Six European Tour Members face a challenging week as they chase the final qualification places available for the first World Golf Championship event of the 2006 season, the WGC – Accenture Match Play at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California.
The tournament takes place from February 22-26 but the cut off point for entries falls this Sunday night at the conclusion of the Johnnie Walker Classic on The European Tour and the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on the US PGA Tour.
With the qualification criteria being the top 64 players on the Official World Golf Ranking, the top 60 players look to be safe, but it is the players currently in positions 61 to 70 who will await the next OWGR with interest.
Of the European Tour Members involved, the three currently in the best positions are Australia’s Richard Green (61st), England’s Paul Broadhurst (62nd) and Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell (65th) although, interestingly, the trio have decided to take three different approaches to the week.
Green – who finished third in last week’s Dubai Desert Classic to move from 77nd to 61st - will play in his native Australia in the Johnnie Walker Classic, Broadhurst will have a week at home, while McDowell competes in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
The other three European Tour Members in the immediate shake-up are England’s Ian Poulter (67th), South Africa’s Trevor Immelman (68th) and England’s Nick Dougherty (69th). The two Englishmen will compete in Australia while Immelman, like Broadhurst, has decided to take the week off.
Although it is the top 64 who make up the field by right, previous years have seen a number of withdrawals in the run-up to the event meaning the qualification criteria has fallen below 64th place.
Defending champion at La Costa will be American David Toms who beat his fellow countryman Chris DiMarco in last year’s final. Toms had previously been runner-up to World Number Tiger Woods in 2003 and the World Number One – who also won in 2004 – will again take the mantle of the Number One seed for the five day event.
Going into this week, there are currently 27 European Tour Members within the top 64 on the Official World Golf Ranking.
