Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington and Vijay Singh — the players ranked 1-4 in the world — are the top seeds in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, which teed off Wednesday morning at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, in Marana.
The four brackets at the Accenture Match Play Championship are named in honor of champion 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.
Woods is the No. 1 seed for the Accenture Match Play Championship for the seventh time in his career. He won the event in 2003, 2004 and 2008, and has finished tied for ninth twice.
Garcia’s best match play finish is a tie for ninth, which he has done in 2000, 2002 and 2005.
Like Woods, Harrington is making his 10th start at the event, where he has tied for fifth twice, in 2004 and 2006.
Singh, the 2008 Bridgestone Invitational champion, is looking for his second consecutive World Golf Championships win. His best finish match play finish came last year, when he tied for fifth.
First-time World Golf Championships starters are America’s Anthony Kim (No. 11); Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (No. 16); Spain’s Alvaro Quiros (No. 26); England’s Ross Fisher (No. 35) and Oliver Wilson (No. 43); USA’s Dustin Johnson (No. 45); South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen (No. 49); Thailand’s Prayad Marksaeng (No. 53); the World Golf Championships first player from Taiwan, Lin Wen-Tang (No. 54); Australia’s Mathew Goggin (No. 55); Denmark’s Soren Kieldsen (No. 61); and South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel (No. 63).
A total of 47 players, nearly three-quarters of the field, are from outside the United States. Nineteen countries are represented, which ties the 2006 record. Australia and South Africa lead the way with eight players each, followed by England, with seven. The other countries represented are Sweden (3); Spain (3); Denmark (3); Northern Ireland (2); Canada (2); Argentina (2); and one player each from Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Ireland, India, Germany, Fiji and Colombia.
Tickets to the Accenture Match Play Championship may be purchased by visiting www.worldgolfchampionships.com or by calling 1-866-WGC-AMPC (1-866-942-2672).
