WGC-Accenture Match Play Power Rankings: Euros Lead Ranks

Filed under: PGA

As March Madness draws near, this week's PGA stop will give you a little taste of the bracket format that makes college basketball so exciting. The World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championships is one of the best tournaments outside of the majors, pitting the top 64 available players in the world rankings.

This will easily be the best field thus far in 2011, and it will be particularly interesting to see the top 5 players in the world all in the same location for the first time since Tiger Woods was unseated as No. 1.

We've decided to break this week's power rankings down a little differently due to the match play format. This week we'll dissect players' chances by where they're seeded.

From the top group (seeds 1-4), here are the three that have the best chance:

1. Graeme McDowell -- Last time we saw McDowell in a match play format, he was closing out Hunter Mahan to retain the Ryder Cup for Europe. He's playing in the same half of the bracket as defending champion Ian Poulter, but McDowell is arguably the best player in the world right now.

2. Rory McIlroy -- McDowell's fellow countryman hasn't finished outside of the top 10 in six starts and holds a 4-2 all-time record at this event. McIlroy has a difficult draw that includes a possible matchup with Martin Kaymer. It would be a coin toss at that point, but I like McIlroy's game a slight bit more at the moment.

3. Martin Kaymer -- Rounding out the European trifecta of favorites, the No. 2 player in the world could very well be the only No. 1 seed to advance beyond Friday. As a Ryder Cup rookie, the German lost just once in four matches. With a potential matchup looming, Kaymer or McIlroy won't be making the semifinals, but whoever escapes the Player bracket will be a heavy favorite come Sunday.

 

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Daryl Ecklund Erik Eggens Richard Eierstedt Jimmy Ellis Jeff Emig