American Jim Furyk withdrew today from the Accenture Match Play Championship
that begins next week at Metropolitan Golf Club, adding to a growing list of no-shows
for the $5 million event.
Furyk, the tournament's sixth seed, becomes the 40th eligible player to pull
out or decline to enter. Sweden's Jarmo Sandelin withdrew Thursday, allowing Australian
Nick O'Hern into the field.
American Greg Kraft will replace Furyk, who gave no reason for his withdrawal.
Tournament director Tony Roosenburg said the official draw would be released
on Monday and if there were any withdrawals after that, certain players would
be given a bye through to the next round. The 64-man event begins Wednesday.
Most of the world's top players, including Tiger Woods, David Duval, Davis
Love III, Phil Mickelson, and Colin Montgomerie, have passed on the event, one
of the four World Golf Championship tournaments.
Ernie Els, No. 2 in the world, will be the top seed. Hal Sutton (No. 8), Masters
champion Vijay Singh (No. 9), and Tom Lehman (No. 10) are the only other top 10
players in the field.
