This week heralds the first WGC event of the season, the Accenture Match Play Championship - skysports.com picks six players to watch.
Watch all five days of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on Sky Sports - live coverage starts on Wednesday at 9pm on SS1 and HD1
The WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship begins on Wednesday with a distinctly strange feel to it.
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Neither of America's two highest-profile golfers - Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson - are teeing-up in Arizona where compatriot and world No 2 Steve Stricker has been installed as the top seed.
With Woods and Mickelson absent, the organisers have brought in the world No. 65 and No. 66, Chris Wood and Ross McGowan respectively, to make up the 64-man field.
Woods continues his sabbatical a little longer while Mickelson takes a week off to spend some time with his family.
The popular knock-out event returns to the Ritz-Carlton course at Dove Mountain where Geoff Ogilvy is the defending champion.
The Jack Nicklaus-designed layout is staging the tournament for a second successive year, having moved from the nearby Gallery course which had hosted the event in 2007 and 2008.
As ever, a player will need to win six successive matches over five days to be crowned champion.
So who's arrived in the desert hoping to claim the prestigious top prize?
Robert Allenby: Although he has lost his last four matches in this event, is currently in good shape. Allenby possesses more than enough typical Aussie mental toughness to be a proficient matchplayer.
Stewart Cink: Has a decent recent record in this event. Was a semi-finalist last year, having lost in the final to Tiger Woods in 2008.
Ross Fisher: Winner of last November's Volvo World Matchplay Championship in Spain and a semi-finalist in this event 12 months ago. The stylish Englishman finished just outside the top-10 at the recent Dubai Desert Classic.
Justin Leonard: Following a dismal record when the tournament was staged at La Costa in California, Leonard has posted quarter-final and semi-final defeats since the event was moved to Arizona. However, faces a tough opening tie against matchplay specialist Ian Poulter.
Rory McIlroy: Reached the last eight on his debut last year and has improved greatly since then. The young Ulsterman is now among the world's elite.
Geoff Ogilvy: Only Tiger has a better WGC matchplay record than the 32-year-old Australian. In four starts has contested three finals and has lifted the trophy twice (2006 & 2009). Ogilvy has won 17 of his 19 matches in the event and is already a winner on the PGA Tour this season.
