This is is a six-round single elimination tournament and features the top 64 players in the official world golf rankings. They are split into four brackets, with one man advancing from each bracket.

Luke Donald 13/1 will face Ernie Els (100/1 Boylesports) in his first round match of this year’s WGC Accenture Match Play Championship. It’s an intriguing match-up for the tournament organisers, spectators and golf fans around the globe as Luke Donald is not only the defending champion but also the world’s number one golfer while Ernie Els, who is desperate to climb back into the top 50 in the world, has a career steeped in big tournament wins and a rich pedigree in match-play golf, (he’s a 7 times winner of the Volvo World Match Play). The winner of Match 29 will face either Peter Hanson (90/1) or Jason Dufner (90/1) in the second round. Match 6 between Thomas Bjorn (66/1) and Francesco Molinari (110/1) is one of six all-European clashes. The winner of that affair will take on either Dustin Johnson (30/1) or Jim Furyk (66/1) in the second round. Englishman Robert Rock (100/1) faces an uphill battle against Aussie Adam Scott (28/1), Mark Wilson (125/1) battles it out with fellow American Bo Van Pelt (66/1), K.J. Choi (80/1) faces a potential banana skin in newcomer Kyle Stanley (55/1) while Brandt Snedeker (55/1) will look to his excellent putting technique to oust South African golfer Retief Goosen (100/1).

Top seed in the Hogan bracket is last year’s runner-up Martin Kaymer (22/1). The German faces a seemingly straight-forward task in round 1 when he takes on Australian golfer Greg Chalmers (150/1). Kaymer will look to end that affair as quickly as possible as he faces an extremely difficult assignment in round 2 against either David Toms (110/1) or Rickie Fowler (50/1). The Ben Hogan bracket is filled with all American match-ups. Bubba Watson (30/1) faces the challenge of Ben Crane (66/1), Steve Stricker (33/1) tackles Kevin Na (125/1) while Match 17 sees Matt Kuchar (50/1) go up against Jonathan Byrd (80/1). The pick of the first round action in the Ben Hogan bracket is Match 2 between Hunter Mahan (40/1) and Zach Johnson (80/1). Both players are well suited to course conditions and the eventual WGC Accenture Match Play champion could easily come from this match-up. Elsewhere in the Hogan bracket, two major winners face tricky opposition. Graeme McDowell (50/1) takes on Y.E. Yang (125/1) while Louis Oosthuizen (66/1) tees off against Aaron Baddeley (50/1) – the latter looks a decent bet to progress into the second round.

It would be foolish to say that the Gary Player bracket is the most favourable draw of the lot but it certainly looks that way on paper, especially for Rory McIlroy (11/1). The top seed faces a straight-forward assignment against George Coetzee (125/1) and will take on either Anders Hansen (110/1) or Kim Kyung-Tae (125/1) in the second round. Match 23 is an all-Spanish affair with Sergio Garcia (20/1) battling it out with his close friend Miguel Angel Jimenez (125/1) – the winner of that clash faces a gruelling 18 holes with either Geoff Ogilvy (40/1) or Keegan Bradley (40/1). Like McIlroy, Jason Day (28/1) has one foot seemingly in the second round as does Ian Poulter (25/1) and Charl Schwartzel (40/1), who face Sang-moon Bae (125/1) and Gary Woodland (66/1) respectively. The last remaining match in the Gary Player Bracket sees John Senden (90/1) take on Simon Dyson (80/1).

Find a pin and stick it in the Sam Snead bracket because this one’s impossible to call. Top seed Lee Westwood (16/1) takes on Nicolas Colsaerts (80/1) in round 1, who has played some sublime golf on the European Tour this season. There’s also a potential upset in Match 4 (Justin Rose 66/1 v Paul Lawrie 100/1), Match 3 (Bill Haas 40/1 v Ryo Ishikawa 125/1) and Match 11 (Webb Simpson 33/1 v Matteo Manassero 110/1). Perhaps the greatest potential for an upset is Match 20 which pitches Gonzalo Fernandez Castano (150/1) up against three-time WGC Accenture Match Play champion Tiger Woods (13/1). The 14-time major winner has never before been ranked lower than third in match-play competition, in fact, it’s the first time that Woods hasn’t been ranked top seed in his bracket. Tiger has returned to form somewhat in recent months but Castano is no pushover. Elsewhere in the Sam Snead bracket, Nick Watney (40/1) takes on Darren Clarke (250/1), Robert Karlsson (80/1) faces his fellow countryman Fredrik Jacobson (80/1) and the big hitting Alvaro Quiros (66/1) goes up against Scotland’s Martin Laird (90/1).