CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods will face Carl Pettersson of Sweden when the fifth edition of the Match Play Championship begins Wednesday at the La Costa Resort and Spa.
The tournament, which will be held in Carlsbad, Calif., is limited to the top 64 players in the World Golf rankings as of Feb. 17. The matchups were determined by the new rankings released Monday.
Woods settled for a tie for fifth in last weekend's Nissan Open, but closed with a six-under-par 65 and will be the top seed this week. The world's best golfer will be out to erase the memory of a first-round loss to Peter O'Malley of Australia in last year's Match Play Championship.
Pettersson moved into the field when Vijay Singh of Fiji, the fourth-ranked player in the world, pulled out because of a rib injury.
Woods tops the Bobby Jones bracket. The other brackets are named for Gary Player, Ben Hogan, and Sam Snead.
The $6 million event will be the first tournament of the year in which Woods and world No. 2 Ernie Els of South Africa are entered at the same time. Els won the Sony Open and Mercedes Championship, the only two PGA events he has entered this season, and added two more wins on the European Tour.
Els, who lost to Tom Lehman in the second round of last year's Match Play Championship, will open Wednesday against Phil Tataurangi of New Zealand in the Player bracket. Tataurangi is a replacement for England's Nick Faldo, who withdrew because of the flu.
Kevin Sutherland won the tournament last season, beat Scott McCarron in the final. Sutherland is ranked 60th in the current rankings, and will play fifth-seeded Sergio Garcia of Spain. If Phil Mickelson is to square off again with Woods, it will be in Sunday's final. Mickelson, the world No. 3, opposes Robert Karlssson of Sweden in the Snead bracket.
Mickelson's reputation took a hit earlier this month for his critical comments regarding Woods' equipment. Like Woods, Mickelson is trying to avoid another early exit. He lost to John Cook in the first round last year.
World No. 5 Retief Goosen of South Africa has elected to play although his pregnant wife is due in the first week of March. Goosen, who tops the Hogan bracket, opens against Jay Hass.
No. 6 seed David Toms will meet Anders Hansen of Denmark, seventh seed Davis Love III meets England's Paul Casey, and No. 8 Padraig Harrington of Ireland goes against John Cook of the U.S., in other first-round matches.
Two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer of Germany again will face Adam Scott of Australia. Scott bounced Langer 2 and 1 in the opening round last year.
