The European Tour’s finest will set a new record when they head into the first World Golf Championship event of 2009, the WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship, next week, where almost 75 per cent of the field will be fully paid up Members of The European Tour.
Of the 64 competitors who will go head-to-head at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, 47 are European Tour Members, smashing last year’s record of 31 entrants.
Henrik Stenson, winner of the WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship in 2007, will be hoping to continue his hugely impressive record at the event, having won the title two years ago and finished third last year after taking the World Number One Tiger Woods to the final hole in the semi-final.
Woods went on to win 12 months ago, but the golfing world will have to wait until 5pm (ET) in the United States this coming Friday, February 20, the deadline for 64 qualified players to confirm their participation, to see if Woods will defend his crown.
Whether he plays or not will not deflect from the record number of European Tour Members competing in the event.
Of that record 48 players, eight will be making their debuts at the WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship, namely: Søren Kjeldsen, Lin Wen-tang, Prayad Marksaeng, Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen, Alvaro Quiros, Charl Schwartzel and Oliver Wilson.
