2013 WGC-Accenture Match Play bracket picks and previews

You can view picks for every single match at our WGC-Accenture Match Play section, but here are SB Nation Golf’s quick predictions for the group to make it to the final four and win it all this weekend.

Jones Bracket

In many ways, the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship is professional golf’s version of March Madness ... even though it takes place in February. A total of 64 players compete in four bracket regions each named for a golf legend: Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Gary Player and Ben Hogan. Underdog successes abound as higher-seeded players often fall to their lower-seeded opponents every year. However, every so often the tournament favorite holds true to billing and comes out victorious.

For Tiger Woods, this may be one of those years.

The Ben Hogan bracket does not have the headlining stars of the other quadrants at the WGC-Accenture Match Play, but it might be the most competitive from top to bottom. Louis Oosthuizen, the pick of many to win the green jacket in April, sits at the top of the bracket as the No. 5 player in the world. Thanks to Brandt Snedeker’s vacation, the sweet swinging South African slots into the top spot, where he’ll face Richie Ramsay on Day 1. Oosthuizen is unrelentingly steady and should have the advantage in a match play format.

But Oosthuizen’s trip to the final four is likely the most difficult of all the No. 1 seeds, with Justin Rose at the bottom of the bracket, and both Ernie Els and Keegan Bradley at the top. Bradley and Matt Kuchar appear to be the best hopes for an American coming out of a bracket filled with international superstars. The complete Ben Hogan bracket, with some predictions following:

Tiger Woods hasn’t made it past the second round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship since 2008, but that didn’t stop odds makers from installing him as the favorite in the event this year.

Woods, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, is currently the favorite at 10/1, according to the latest odds from Bovada. Rory McIlroy, the No. 1 seed, is just behind Woods at 12/1. Charl Schwartzel, Ian Poulter and Luke Donald round out the top five with all three currently set at 16/1. Poulter may be one of the best bets in the tournament, thanks to his long history of success in match play events. He won the 2010 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and has had tremendous success in the Ryder Cup.

When play begins on Wednesday at the WGC Accenture Match Play, most fans will be focused on the Gary Player and Bobby Jones bracket regions as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy begin play, respectively. While the Sam Snead region may not be the most star-studded in the field, you can count on a slew of quality match-ups early on.

Snead Bracket Best First Round Match -- Adam Scott vs. Tim Clark (9:05am EST)

Rory McIlroy was last spotted abruptly exiting his season-opener in Abu Dhabi after just 36 holes but don’t blame the missed cut on his new Nike weaponry, suggested the tennis star girlfriend of the world No. 1.

“He likes his new clubs and is very comfortable with them,” Caroline Wozniacki told AFP on Monday, ahead of McIlroy’s start -- his first since bombing out of his 2013 debut -- at this week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

When the casual observer first glances at the bracket sheet of 64 names for the WGC-Accenture Match Play, the eyes immediately scan for Tiger Woods -- the game’s global force. After falling all the way to a No. 5 seed last year, Woods can be found back on the one line and looming over the Gary Player Bracket.

Tiger enters the week as the No. 2 player in the world, a No. 1 seed seemingly locked up before the 2013 season even started. But he now enters this WGC event a perfect one-for-one on the PGA Tour this year after a dominating run-away win at Torrey Pines last month. Tiger has won this event three times, but has either been unable to play or not advanced very far since his last win in 2008. In the match play format, a bit of the intimidation that clinched Woods victories on the first tee a decade ago is now gone, but the win at Torrey certainly has the field on notice.

The PGA Tour swings to Arizona this week for the first WGC event of the 2013 season -- the Accenture Match Play. It’s golf’s version of March Madness, with 64 of the top players in the world taking a break from the typical stroke play events for this bracket of match play.

Phil Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker are two of the bigger names opting to skip this week, but almost every other top player from across the planet will be at Dove Mountain in Arizona. Snedeker’s win at Pebble Beach earlier this month vaulted him into the top four in the world rankings, but his absence opens up the fourth and final No. 1 seed to Louis Oosthuizen. The other three top seeds are all here, and they are Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods, and Luke Donald.