With both Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods absent from this year's WGC Accenture Match Play Championship, you'd think Lee Westwood would go into this week's competition with his confidence sky-high.
Seeded No. 2, with only the current world No. 2 Steve Stricker seeded above him, could 2010 be Westwood's year for glory at the Arizona contest? The Englishman will certainly hope so, with $8,500,000 (around £5.4million) up for grabs in total prize money.
It's worth bearing in mind, though, that in nine previous outings at the contest, Westwood has never made it past the second round. The world No. 4 faces fellow Englishman Chris Wood in the first round later today at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, and Wood is no slouch - the 22-year-old was last year's Rookie of the Year on the European tour. Still, Westwood must feel that he'll rarely have a better opportunity to put his mark on this event.
Not that he won't have plenty of competition. Paul Casey almost won here last year in a season that saw his ranking rise to No. 3 in the world, before a rib injury put the kibosh on the second half of his season. Casey is back this year, and though the rib injury hasn't completely healed, the Englishman has had an encouraging start to the season, tying for fifth place at the Qatar Masters in January and tying for 11th place in his most recent outing, the Dubai Desert Classic earlier this month.
Casey knows the Arizona course well and his first match against Canadian Stephen Ames looks eminently winnable, but the 32-year-old's previous games since his comeback have featured the odd duff round, and Casey may not yet be the full ticket, even if he's clearly on the mend.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy is another prodigiously gifted player, even if there are doubts over his ability to close a deal. He's only won one tournament since turning pro, yet has regularly figured in the top five on European Tour events, and very nearly won the inaugural Race to Dubai last year before eventually losing out to Westwood.
Ominously, McIlroy has also suffered problems with his back, admitting to feeling pain when bending down to pick up his ball. While the Ulsterman appears relaxed about the problem, it's difficult not to feel some apprehension about the 20-year-old's future.
Feted in some quarters as a future No. 1, serious back troubles could hinder such ambitions, though these are long term difficulties. For now, McIlroy's disposition remains sunny, and we're sure he'll play well enough at Arizona - although surely he's not going to win here? Last year's winner Geoff Ogilvy begs to differ, describing McIlroy as a guy who's going to win 10 majors. Maybe before that, he can win his first competition on US soil this weekend.
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