Likely Australian matches at Accenture
BY Bruce Young | US PGA Tour | 2008 Accenture Match Play Championship | Preview | 15 Feb 2008
Ten Australians have earned a place in the Accenture Match Play field, their status inside the top 64 players in the World Ranking affording them the luxury of a start in the US$8,000,000 event starting in Marana, just outside of Tucson, Arizona on February 20th.
Adam Scott, Geoff Ogilvy, Aaron Baddeley, Stuart Appleby, Nick O’Hern, Richard Green, Robert Allenby, John Senden, Rod Pampling and Brendan Jones are all guaranteed a minimum of US$40,000 as a first round loser but all will fancy their chances well beyond day one.
Australians have done well in this event previously, Adam Scott making the semi-finals in 2005 and Geoff Ogilvy winning in 2006 and making the final against the winner, Henrik Stenson, last year.
The final draw will not be made until Sunday but with Ernie Els decision to play and only one withdrawal from the field (Brett Wetterich) now likely, the possible Australian match ups in round one are as follows. The numbers in brackets are the revised world ranking positions taking into account Wetterich’s withdrawal.
Adam Scott (5) vs Brendan Jones (60)
Geoff Ogilvy (15) vs Justin Leonard (50)
Aaron Baddeley (17) vs Mark Calcavecchia (48)
Stuart Appleby (31) vs Tim Clark (34)
Nick O’Hern (39) vs Scott Verplank (26)
Richard Green (42) vs Niclas Fasth (23)
Robert Allenby (52) vs Henrik Stenson (13)
John Senden (53) vs Sergio Garcia (12)
Rod Pampling (58) vs Justin Rose (7)
