Golf:World number two Rory McIlroy has been drawn to play South African George Coetzee in the opening round of the Accenture World Match Play at Dove Mountain in Tuscon on Wednesday.
McIlroy has been named as top seed in the Gary Player bracket of the World Golf Championship event, one that also includes US PGA champion Keegan Bradley, who lost a three-way play-off with Phil Mickelson and eventual winner Bill Haas at the Northern Trust Open in California on Sunday night.
Sergio Garcia, who closed with a 64 in California, is also in the same section and faces a first-round clash with fellow Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, and former Match Play champion Geoff Ogilvy.
South African Charl Schwartzel, who went on to win last year’s Masters after McIlroy collapsed on the back nine, is also in the bracket, as are the English duo of
Ian Poulter and Simon Dyson.
British Open champion and former Match Play winner Darren Clarke will play Nick Watney in the first round, where a win could set him up for a clash against Tiger Woods , whom he beat 4&3 to take the title back in 2000. Woods is drawn to play Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
Graeme McDowell faces a tough first-round clash former US PGA champion YE Yang, who made it to the quarter-finals of the event last year.
Luke Donald may be world number one, top seed and defending champion, but he faces a tough opener against bottom seed Ernie Els, while third seed Lee Westwood meets Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts.
DRAW (seeded positions in brackets):
BOBBY JONES
(1) Luke Donald v (64) Ernie Els
(32) Jason Dufner v (33) Peter Hanson
(16) KJ Choi v (49) Kyle Stanley
(17) Brandt Snedeker v (48) Retief Goosen
(8) Adam Scott v (57) Robert Rock
(25) Bo Van Pelt v (40) Mark Wilson
(9) Dustin Johnson v (56) Jim Furyk
(24) Thomas Bjorn v (41) Francesco Molinari
BEN HOGAN
(4) Martin Kaymer v (61) Greg Chalmers
(29) David Toms v (36) Rickie Fowler
(13) Matt Kuchar v (52) Jonathan Byrd
(20) Bubba Watson v (45) Ben Crane
(5) Steve Stricker v (60) Kevin Na
(28) Louis Oosthuizen v (37) Aaron Baddeley
(12) Graeme McDowellv (53) YE Yang
(21) Hunter Mahan v (44) Zach Johnson
GARY PLAYER
(2) Rory McIlroyv (63) George Coetzee
(31) KT Kim v (34) Anders Hansen
(15) Sergio Garcia v (50) Miguel Angel Jimenez
(18) Keegan Bradley v (47) Geoff Ogilvy
(7) Jason Day v (58) Rafael Cabrera-Bello
(26) Simon Dyson v (39) John Senden
(10) Charl Schwartzel v (55) Gary Woodland
(23) Ian Poulter v (42) Bae Sang-moon
SAM SNEAD
(3) Lee Westwood v (62) Nicolas Colsaerts
(30) Robert Karlsson v (35) Fredrik Jacobson
(14) Nick Watney v
(51) Darren Clarke
(19) Tiger Woods v (46) Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano
(6) Webb Simpson v (59) Matteo Manassero
(27) Alvaro Quiros v (38) Martin Laird
(11) Bill Haas v (54) Ryo Ishikawa
(22) Justin Rose v (43) Paul Lawrie
