Poulter to face Cink in Tucson
Ian Poulter is set to start the defence of his WGC-Accenture Match Play title against 2009 Open champion Stewart Cink if all the world’s top 64 show up in Tucson next week.
And Thomas Bjorn’s “reward” for leaping into the field with his Qatar Masters victory a week ago could be a duel with Tiger Woods.
With Phil Mickelson now deciding to return to the event after missing it last year – as did Woods in the aftermath of his personal problems – the only current doubt is thought to be Francesco Molinari.
The Italian’s wife Valentina gave birth to their first child last weekend and he is making a decision later this week on whether to make the long trip.
The only change in the game’s top 64 in the final week of qualifying was Dane Anders Hansen replacing former winner Henrik Stenson thanks to his joint runners-up finish at the Dubai Desert Classic.
American Steve Marino would have made it too if he had birdied the last hole to take outright second place in the AT&T National Pro-am at Pebble Beach, but he ran up a triple bogey eight.
World number one Lee Westwood is seeded to face Japan’s Toru Taniguchi in the opening round, while the only all-European clash in the provisional draw is Scot Martin Laird against Molinari’s brother Edoardo.
Stenson, now ranked 65th, becomes the first reserve for the event and if there are withdrawals before next weekend the draw is adjusted.
Provisional draw (seeded positions in brackets):
(1) Lee Westwood v (64) Toru Taniguchi, (32) Nick Watney v (33) Anthony Kim, (16) Retief Goosen v (49) KJ Choi, (17) Francesco Molinari v (48) Ryan Moore, (8) Steve Stricker v (57) Matteo Manassero, (25) Charl Schwartzel v (40) Ryo Ishikawa, (9) Luke Donald v (56) Charley Hoffman, (24) Edoardo Molinari v (41) Martin Laird
(4) Phil Mickelson v (61) Brendan Jones, (29) Rickie Fowler v (36) Peter Hanson, (13) Matt Kuchar v (52) Anders Hansen, (20) Louis Oosthuizen v (45) Bo Van Pelt, (5) Graeme McDowell v (60) Heath Slocum, (28) Robert Allenby v (37) Ross Fisher, (12) Ian Poulter v (53) Stewart Cink, (21) Alvaro Quiros v (44) YE Yang
(2) Martin Kaymer v (63) Noh Seung-yul, (31) Zach Johnson v (34) Justin Rose, (15) Robert Karlsson v (50) Hiroyuki Fujita, ((18) Hunter Mahan v (47) Sean O’Hair, (7) Rory McIlroy v ((58) Jonathan Byrd, (26) Adam Scott v (39) Ben Crane, (10) Jim Furyk v (55) Ryan Palmer, (23) Miguel Angel Jimenez v (42) Yuta Ikeda
(3) Tiger Woods v (62) Thomas Bjorn, (30) Geoff Ogilvy v (35) Padraig Harrington, (14) Dustin Johnson v (51) Mark Wilson, (19) Bubba Watson v (46) Bill Haas, (6) Paul Casey v (59) Richard Green, (27) Kim Kyung-tae v (38) Jason Day, (11) Ernie Els v (54) Jeff Overton, (22) Tim Clark v (43) Camilo Villegas
