Accenture Match Play Bracing for Europeans

The Accenture Match Play tournament is bracing itself for a European invasion this week.

There will be 47 players from the European Tour in action at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove in Arizona from February 25 to March 1 including Sweden’s Henrik Stenson who won the competition two years ago.

Stenson, who uses a Callaway FT-3 driver, beat Geoff Ogilvy of Australia by 2 and 1 in a thrilling 2007 final at The Gallery Golf clubs.

Last year Stenson almost notched a second successive victory when he moved to the semi-final stage before being beaten on the last green by Tiger Woods, who went on to win his third Accenture title.

Woods will make his first competitive appearance in eight months this week following his recovery from reconstructive surgery to his left knee.

This year Stenson faces a tough start against experienced American Davis Love III, who reached the final himself in 2006 at the La Costa Resort and Spa in California only to be beaten by Ogilvy.

Other European Tour Members among the top six rated players in action with golf equipment this week are number two seed Sergio Garcia who faces South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel; three time Major Champion and third seed Padraig Harrington who starts against American Pat Perez; and number six seed Vijay Singh of Fiji who begins his quest against last year’s Volvo Masters champion Søren Kjeldsen of Denmark.

Woods, who uses a Nike SQ Tour driver and Nike VR Blades irons, is looking forward to his first round match at the Ritz-Carlton with 64th seed Brendan Jones of Australia.

"It's one thing to do it in a practice environment at home against some buddies for a little bit of cash,” he said.
“But it's a totally different deal to do it in an event against the best players in the world. I don't know how this is going to behave in a competitive environment and how the recovery is going to be day to day.

"That's one of the things I am looking forward to, to testing how that feels. I've not been able to test it in a competitive environment yet. At home I do feel good and I'm able to hit all the shots. It's just a matter of getting out there and performing and dealing with the pressures of the tournament.

"That's something I haven't done in a while. I'm looking forward to that challenge. I'm really excited about getting on out here again and experiencing the excitement."