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The following four players would earn No. 1 seeds if the Match Play Championships began today:

No. 1 Tiger Woods — The biggest name in sports continues to smoke the competition. He's 367 points ahead of second-place Jim Furyk.

No. 2 Jim Furyk — Ex-Wildcat sponsors a golf class for business majors at the UA. Business is certainly good for Furyk, who won $7.2 million in 2006.

No. 3 Adam Scott — The 26-year-old Aussie is the youngest player in the top 10.

No. 4 Ernie Els — South African star has won 15 PGA Tour events — and more than $28 million — since turning pro in 1989.

These four players are trying to hold on to their spots as Match Play approaches:

No. 61 Shaun Micheel — 2003 PGA Championship winner is friendly with Kiss rockers. Thankfully, he plays without makeup.

No. 62 J.J. Henry — Made his first Ryder Cup team and scored his first PGA Tour win in 2006.

No. 63 Brett Quigley — Had a bad time in Arizona last year, finishing 53rd in the FBR Open and skipped the Tucson Open.

No. 64 Anthony Wall — English star played in just three PGA Tour events last year. Spends most of his time on the European Tour.

On the bubble

These golfers are a good weekend away from punching their tickets to Tucson:

No. 65 John Senden — Australian won 2006 John Deere Classic.

No. 66 Tom Pernice Jr. — Majored in economics at UCLA for good reason: He has since won more than $10 million in his career.

No. 67 Tom Lehman — Ryder Cup captain stars in match-play formats.

No. 68 Dean Wilson — Hawaiian won The International in 2006.

And because you're curious …

Phil Mickelson — Woods' old nemesis is tied with Retief Goosen for fifth place in the latest rankings.

Vijay Singh — The best thing to come out of Fiji since water in a square bottle, Singh is seventh.

Sergio Garcia — One-time prodigy is 11th, just behind 2006 World Match Play Champion Geoff Ogilvy.

Colin Montgomerie — Scottish sourpuss is 19th overall, and a lock to hear some heckling in Tucson.

By the numbers

The World Match Play Championships will hand out $8 million in prize money this year, making it one of the tour's most lucrative stops. Here's how the money breaks down:

$1.3 million — Tournament champion

$750,000 — Second place

$560,000 — Third place

$450,000 — Fourth place

$240,000 — Money awarded to the four Elite Eight losers, all tied for fifth place

$125,000 — Money awarded to the eight players who lose in the Sweet 16.

$85,000 — Money awarded to players who win only one match.

$35,000 — Money awarded to all first-round losers.

NOTE: Third- and fourth-place finishers are determined by a consolation match.

— Source: 2006 World Match Play payouts

Time is running out.

The world's best golfers have just two tournaments left — this weekend's FBR Open and next week's AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am — to earn an invitation to Tucson's first World Match Play Championship.

Players who rank in the top 64 in the World Golf Rankings on Feb. 12 will be invited to the tournament, which begins Feb. 21 at the Gallery's South Course. Many will have to scramble to make the field, which is patterned after the NCAA basketball tournament.

"There's a really clean way to look at it. The players in the top 45 or so, if they make their schedules, should probably be OK," said Michael Garten, executive director of the event. And for those lower than 50?

"… Most of those positions are up for grabs," he said.

The world's No. 65 golfer could sneak in if 46th-ranked Arron Oberholser, as expected, withdraws from the event because of a bulging disk in his back. Still, Oberholser's situation is unique. Since the tournament started in 1999, no more than three players have missed the event on U.S. soil.

From Tiger Woods to Tom Lehman, here's a breakdown of who's in, who's out and who's on the bubble: