Westwood draws former champion in WGC-Accenture Match Play

Lee Westwood heard he will face a former champion in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona this week when the official draw was unveiled on Sunday evening.

The top seed was set to play Toru Taniguchi who had been the last qualifier in 64th position but the Japanese golfer has dropped out with a neck injury and is replaced by Sweden’s Henrik Stensen. The Swede who qualifies by virtue of being 65th in the official world rankings, won the Accenture Match Play in 2007 and will line up against Westwood when the 32 First Round matches get under way on Wednesday.

Ernie Els has been suffering from a stiff neck which kept him from competing in last week’s Northern Trust Open, the South African is expected to be fit to play Jeff Overton but JB Holmes is on standby in case of a late change.

Westwood headlines a strong English contingent which includes reigning champion Ian Poulter and two-time runner-up Paul Casey. Poulter begins his defence against former Open champion Stewart Cink and Casey goes up against Australia’s Richard Green.

World number two Martin Kaymer will be making his fourth Accenture Match Play appearance when he tees it up with 19-year-old Seung-yul Noh, the talented South Korean became the second youngest player to win on the European tour when taking the Malaysian Open in 2010.

Tiger Woods confirmed his participation in the event last week after missing last year’s competition and the three-time winner takes on Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn in the first round.

WGC-Accenture Match Play First Round Draw

1-Lee Westwood (Britain) v 64-Henrik Stenson (Sweden )
32-Nick Watney (U.S.) v 33-Anthony Kim (U.S.)
16-Retief Goosen (South Africa ) v 49-K.J. Choi (South Korea)
17-Francesco Molinari (Italy) v 48-Ryan Moore (U.S.)
8-Steve Stricker (U.S.) v 57-Matteo Manassero (Italy)
25-Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) v 40-Ryo Ishikawa (Japan)
9-Luke Donald (Britain) v 56-Charley Hoffman (U.S.)
24-Edoardo Molinari (Italy) v 41-Martin Laird (Britain)

4-Phil Mickelson (U.S.) v 61-Brendan Jones (Australia)
29-Rickie Fowler (U.S.) v 36-Peter Hanson (Sweden)
13-Matt Kuchar (U.S.) v 52-Anders Hansen (Denmark)
20-Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) v 45-Bo Van Pelt (U.S.)
5-Graeme McDowell (Britain) v 60-Heath Slocum (U.S.)
28-Robert Allenby (Australia) v 37-Ross Fisher (Britain)
12-Ian Poulter (Britain) v 53-Stewart Cink (U.S.)
21-Alvaro Quiros (Spain) v 44-Yang Yong-eun (South Korea)

2-Martin Kaymer (Germany.) v 63-Noh Seung-yul (South Korea)
31-Zach Johnson (U.S.) v 34-Justin Rose (Britain)
15-Robert Karlsson (Sweden) v 50-Hiroyuki Fujita (Japan)
18-Hunter Mahan (U.S.) v 47-Sean O'Hair (U.S.)
7-Rory McIlroy (Ireland) v 58-Jonathan Byrd (U.S.)
26-Adam Scott (Australia) v 39-Ben Crane (U.S.)
10-Jim Furyk (U.S.) v 55-Ryan Palmer (U.S.)
23-Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) v 42-Yuta Ikeda (Japan)

3-Tiger Woods (U.S.) v 62-Thomas Bjorn (Denmark)
30-Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) v 35-Padraig Harrington (Ireland)
14-Dustin Johnson (U.S.) v 51-Mark Wilson (U.S.)
19-Bubba Watson (U.S.) v 46-Bill Haas (U.S.)
6-Paul Casey (Britain) v 59-Richard Green (Australia)
27- Kim Kyung-Tae (South Korea) v 38-Jason Day (Australia)
11-Ernie Els (South Africa) v 54-Jeff Overton (U.S.)
22-Tim Clark (South Africa) v 43-Camilo Villegas (Colombia)