the PGA Tour schedule.  Here's a tournament primer to get you prepared for the week.

The course: For the fourth year in a row, The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain will play host to the WGC-Accenture Match Play. The 27-hole Jack Nicklaus course, located in the High Sonoran Desert, is one of the longest tracks on tour at 7,833 yards. But don't get hung up on the length of the course; Luke Donald won the event last year, so you know the course doesn't favor the bombers on the PGA Tour. Aside from some seriously generous fairway, you'll also notice the course's bunkering is all over the map. Dove Mountain not only has your standard bunkers, but pot bunkers and expansive waste areas that stretch over 50 yards. Hitting wayward shots isn't advisable ... unless, of course, you enjoy spending time in the desert vegetation.

The schedule: The tournament runs Wednesday-Sunday. It'll be broadcast on the Golf Channel from 12 to 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday,  2 to 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday; and on CBS from 2 to 6 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday. That's over 28 hours of live tournament coverage ... whew!

The field: Marana, Ariz., plays host to the top 64 players in the World Golf Rankings this week, but a few notable names decided to pass on the event -- including Phil Mickelson, who's going to be on Spring Break with his kids (what a nice guy). Other than Mickelson, this event definitely has a major championship feel to it. Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer are just a few of the notable names in the field. There's also some guy by the name of Tiger Woods playing this week.

The video: Check out some of the memorable moments from the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship's history.

Your turn. Who are your picks for this week? Swing away!

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