Second-round bracket preview: Ben Hogan bracket

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Here's a look at the Ben Hogan bracket going into Thursday's second round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. OTHER BRACKETS: Bobby Jones | Gary Player | Sam Snead | Second-round predictions

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MOST INTRIGUING MATCH: Ernie Els vs. Steve Stricker. Both of these men are battle-tested when it comes to match play. Stricker is a former winner of this very event and both have excelled in international competition -- Els in the Presidents Cup and Stricker at the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup. These guys possess the essential, "never give up," attitude it takes to excel in match play.

MOST COMPETITIVE MATCH: Phil Mickelson vs. Zach Johnson. Both of these former Masters champions have already won in the 2009 season. Johnson took care of business in the second event of the season, the Sony Open in Hawaii. Mickelson, meanwhile, is fresh off a successful title defense last week at the Northern Trust Open. With both players showing such strong play, this match will be close.

POTENTIAL BLOWOUT WARNING: Vijay Singh vs. Luke Donald. And, for the record, that blowout could go in either direction here. Singh and Donald each won hard fought matches on Wednesday. That shouldn't take too much of a toll, but for Singh, he's still trying to bounce back from recent knee surgery. And Donald is also back from injury, having missed the second half of 2008 because of a wrist injury he suffered in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines.

POTENTIAL THIRD-ROUND MATCH: Vijay Singh vs. Steve Stricker. And this one sure would be fun to watch as these two players finished first and second, respectively, in the 1998 PGA Championship at Sahalee. The two went back and forth in that final round 11 years ago with Singh coming out on top, but that was stroke-play. How would it shake out in this format? Maybe we'll see.

Second-round matches

VIJAY SINGH (4) vs. LUKE DONALD (36) Singh and Donald are two players back from recent injuries. Donald might have the upper hand, however, since his wrist surgery was months ago, compared to Singh's knee surgery weeks ago. A win by either player wouldn't be surprising. ERNIE ELS (13) vs. STEVE STRICKER (20) A great match up between two match-play specialists. Els was a hero for the International Presidents Cup team in South Africa, matching Tiger Woods shot for shot in 2003 for an eventual tie and Stricker has had his share of success too. PHIL MICKELSON (5) vs. ZACH JOHNSON (28) Johnson is a scary player for Mickelson to face in the second round. His world ranking of No. 28 seems a little misleading. This guy did win the Masters in 2007 and did win in just the second event of the season. Mickelson has been hot too, though. LEE WESTWOOD (12) vs. STEWART CINK (21) The birdies will be flying when these two Ryder Cup stars square off on Thursday. For the longest time, Westwood was unstoppable in the Ryder Cup and the same can be said for Cink who is always solid as a rock.

NOTE: Official World Golf Ranking in parentheses.