Luke Donald not comfortable facing Els in the opening match of WGC Accenture Match Play Championship
Had he been given a chance to pull out the draws, world number one Luke Donald, who will also be the defending champion at Tucson this week, might have chosen anyone but the grizzled Ernie Els for the opening match.
The two giants of the sport will be facing each other in the knock-out format on Thursday, February 23, for the coveted WGC Accenture Match Play Championship title.
Donald won the event last year, triggering what he openly admits, as the benchmark of his subsequent successes on both sides of the Atlantic for the rest of the season.
South African Els, winner of no fewer than three major titles, is one of the best known players of the Match Play format and has won the World Match Play Championship title for a staggering seven times.
Although the grizzled Veteran has been lurking in obscurity for quite a while, in wake of his deteriorating form, he has showed rare signs of resurgence at the start of the current season.
An early exit for Donald can prove fatal for his brimming confidence and can also effectively dismantle him from the top of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
Donald said, "As the number one seed, you probably wouldn’t have picked Ernie to be in that position".
He went on, "Usually in that first round match maybe you get someone with a little less experience that might have snuck his way into the tournament and never played the event before".
"But obviously Ernie has a huge amount of experience. He's won multiple World Match Plays and certainly to start off he's going to be a tough one to try and beat," he further stated.
Els made it into the 64-man field after the withdrawal of world number nine Phil Mickelson and world number 24 Paul Casey.
According to the draws, world number one on the field will be pitched against the last player in the 64-man field and so on.
Mickelson, who has never been much of a success in the knock-out format, decided to take a break after a thrilling victory at Northern Trust Open and has now flown out for a vacation with his family.
Meanwhile, Casey has been suffering from a devastating injury which has kept him out of the coveted event.
Els and George Coetzee turned out to be the sole beneficiaries of the late withdrawals as both players are pitched at 68 and 66, respectively.
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