WGC Accenture Match Play Information:
First year played: 1999
Location: Marana, AZ.
Course: Ritz-Carlton Golf Club
Notable Champions: Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Ian Poulter, Luke Donald, Hunter Mahan
The WGC Accenture Match Play Championship is one of four annual events known as the World Golf Championships (WGC). The Accenture Match Play Championship became the successor event of the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf in 1999 and was hosted by the La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California until 2006. During this span the Championship was played in Carlsbad every year except 2001 when the Metropolitan Golf Club in Victoria, Australia hosted the event. The Accenture Championship made its next move in 2007 to the Gallery Golf Club in its current residence of Marana, Arizona. It was not until 2009 that the Match Play Championship moved to the Jack Nicklaus-designed course at Dove Mountain in Marana. The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club has since hosted the event in January or February each year.
The Accenture Match Play Championship is a knockout style event consisting of the top 64 ranked players from the Official World Golf Rankings. Along with official prize money, the players in the Accenture Championship also compete for the Walter Hagen Cup. The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club course is a par 72 and holds its distinction as being the longest venue in PGA history at a playing length of 7,849 yards. The course consists of 27 holes situated in the middle of the Arizona desert and strives to preserve the surrounding habitat. Efforts to do so include numerous "green" technologies, reclaiming water for the courses landscaping, and preservation of the ecosystems natural washes for wildlife.