With the latest Official World Golf Rankings released on Monday after the dust-up in Dubai and the comic theater at Pebble Beach, the top-64 players qualify to enter in the first WGC event of 2011, the Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson, Arizona. Those eligible have until Friday evening to officially enter, so the field won’t be finalized until then. However, No. 4 Phil Mickelson, who skipped the event last year to take his family on vacation, said he will be there after the final round at Pebble.

If all of the 64 decide to play, here are the provisional first-round matchups:

Rank	Player		Rank	Player
1	Lee Westwood, England	vs	64	Toru Taniguchi, Japan
2	Martin Kaymer, Germany	vs	63	Noh Seung-yul, Korea
3	Tiger Woods, U.S.	vs	62	Thomas Bjorn, Denmark
4	Phil Mickelson, U.S.	vs	61	Brendan Jones, Australia
5	Graeme McDowell, N. Ireland	vs	60	Heath Slocum, U.S.
6	Paul Casey, England	vs	59	Richard Green, Australia
7	Rory McIlroy, N. Ireland	vs	58	Jonathan Byrd, U.S.
8	Steve Stricker, U.S.	vs	57	Matteo Manassero, Italy
9	Luke Donald, England	vs	56	Charley Hoffman, U.S.
10	Jim Furyk, U.S.	vs	55	Ryan Palmer, U.S.
11	Ernie Els, S. Africa	vs	54	Jeff Overton, U.S.
12	Ian Poulter, England	vs	53	Stewart Cink, U.S.
13	Matt Kuchar, U.S.	vs	52	Anders Hansen, Denmark
14	Dustin Johnson, U.S.	vs	51	Mark Wilson, U.S.
15	Robert Karlsson, Sweden	vs	50	Hiroyuki Fujita, Japan
16	Retief Goosen, S. Africa	vs	49	K.J. Choi, Korea
17	Francesco Molinari, Italy	vs	48	Ryan Moore, U.S.
18	Hunter Mahan, U.S.	vs	47	Sean O’Hair, U.S.
19	Bubba Watson, U.S.	vs	46	Bill Haas, U.S.
20	Louis Oosthuizen, S. Africa	vs	45	Bo Van Pelt, U.S.
21	Alvaro Quiros, Spain	vs	44	Y.E. Yang, Korea
22	Tim Clark, S.Africa	vs	43	Camilo Villegas, Colombia
23	Miguel Angel Jimenez, Spain	vs	42	Yuta Ikeda, Japan
24	Edoardo Molinari, Italy	vs	41	Martin Laird, Scotland
25	Charl Schwartzel, S.Africa	vs	40	Ryo Ishikawa, Japan
26	Adam Scott, Australia	vs	39	Ben Crane, U.S.
27	Kim Kyung-Tae, Korea	vs	38	Jason Day, Australia
28	Robert Allenby, Australia	vs	37	Ross Fisher, England
29	Rickie Fowler, U.S.	vs	36	Peter Hanson, Sweden
30	Geoff Ogilvy, Australia	vs	35	Padraig Harrington, Ireland
31	Zach Johnson, U.S.	vs	34	Justin Rose, England
32	Nick Watney, U.S.	vs	33	Anthony Kim, U.S.

At first glance, none of the pairings jump out to me enough that I’d reroute my plane for Tucson instead of heading back to NYC after this week’s LA Open (although the good weather is tempting). If someone named Toru Taniguchi of Japan opts not to play, then No. 65 Henrik Stenson will take his spot (and if others in the top-64 don’t play, then they’ll continue to be replaced by the next highest ranking player). As of now, world’s No. 1 Lee Westwood will face Taniguchi in the first round…*yawn*…

No. 3 Tiger Woods is expected to show up, which could be awkward just because we all remember title sponsor Accenture’s ads pre-Thanksgiving night. Like this one:

Or this one:

For good measure, (one of) my personal favorite(s):

Sorry, too easy…but also too funny. Anyway, Woods will face Thomas Bjorn, who vaulted to the top 64 with his win in Qatar a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, swing coach Sean Foley can at least kill two of four birds with one stone if he wants to watch his players — No. 18 Hunter Mahan is matched against No. 47 Sean O’Hair.

The Dustin Johnson vs. Mark Wilson matchup is kinda intriguing because you’ve got the power-hitting freak and the smaller guy who has won twice already in 2011. DJ will be driving it 100 yards past Wilson! But as we all know, distance is always an advantage (especially with regard to intimidation in matchplay), but it’s not the be-all and end-all (and as Wilson has shown this year).

Veteran Steve Stricker is slated to play against young Italian rising star Matteo Manassero.

Otherwise, wake me when things get interesting. By the way — excuse my ignorance — but who is this Brendan Jones of Australia? Oh wait, isn’t he the guy that played Tiger Woods in the first round of Match Play in his first big comeback in 2009? Sounds familiar…

If the bracket stays as is, which pairings are you looking forward to watching? It’s a bit early for predictions, but let’s throw some out, anyway — go for it!