[SWFlaGolfer]

Woods leads star Match Play cast

World number one Tiger Woods will head an all-star cast when the WGC Match Play Championship begins on Wednesday.

Woods, who has twice won the event, is among 48 of the world's top 50 players taking part at La Costa in California. He begins his campaign against Stephen Ames, while defending champion David Toms takes on England's Ian Poulter.

Second-ranked Vijay Singh faces Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and third seed Retief Goosen takes on another Englishman, Paul Broadhurst.

The only notable absentees are world number six Sergio Garcia, who decided not to play, and 31st-ranked Thomas Bjorn, who pulled out because of a sore neck.


Woods says the strength of the field and the nature of the event means it can be unpredictable.
The top seed, who suffered early exits in 2002 and last year, said: "If you're one of the top players in the world, anyone can shoot a low number at any time.


"When you play matchplay it's the final round on the first day because anything can happen at any time."

"It's hard in an 18-hole match to come from behind, once you get three or four down. In a 36-hole match or strokeplay event, you can do that."


Singh and fourth seed Ernie Els are among the main threats to Woods but neither has made it to the third round of the tournament.

Indeed, a glance at the list of previous winners suggests another surprise could be sprung.
Unheralded Americans Jeff Maggert (1999), Steve Stricker (2001) and Kevin Sutherland (2002) have all lifted the trophy.

Toms, who unexpectedly stormed to the title last year, is a big fan of the format. "I think it's easier to win this. You can play so-so - if you do that in a normal strokeplay event, you're not going to win," he explained.


"Here, if somebody gets hot, there's not a whole lot you can do about it other than get hot yourself.
"You can be down the road with no chance, but I think that's the beauty of it. It's a nice change of pace from what we usually do."