Qualifying is complete for the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship next week, but the pairings are anything but close to being set because three of the top four players in the World Golf Rankings apparently are not going to be at the Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Ariz., and there might be other defections.
No. 1 Tiger Woods, No. 2 Adam Scott and No. 4 Phil Mickelson have said they won’t be playing and No. 12 Steve Stricker is doubtful because of a family situation.
The top 64 in the rankings are eligible and players have until Friday at 5 p.m. EST to officially commit to the tournament.
With Woods, Scott and Mickelson out, it means No. 65 Richard Sterne of South Africa, No. 66 Scott Piercy and No. 67 Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand, winner of the 2013 Order or Merit on the Asian Tour, will make the field.
If Stricker does not play, No. 68 Brooks Koepka would be in.
Stricker’s 50-year-old brother, Scott, needs a liver transplant and has been in the intensive-care unit at the UW Hospital in Madison, Wis., for three weeks, the Golf Channel reported.
“My plans next week are up in the air,” said Stricker, who won the tournament in 2001 at Metropolitan Golf Club in Victoria, Australia, the only time it was played outside the United States. “I haven’t pulled out, but it’s not looking so good.”
George Coetzee of South Africa won the Joburg Open last week on the European Tour and made the biggest jump in the rankings, 15 spots to No. 59 and qualified for the Accenture.
The pairings and tee times will be unveiled on Sunday after the final putt drops in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera.
