England’s Ian Poulter defends his WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship title in Arizona this week as the current strength in depth of The European Tour again comes sharply into focus on the global stage.
Almost half of the field for the 2011 event at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Dove Mountain, Marana – 30 out of 64 – are European Tour Members, highlighting the significant progress made since the inaugural World Golf Championship in California 12 years ago.
Back in 1999, the odds were stacked more heavily against Europe with only 14 Members competing in a tournament which saw four Americans contest the semi-finals and Jeff Maggert claim the title at the expense of Andrew Magee.
This week sees four European Tour survivors from the event which launched the World Golf Championships series - Lee Westwood of England, Ernie Els of South Africa, Miguel Angel Jiménez of Spain and Denmark’s Thomas Björn –return to try to emulate Poulter’s achievement.
Poulter tackles 2009 Open Champion Stewart Cink of the United States in Wednesday’s first round while, 12 years on, Westwood appears in the draw for the first time as top seed due to his ranking of Number One in the world, taking on a tough assignment in fellow Ryder Cup player and 2007 champion, Henrik Stenson of Sweden.
World Number Two Martin Kaymer is second seed, facing Korean Noh Seung-yul; third seed Tiger Woods tackles Björn with Mickelson, ranked fourth, meeting Australian Brendan Jones as the event starts with 32 ties and no shortage of opportunities for upsets.
Poulter’s victory over countryman Paul Casey 12 months ago in the first all-European final signalled a period of sustained success in 2010 that resulted in Els and Francesco Molinari claiming two of the remaining three WGC events (the CA Championship and HSBC Champions) and Graeme McDowell, Louis Oosthuizen and Kaymer capturing three of the four Major Championships.
It may be difficult to repeat last year’s WGC – Accenture Match Play Championship success of having seven Members making it through to the last eight, but the omens are good for another outstanding week in the USA.
Casey, meanwhile, will be hoping it is a case of third time lucky having lost in the final of the previous two WGC – Accenture Match Play Championships – to Poulter last year after missing out against Geoff Ogilvy in 2009. The Englishman, in fine form having won the Volvo Golf Champions last month is up against Australia’s Richard Green in round one.
The top 64 players are split into four categories named after true legends of the game – Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones, Gary Player and Sam Snead – with the winners of each section of the draw moving forward to the semi-finals.
There is no shortage of intriguing match-ups, with 17 year old rookie Matteo Manassero of Italy – the youngest player to compete in a WGC event – taking on the vastly experienced American Steve Stricker while Sweden’s Peter Hanson faces one of America’s brightest young prospects, Rickie Fowler.
Spain’s most recent European Tour winner, Alvaro Quiros, clashes with 2009 US PGA Champion Y E Yang of Korea, Justin Rose of England meets past Masters Champion Zach Johnson of the USA and three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland crosses swords with Ogilvy, the Australian who denied Casey the title two years ago.
One of the most eagerly anticipated tournaments on the season, the WGC – Accenture Match Play is always a thrilling event to watch due to the head-to-head nature of the competition. The fun begins on Wednesday but who will be the last man standing on Sunday night?
