With the 64-man field confirmed for the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship, Lee Westwood will lead the European Tour charge to the USA as the number two seed.
With the world’s top two players – Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson – set to miss out at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain - Marana, Arizona, Westwood, the World Number Four is the second highest ranked player in the field behind Steve Stricker of the USA.
Joining Westwood in a diverse and hugely talented group of European Tour Members is the defending champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia, the 2007 WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship winner Henrik Stenson as well as Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington and Ian Poulter from the world’s top ten.
The first round of match play, featuring 32 head-to-head matches, begins on Wednesday, February 17 at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.
The draw is broken down into four sections, with Stricker, Westwood, Jim Furyk and Kaymer heading a section each as the top four seeds in the competition.
The four sections are named in honor of Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Sam Snead. Players in each of the four brackets are seeded No. 1 through No. 16, with the top-ranked golfer playing the No. 16 seed, No. 2 pairing off against No. 15, No. 3 vs. No. 14, and so forth in the first round.
Stricker became the No. 1 overall seed by virtue of Woods' decision not to compete in the Accenture Match Play Championship. Stricker, who won the Accenture Match Play Championship in 2001 as the No. 55 seed, joins Woods (1999, 2000, 2002-2004, 2006-2009), Ernie Els (2001) and Vijay Singh (2005) as the only No. 1 overall seeds in the history of the tournament. He will be the No. 1 seed in the Bobby Jones Bracket.
Westwood earned the No. 2 overall seed when Mickelson withdrew due to a conflict with family plans. The appearance will be Westwood's 10th in the event as he looks to improve on an Accenture Match Play Championship record in which he has never advanced past the second round. Furyk will also make his 10th appearance in the Accenture Match Play Championship while Kaymer will make just his third. Westwood will be the top seed in the Gary Player bracket while Furyk and Kaymer will be the top seeds in the Snead and Hogan brackets, respectively.
The direct beneficiaries of Woods and Mickelson not competing are Englishmen Chris Wood (No. 65) and Ross McGowan (No. 66), who gained entry into the field by virtue of their standing in the Official World Golf Ranking. Both Wood and McGowan will be making their first appearance in the Accenture Match Play Championship.
Other first-timers hoping to make their Accenture Match Play Championship debuts memorable ones are: USA's Nick Watney (No. 33); Japan's Ryo Ishikawa (No. 34); Australia's Michael Sim (No. 35); Japan's Yuta Ikeda (No. 36); USA's Matt Kuchar (No. 42); Italy's Francesco (No. 45) and Edoardo (No. 48) Molinari; USA's Ryan Moore (No. 52); England's Simon Dyson (No. 53); USA's Brian Gay (No. 56); Sweden's Alexander Noren (No. 57) ; and USA's Kevin Na (No. 62).
