Struggling Darren Clarke has defeated Tiger Woods once before to capture the WGC – Accenture Match-Play Championship and the reigning Open Champion is again facing the likelihood of tackling Woods this week.
Clarke and Woods have been drawn in the Sam Snead quarter of the 64-player field set to take to the Dove Mountain course in Arizona on Wednesday.
The duo came together in the 2000 final with Clarke destroying Woods 4 & 3.
Open Champion Darren Clarke will need to be razor sharp in this week's WGC - Accenture Match-Play Championship.
Clarke’s first match is against American Nick Watney while Woods will have his hands full with in-form Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez Castano.
If Clarke and Woods should win their opening round matches then they will square off in Thursday’s second round.
Since his victory in 2000, Clarke’s best effort in the $US 8.5m event was finishing third in defeating Australia’s Stephen Leaney 2up after losing his semi-final encounter to Davis Love 111.
Whereas Woods went on to succeed in 2003, 2004 and for a third occasion in 2008.
World No. 1 and defending champion Luke Donald is top seed in the Bobby Jones quarter and tackles Ernie Els while Rory McIlroy, who moved back to No. 2 in the world, heads the Gary Player section and will need to be wary of South African George Coetzee.
Coetzee is making his WGC debut and has an excellent match-play record having captured five leading amateurs titles before turning pro including the 2005 South African Amateur title.
World No. 3 Lee Westwood heads the Sam Snead section and faces a first up test against big-hitting Belgium Nicolas Colsaerts.
World No. 4 Martin Kaymer heads the Ben Hogan quarter of the draw and faces recent double Australian Open champion, Greg Chalmers.
A total of 42 international players will contest this year’s WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship representing some 13 countries.
There are 24 players under the age of 30 competing in the Accenture Match Play Championship, the most in tournament history, bettering the record of 23 previously set in 2010 and 2011.
The full opening round draw (World Ranking in brackets) is hereunder:-
Luke Donald (1), England, vs. Ernie Els (64), South Africa.
Rory McIlroy (2), Northern Ireland, vs. George Coetzee (63), South Africa.
Lee Westwood (3), England, vs. Nicolas Colsaerts (62), Belgium.
Martin Kaymer (4), Germany, vs. Greg Chalmers (61), Australia.
Steve Stricker (5), United States, vs. Kevin Na (60), United States.
Webb Simpson (6), United States, vs. Matteo Manassero (59), Italy.
Jason Day (7), Australia, vs. Rafael Cabrera Bello (58), Spain.
Adam Scott (8), Australia, vs. Robert Rock (57), England.
Dustin Johnson (9), United States, vs. Jim Furyk (56), United States.
Charl Schwartzel (10), South Africa, vs. Gary Woodland (55), United States.
Bill Haas (11), United States, vs. Ryo Ishikawa (54), Japan.
Graeme McDowell (12), Northern Ireland, vs. Y.E. Yang (53), South Korea.
Matt Kuchar (13), United States, vs. Jonathan Byrd (52), United States.
Nick Watney (14), United States, vs. Darren Clarke (51), Northern Ireland.
Sergio Garcia (15), Spain, vs. Miguel Angel Jimenez (50), Spain.
K.J. Choi (16), South Korea, vs. Kyle Stanley (49), United States.
Brandt Snedeker (17), United States, vs. Retief Goosen (48), South Africa.
Keegan Bradley (18), United States, vs. Geoff Ogilvy (47), Australia.
Tiger Woods (19), United States, vs. Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (46), Spain.
Bubba Watson (20), United States, vs. Ben Crane (45), United States.
Hunter Mahan (21), United States, vs. Zach Johnson (44), United States.
Justin Rose (22), England, vs. Paul Lawrie (43), Scotland.
Ian Poulter (23), England, vs. Bae Sang-moon (42), South Korea
Thomas Bjorn (24), Denmark, vs. Francesco Molinari (41), Italy.
Bo Van Pelt (25), United States, vs. Mark Wilson (40), United States.
Simon Dyson (26), England, vs. John Senden (39), Australia.
Alvaro Quiros (27), Spain, vs. Martin Laird (38), Scotland.
Louis Oosthuizen (28), South Africa, vs. Aaron Baddeley (37), Australia.
David Toms (29), United States, vs. Rickie Fowler (36), United States.
Robert Karlsson (30), Sweden, vs. Fredrik Jacobson (35), Sweden.
K.T. Kim (31), South Korea, vs. Anders Hansen (34), Denmark.
Jason Dufner (32), United States, vs. Peter Hanson (33), Sweden
