Feb. 20, 2012
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM
The brackets for the 2012 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship were released on Monday. Here's a look inside the Gary Player bracket.
MORE BRACKET PREVIEWS: Sam Snead bracket | Ben Hogan bracket | Bobby Jones bracket
PRINTABLE BRACKET: Download the PDF file
| Player preview |
| BRACKET BREAKDOWN |
| Call it the bracket of the major winners (three of last year's four winners). Also call this the bracket of the Young Guns. Start with No. 1 seed Rory McIlroy (age 22), then add No. 2 Jason Day (24) and No.3 Charl Schwartzel (27), No. 5 Keegan Bradley (25), No. 8 Kyung-tae Kim (25), No. 11 Sang-moon Bae (25) and No. 14 Gary Woodland (27). Heck, even fourth-seeded Sergio Garcia seems perpetually young. Of course, all this needs to be balanced out, so enter Miguel Angel Jimenez, the oldest player in the field at age 48. In terms of countries represented, there are more Spaniards and Australians (three each) in this bracket than Americans (two). |
|
| BEST FIRST-ROUND MATCH |
| Just as the Snead bracket has the battle of the Swedes, this bracket has the battle of the Spaniards -- No. 4 Sergio Garcia vs. No. 13 Miguel Angel Jimenez. Garcia showed on Sunday at Northern Trust that he's still capable of fireworks at any time. |
|
| POTENTIAL SECOND-ROUND MATCH |
| If Charl Schwartzel can beat Gary Woodland and Ian Poulter can knock off Sang-moon Bae, then that'll set up a Schwartzel-Poulter matchup. The farm boy vs. the GQ fashion plate. Poulter's a tough out but Schwartzel showed his toughness at Augusta. |
|
| GETTING AHEAD OF OURSELVES |
| Rory McIlroy vs. Keegan Bradley -- two of the four major winners last year -- would be a showcase of the new generation. But Bradley, in particular, has a tough road. He must face two-time Match Play champ Geoff Ogilvy in the opening round, then face the Garcia-Jimenez winner should he survive. |
|
| BEST DOUBLE-DIGIT SLEEPER |
| That's pretty easy -- the 12th seeded Ogilvy, who won this event in 2006 and 2009 and was the runner-up in 2007 to Henrik Stenson. |
|
| Player seeds |
| 1 |
2 |
Rory
McILROY |
 |
Says his swing changes haven't fully clicked in, but he's still played well in recent weeks |
| Match Play appearances: 3 | Record: 5-3 | Best result: Quarterfinals (2009) |
|
| 2 |
7 |
Jason
DAY |
 |
Played well at European Tour's Qatar Masters but was in back of pack at first 2012 PGA TOUR start in Riviera |
| Match Play appearances: 1 | Record: 2-1 | Best result: Third round (2011) |
|
| 3 |
11 |
Charl
SCHWARTZEL |
 |
Reigning Masters champ has a couple of top-5 finishes in WGC events ... but not in this one |
| Match Play appearances: 3 | Record: 4-3 | Best result: Third round (2009) |
|
| 4 |
16 |
Sergio
GARCIA |
 |
Comes off a spectacular final round of 64 at Northern Trust in his 2012 TOUR debut |
| Match Play appearances: 9 | Record: 12-10 | Best result: Fourth place (2010) |
|
| 5 |
19 |
Keegan
BRADLEY |
 |
Coming off a playoff loss at Northern Trust, expect the gritty Bradley to make noise this week |
| Match Play appearances: Making first start |
|
| 6 |
25 |
Ian
POULTER |
 |
The snazzy-dressing Englishman followed up his 2010 win here with a first-round loss to Stewart Cink |
| Match Play appearances: 8 | Record: 18-8 | Best result: Winner (2010) |
|
| 7 |
28 |
Simon
DYSON |
 |
The Englishman wants to move into top 15 in world for first time and make the Ryder Cup this year |
| Match Play appearances: 1 | Record: 0-1 | Best result: First round (2010) |
|
| 8 |
33 |
Kyung-tae
KIM |
 |
The south Korean star has four wins on the Japan Tour in the last two years |
| Match Play appearances: 1 | Record: 0-1 | Best result: First round (2011) |
|
| 9 |
36 |
Anders
HANSEN |
 |
Last time he appeared in the U.S., the Dane took third place at the PGA Championship |
| Match Play appearances: 5 | Record: 1-5 | Best result: Second round (2010) |
|
| 10 |
41 |
John
SENDEN |
 |
Was disappointed not to make Presidents Cup team; never too early to start making an impression for 2013. |
| Match Play appearances: 1 | Record: 0-1 | Best result: First round (2008) |
|
| 11 |
44 |
Sang-moon
BAE |
 |
In his four PGA TOUR starts this year, he's started fast before fading on weekend. Might be a sleeper on Wednesday |
| Match Play appearances: Making first start |
|
| 12 |
49 |
Geoff
OGILVY |
 |
The two-time Match Play champ has appeared more human here in recent years with a 3-2 record in last two starts. |
| Match Play appearances: 6 | Record: 20-4 | Best result: Win (2006, 2009) |
|
| 13 |
52 |
Miguel Angel
JIMENEZ |
 |
The Mechanic is still looking for his first top-20 finish of year after four starts on European Tour |
| Match Play appearances: 10 | Record: 9-10 | Best result: Quarterfinals (multiple) |
|
| 14 |
57 |
Gary
WOODLAND |
 |
Working with new coach Butch Harmon, Woodland is still looking for some tangible payoffs this season |
| Match Play appearances: Making first start |
|
| 15 |
60 |
Rafael
CABRERA BELLO |
 |
Won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic -- holding off Lee Westwood in the process -- to climb into the top 64 and make the field |
| Match Play appearances: Making first start |
|
| 16 |
66 |
GeorgeCOETZEE |
 |
The South African produced a couple of top-10 finishes on the European Tour's Desert Swing. |
| Match Play appearances: Making first start |
| |
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