Accenture Match Play 2012: Preview And Schedule

The World Golf Championships (WGC) Accenture Match Play Championship is one of the few golf events each year that pits players against each other in the match play format. And the 2012 Accenture Match Play, beginning on Wednesday, is going to have some juicy matches from the round of 64 on, thanks to the tournament's seeding.

Defending champion and No. 1 seed Luke Donald meets No. 64 seed Ernie Els in a first-round match that pits a rising star with one of the game's greats, and it's one of many such matchups in the first round. Golf.com has all the 2012 Accenture Match Play pairings, which include No. 9 Dustin Johnson meeting No. 56 Jim Furyk, No. 14 Nick Watney tangling with No. 51 Darren Clarke, and No. 29 David Toms facing No. 36 Rickie Fowler.

But there are some other interesting matchups, too, like No. 15 Sergio Garcia and No. 50 Miguel Angel Jimenez meeting in a clash of Spaniards, and youngsters No. 11 Bill Haas and No. 54 Ryo Ishikawa getting a first-round tilt. And, of course, Tiger Woods is in the field; the 13-time major champion is the No. 19 seed and faces No. 46 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano in the first round.

If there's a story line for the Accenture Match Play as a whole, it may be the elite golfers of Europe -- Donald, No. 2 Rory McIlroy, No. 3 Lee Westwood and No. 4 Martin Kaymer all hail from the Old Continent -- trying to fend off pairs from the United States (No. 5 Steve Stricker and No. 6 Webb Simpson) and Australia (No. 7 Jason Day and No. 8 Adam Scott) in the latter stages of the tournament.

Here's the full schedule of play for the 2012 WGC Accenture Match Play, including TV coverage in parentheses. All times are Eastern.

Wednesday, Feb. 22

Second round (Golf Channel, 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.)

Thursday, Feb. 23

Round of 16 (Golf Channel, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.)

Friday, Feb. 24

Quarterfinals (Golf Channel, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.)

Saturday, Feb. 25

Semifinals (Golf Channel, 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.; NBC Sports, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.)

Sunday, Feb. 26

Championship and third-place match (Golf Channel, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.; NBC Sports, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.)