The Accenture Match Play Championship is finally here and following the Valentines Day weekend, the world’s top-ranked golf professionals are ready to show The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club some love.
Final commitments to the Accenture Match Play Championship rolled in last Friday as the world’s elite golfers pledged four days of February to world-class play against a stiff field. 2010 marks the fourth year that the match play event will take place in Marana, Ariz., near Tucson, and the second consecutive year that play will commence on the extraordinary fairways of the Ritz Carlton Golf Club- Dove Mountain.
Among those teeing up are: Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Chad Campbell, Angel Cabrera, Camilo Villegas, Y.E. Yang, Martin Kaymer, Edoardo Molinari, Ryan Moore, Padraig Harrington, Geoff Ogilvy, Alvaro Quiros, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, Mike Weir, Dustin Johnson and Kenny Perry—at least, those are some of the players that I’ll be following throughout the weekend.
With competition beginning tomorrow morning bright and early (the first group tees off at 7:36 am), the excitement is already reverberating all throughout the Tucson vicinity. Since first round tee times have already been determined and can be viewed online at the PGA Tours’ Web site (www.pgatour.com), golf fans can plan in advance which groups they’ll be following and which pros are deserving of amped-up galleries. With the weather as exceptional as it has been these last few weeks, there is little that can mess with one of golf’s showcase match play events.
The rescheduling of the PGA Tour’s West Coast Swing significantly switches up PGA Tour professionals typical season travel plans, allowing them two straight weeks in Arizona—this week in Marana and next week in Scottsdale for the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Of course, Phoenicians and Tucsonans don’t mind one bit—as the golf Mecca of the Southwest, we’re accustomed to marathon golf. We can handle more than two weeks of Tour events in our sleep. So if catching the Match Play this weekend is a no can do, you’ve been given a free pass and can make it up at the Phoenix Open next week. See you on the course.
To Learn More
Looking to find out more about the play going on this week at the Accenture Match Play Championship? Check out the PGA Tour’s Web site at www.pgatour.com or follow Arizona Foothills Magazine on Twitter at http://twitter.com/AZFoothillsMag for the latest on what is happening down in Tucson.
