World No. 1 Rory McIlroy will face good friend Shane Lowry in an all-Ireland opening round match in Wednesday’s commencing WGC – Accenture Match-Play Championship in Arizona.
Organisers have released the draw along with announcing the seeded players in the $US 8.75m championship.
And in another all-Ireland start to the event Graeme McDowell has to tackle Padraig Harrington and with all four Irish are in the Jones bracket with McIlroy the top seed.
McIlroy joins Luke Donald (2012), Lee Westwood (2011), Steve Stricker (2010), Tiger Woods (1999, 2000, 2002-04, 2006-09), Vijay Singh (2005) and Ernie Els (2001) as No. 1 seeds in Accenture Match Play Championship history.
Rory McIlroy to face good friend and management stablemate, Shane Lowry in the opening round of the WGC – Accenture Match-Play Championship. (Photo – www.golffile.ie)
Making his 16th start in a World Golf Championships event, McIlroy has 10 top-10 finishes. The closest he came to winning was last year’s runner-up at the Accenture Match Play Championship, losing to Hunter Mahan in the championship match, 2 and 1.
This is McIlroy’s fifth time competing in the Accenture Match Play Championship, a tournament where he made his professional U.S. debut in 2009. He has a 10-4 record and has advanced beyond the first round in each of his four previous appearances.
McIlroy is kicking off his PGA TOUR season at the Accenture Match Play Championship. He’s made one start on the European Tour thus far, resulting in a missed cut at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship
World No. 2 Tiger Woods faces fellow American Charles Howell 111 with Woods top seed in the Gary Player bracket.
With a victory at the Farmer’s Insurance Open already under his belt in 2013, Woods returns to the WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship as a three-time winner of the event (2003, 2004, 2008). Woods has dominated the World Golf Championships with 16 wins in his career and holds the Accenture Match Play Championship record for both matches played (42) and matches won (33), as well as most appearances in the finals (4). He won a tournament record 13 consecutive matches from 2003-05.
In 12 previous appearances, Woods has only lost in the first round twice; however, he has not advanced beyond the second round since his win in 2008.
In other interesting first day matches the reigning US Open champion, Webb Simpson squares off against England’s David Lynn, who was runner-up to McIlroy in last year’s PGA Championship.
Masters champion Bubba Watson will compete against recent Commercial Bank Qatar Masters winner, Chris Wood.
Former Open Champion Louis Oosthuizen, as the No. 1 seed in the Hogan bracket, will have a strong match against Scotland’s Richie Ramsay who captured last year’s Omega European Masters.
Oothuizen moved to No. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking following the Northern Trust Open, passing Justin Rose and thereby the top seed and also due to Brandt Snedeker’s withdrawal. Oosthuizen is making his fourth Accenture Match Play Championship appearance and will be looking to improve upon his 1-3 record. Last year was the first time he advanced beyond the first round before losing to Steve Stricker on the 18th hole in round two.
Like McIlory, Oosthuizen is making the Accenture Match Play Championship his first PGA TOUR start of the season. In January on the European Tour, Oosthuizen won the Volvo Golf Champions and finished T34 at the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters
Also in the Hogan bracket is Sweden’s hapless Freddie Jacobson who missed the chance of joining the play-off for the Northern Trust Open after bogeying the final hole in Los Angeles, Jacobson will have his hands full tackling four-time Major winner, Ernie Els.
Also in the Hogan bracket is American Bill Haas tackling reigning Volvo World Match-Play champion, Nicolas Colsaerts while Spain’s Sergio Garcia will surely have his hands full trying to get the better of Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee.
FIRST ROUND TEE TIMES – 2013 WGC Accenture Match Play Championship (Local Arizona time)
7:25 AM Match 1 Sergio Garcia – ESP vs Thongchai Jaidee – THA
7:35 AM Match 2 Matt Kuchar – USA vs Hiroyuki Fujita – JPN
7:45 AM Match 3 Ian Poulter – ENG vs Stephen Gallacher – SCO
7:55 AM Match 4 Bo Van Pelt – USA vs John Senden – AUS
8:05 AM Match 5 Charl Schwartzel – ZAF vs Russell Henley – USA
8:15 AM Match 6 Zach Johnson – USA vs Jason Day – AUS
8:25 AM Match 7 Jason Dufner – USA vs Richard Sterne – ZAF
8:35 AM Match 8 Hunter Mahan – USA vs Matteo Manassero – ITA
8:45 AM Match 9 Justin Rose – ENG vs K.J. Choi – KOR
8:55 AM Match 10 Bill Haas – USA vs Nicolas Colsaerts – BEL
9:05 AM Match 11 Adam Scott – AUS vs Tim Clark – ZAF
9:15 AM Match 12 Jamie Donaldson – WAL vs Thorbjorn Olesen – DNK
9:25 AM Match 13 Bubba Watson – USA vs Chris Wood – ENG
9:35 AM Match 14 Jim Furyk – USA vs Ryan Moore – USA
9:45 AM Match 15 Lee Westwood – ENG vs Rafael Cabrera-Bello – ESP
9:55 AM Match 16 Martin Kaymer – DEU vs George Coetzee – ZAF
10:05 AM Match 17 Keegan Bradley – USA vs Marcus Fraser – AUS
10:15 AM Match 18 Ernie Els – ZAF vs Fredrik Jacobson – SWE
10:25 AM Match 19 Steve Stricker – USA vs Henrik Stenson – SWE
10:35 AM Match 20 Nick Watney – USA vs David Toms – USA
10:45 AM Match 21 Dustin Johnson – USA vs Alexander Noren – SWE
10:55 AM Match 22 Graeme McDowell – NIR vs Padraig Harrington – IRL
11:05 AM Match 23 Webb Simpson – USA vs David Lynn – ENG
11:15 AM Match 24 Peter Hanson – SWE vs Thomas Bjorn – DNK
11:25 AM Match 25 Louis Oosthuizen – ZAF vs Richie Ramsay – SCO
11:35 AM Match 26 Branden Grace – ZAF vs Robert Garrigus – USA
11:45 AM Match 27 Luke Donald – ENG vs Marcel Siem – DEU
11:55 AM Match 28 Paul Lawrie – SCO vs Scott Piercy – USA
12:05 PM Match 29 Rory McIlroy – NIR vs Shane Lowry – IRE
12:15 PM Match 30 Rickie Fowler – USA vs Carl Pettersson – SWE
12:25 PM Match 31 Tiger Woods – USA vs Charles Howell III – USA
12:35 PM Match 32 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castavnso – ESP vs Francesco Molinari – ITA
