The 2013 Accenture World Golf Championship Match Play comes our way this week from Arizona where 64 of the top 66 golfers on the planet are scheduled to participate in one of the more unique stops on TOUR \u2013 Phil Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker being the only obvious omissions. <\/p>\n
2013 Accenture World Golf Championship Match Play<\/strong> Defending Champion<\/strong>: Hunter Mahan ($1,400,000)<\/p>\n The Dove Mountain Golf Club itself is long \u2013 big hitters will certainly have a bit of an advantage this week. But the talent is deep and any one of the 64 could easily emerge victorious.<\/p>\n This event is one of the more difficult to predict \u2013 the 64 entries are divided into four brackets meaning that studs in each bracket may be forced to play each other early on with one of those two players being eliminated. For this week in my Rankings, I will concentrate on the brackets \u2013 who should emerge – and which golfer will be crowned champion at the end of the week.<\/p>\n Rory McIlroy<\/strong> \u2013 No. 1 seed in the Bobby Jones Bracket<\/strong>; faces Shane Lowry in the first round. Others in the Division includes the last two Masters champions, second-seeded Bubba Watson and third-seeded Charl Schwartzel. Also in that part of the field are former major champions Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell, as well as Dustin Johnson and Rickie Fowler.<\/p>\n I like the defending runner-up in this tournament Rory McIlroy at 12\/1<\/strong> here. The world\u2019s #1 averaged 310 yards per drive last season, good for fifth on the tour, combined with a No. 2 ranking in approach accuracy from 200-plus. He plays for the first time in North America and is coming off a missed cut in Abu Dhabi last time out \u2013 he has a lot to prove this week.<\/p>\n Tiger Woods<\/strong> \u2013 No. 1 seed in the Gary Player Bracket<\/strong>; faces Charles Howell III in first round. Woods’s bracket includes Lee Westwood, the second seed, and third-seeded Jason Dufner. Woods, a three-time winner of this event, also has defending champion Hunter Mahan, reigning U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson and former PGA Champion and 2011 runner-up at this event Martin Kaymer in his bracket.<\/p>\n It\u2019s gotta be the favorite Tiger Woods at 10\/<\/strong>1 in this bracket that gets it done \u2013 he showed at Torrey Pines that he is in peak form. And his bracket \u2013 it\u2019s OK but certainly do-able with nobody outside of Mahan on top of his game. Woods is a beast and should feast on the length of this track.<\/p>\n Luke Donald<\/strong> \u2013 No. 1 seed in the Sam Snead Bracket<\/strong>; faces Marcel Siem in the first round. Along with Donald, the Snead bracket includes former major champions Paul Lawrie and David Toms, who won this title in 2005. Ian Poulter (2010), Steve Stricker (2001) and Henrik Stenson (2007) all have won this title and are in the Snead bracket along with Adam Scott and Nick Watney. [soliloquy id=”82219″]<\/p>\n I don\u2019t like Luke Donald here. Remember Ian Poulter in the Ryder Cup? He was arguably the best player that week in a similar format. I like Poulter at 16\/1<\/strong> to cement his status as one of the best Match Play players on the planet. He had a win in 2010 on this course to boot!<\/p>\n Louis Oosthuizen<\/strong> \u2013 No. 1 seed in the Ben Hogan Bracket<\/strong>; faces Richie Ramsay in the first round. In Oosthuizen’s region are No. 2 seed Justin Rose and third-seeded Sergio Garcia. Major champions Ernie Els and Keegan Bradley are also in the Hogan region as are Branden Grace, who won four times on the European Tour last year, Matt Kuchar and Bill Haas.<\/p>\n In this bracket I like Justin Rose at 25\/1<\/strong> to build on his experience at last year\u2019s Ryder Cup. He tied for second at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and has stayed hot now for months contending at big events, including a T3 at the PGA Championship and T5 at the Bridgestone Invitational last year. The dude has a knack of elevating his game and getting it done on the biggest stages.<\/p>\n That sets up a Final four of McIlroy, Woods, Poulter and Justin Rose.<\/p>\n
\nLocation: Marana, Arizona, United States
\nCourse: Dove Mountain Golf Club
\nDate: Feb 20-24, 2013
\nTotal Purse: US $ 8,500,000
\nWinner’s Share: US $ 1,400,000 (16% of total purse)<\/p>\n