Feb. 16, 2010
By PGATOUR.COM staff
MARANA, Ariz. -- The first round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship begins Wednesday with 32 matches. Here's a look at each match of the GARY PLAYER bracket:
MORE BRACKET PREVIEWS: Sam Snead bracket | Ben Hogan bracket | Bobby Jones bracket
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| First-round matches |
| No. 1 LEE WESTWOOD (5-9) |
vs. |
No. 16 CHRIS WOOD (0-0) |
| Westwood is playing his 10th Match Play, but his first as one of the four No. 1 seeds. He's never had an extended stay, failing to reach the third round in his first nine starts. Three of his last six matches have gone into overtime, including a loss in 23 holes to Stewart Cink last year. Wood, who tied for third at last year's British Open, is making his first start in Tucson. |
| No. 2 HENRIK STENSON (12-3) |
vs. |
No. 15 BEN CRANE (2-2) |
| Stenson, the reigning PLAYERS champion in his first full year on the PGA TOUR, won here in 2007 and tied for third in 2008. But he was ousted in 21 holes by Davis Love in the first round last year. Crane, winner of the Farmers Insurance Open this year, has beaten Justin Leonard and Love in his two previous first-round matches. |
| No. 3 GEOFF OGILVY (17-2) |
vs. |
No. 14 ALEXANDER NOREN (0-0) |
| Pity poor Alexander Noren, who faces the daunting task of knocking off the defending champ, who seems to own the Tucson desert with two wins and a finalist appearance among his four starts. Ogilvy did lose in the first round two years ago to Justin Leonard, but Noren is a Match Play rookie and doesn't have the track record that Leonard does in match play events. The Swede doesn't exactly come in with momentum, either, having failed to crack the top 25 in his first three European starts, while Ogilvy already has a win at the SBS Championship in Hawaii. |
| No. 4 ERNIE ELS (9-10) |
vs. |
No. 13 RYAN MOORE (0-0) |
| Until last year when he reached the quarterfinals, Els had lost his four previous first-round matches, including a 6 and 5 loss to Jonathan Byrd in 2008. Moore is making his Match Play debut. In the previous World Golf Championships event, Els finished second and Moore third at the 2009 HSBC Champions in China. |
| No. 5 RETIEF GOOSEN (12-10) |
vs. |
No. 12 SOREN HANSEN (0-2) |
| Goosen, the consolation winner in 2005, has lost his previous two first-round matches. He played well in his first two starts on TOUR this year before missing the cut at Pebble Beach. Hansen also has lost each of his previous first-round matches in his two starts here, knocked off by Goosen's South African compatriot, Ernie Els, last year. He's been steady, if not exactly spectacular, in five European starts this year. |
| No. 6 CAMILO VILLEGAS (2-2) |
vs. |
No. 11 DUSTIN JOHNSON (0-1) |
| Considering the current state of their games, you get the feeling that these seeds should be switched. Johnson comes off a successful defense at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and is the current FedExCup points leader. Villegas, meanwhile, is making his first start of the year and comes off a disappointing 2009 when he had just four top-10 finishes in 21 starts. He did put up a good fight in Tucson last year, reaching the third round before losing to Geoff Ogilvy. |
| No. 7 Y.E. YANG (0-1) |
vs. |
No. 10 SOREN KJELDSEN (0-1) |
| Yang had a short stay last year with a 5 and 4 loss to Rod Pampling in the first round, but as anyone who saw him win the PGA Championship last year, he's capable of staring down anybody, even the game's best player. Kjeldsen also has little experience in this event, having lost to Vijay Singh last year. Yang has been the steadier of this two on their respective tours this season, with two top-20 finishes on the PGA TOUR. |
| No. 8 NICK WATNEY (0-0) |
vs. |
No. 9 YUTA IKEDA (0-0) |
| Both players are making their Match Play debuts. Watney has one top-10 finish in four TOUR starts this year (Farmers Insurance) and finished fifth in his last World Golf Championships event in China. Ikeda produced four wins on the Japan Tour last year. |
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| PGATOUR.COM staff predictions |
| Match |
Lauren
Deason |
Mike
McAllister |
Helen
Ross |
Ryan
Smithson |
Brian
Wacker |
Nick
Zaccardi |
Lee Westwood (1) vs.
Chris Wood (16) |
Westwood |
Westwood |
Westwood |
Westwood |
Westwood |
Westwood |
Nick Watney (8) vs.
Yuta Ikeda (9) |
Watney |
Watney |
Watney |
Watney |
Watney |
Watney |
Ernie Els (4) vs.
Ryan Moore (13) |
Els |
Moore |
Els |
Moore |
Els |
Moore |
Retief Goosen (5) vs.
Soren Hansen (12) |
Goosen |
Goosen |
Goosen |
Hansen |
Goosen |
Goosen |
Henrik Stenson (2) vs.
Ben Crane (15) |
Stenson |
Stenson |
Stenson |
Crane |
Crane |
Stenson |
Y.E. Yang (7) vs.
Soren Kjeldsen (10) |
Yang |
Yang |
Yang |
Kjeldsen |
Kjeldsen |
Yang |
Geoff Ogilvy (3) vs.
Alexander Noren (14) |
Ogilvy |
Ogilvy |
Ogilvy |
Ogilvy |
Ogilvy |
Ogilvy |
Camilo Villegas (6) vs.
Dustin Johnson (11) |
Johnson |
Johnson |
Johnson |
Johnson |
Johnson |
Johnson |
|
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