World's top 64 players set for Accenture Match Play field

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The field for next week's 2009 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship is finalized, with every player from the top 64 of the Official World Golf Ranking committed to play in the first World Golf Championships event of the year.

The top seeds in each bracket for the Accenture Match Play Championship are Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington and Vijay Singh -- the players ranked No. 1-4 in the world, respectively.

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The top 64 from the World Ranking (released on Monday, Feb. 16) had until 5 p.m. ET on Friday to officially commit to the tournament. Brackets will be released on Sunday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. ET, when they become official. Play begins on Wednesday, Feb. 25, at a new venue this year, The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, in Marana, Ariz.

The four brackets at the Accenture Match Play Championship 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.

Woods, the highest-ranked player from the Official World Golf Ranking, will be the top seed in the Bobby Jones bracket. Garcia, the second-ranked player in the world, will be the top seed in the Gary Player bracket, while Harrington and Singh will be the top seeds in the Snead and Hogan brackets, respectively.

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. He is scheduled to play Australia's Brendan Jones in the first round.

Garcia's best finish at the Accenture Match Play Championship is a tie for ninth, which he has done in 2000, 2002 and 2005. He is scheduled to play South Africa's Charl Schwartzel in the first round.

Like Woods, Harrington is making his 10th start at the event, where he has tied for fifth twice, in 2004 and 2006. He is scheduled to play American Pat Perez, the winner of this year's 50th Bob Hope Classic hosted by Arnold Palmer, in the first round.

Singh, the 2008 Bridgestone Invitational champion, will be looking for his second consecutive World Golf Championships win. His best finish at the Accenture Match Play Championship came last year when he tied for fifth. The defending FedExCup champion is scheduled to play Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen in the first round.

Several players are hoping to make their first start in a World Golf Championships event a good one: USA'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 Kieldsen (No. 61); and South Africa's Schwartzel (No. 63).

The first World Golf Championships event of the season certainly reflects the global nature of the sport. A total of 47 players, nearly three-quarters of the field, are from outside the United States. Nineteen countries are represented, which ties the record for the Accenture Match Play Championship (2006).

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.

In the event a player withdraws from the Accenture Match Play Championship before the brackets are released on Sunday, the next player in the Official World Golf Ranking gains entry into the field and the brackets are re-ordered. If a player withdraws after the brackets are released, the next player on the alternate list takes his place in the bracket.

The next three players on the Official World Golf Rankings are: Richard Green (No. 65); D.J. Trahan (No. 66); and Ryo Ishikawa (No. 67).

Tickets to the Accenture Match Play Championship may be purchased by clicking here.