GOLF/World Matchplay Championship: Since its inception, nobody can say that the Accenture World Matchplay has gone to plan. Jeff Maggert won the first event; Darren Clarke stole into the world number one's lair to beat Tiger Woods in the second instalment, and, last year, when no fewer than 28 of the top 64 players in the world stayed away, Steve Stricker - ranked a lowly 90 at the time - came away as champion.

All of which illustrates just how fickle the matchplay format can be. In fact Clarke, one of three Irish players in this year's championship, was ranked 19th in the world when he won the event.

With all the big guns gathering in La Costa for the $5 million event ($1 million for the winner) which starts today with the first round, the odds are short that one of the sport's heavyweights will win.

But, then, who's to say the surprises won't continue? "It's the beauty of matchplay that surprises tend to happen," remarked American Joe Durant, the first round opponent of Paul McGinley. Durant is one of 13 players competing in the competition for the first time and it is an indication of how rarely professionals encounter this format that he hasn't played matchplay since the mid-1980s, when competing in the Cotton States Amateur in Louisiana.

The Irish players each have an American opponent in the first round: Clarke is in the third match out (4.04 p.m. Irish time) against Matt Gogel; Padraig Harrington faces Steve Flesch (4.36 p.m.) and McGinley is in the last pairing (7.56 p.m.) with Durant.

Welsh player Phil Price has the toughest first round task of the 13 Europeans in the field as he tackles world number eight Davis Love, but McGinley's reward should he beat Durant is a likely encounter with world number three David Duval.

Duval, who withdrew from Sunday's final round of the Nissan Open after just three holes because of a stomach ailment, is definitely playing. He spent a considerable time on the range on Monday - "I never felt as sick as I did on Sunday," he claimed - and hitting balls beside him was the man who surprised everybody, not least himself, by winning the championship last year in Melbourne, Australia.

A year on, though, and Stricker is still having to prove a point - not to himself, but to others.

"Deep down, I know what I did, and I feel good about it. I don't feel that I need to back that up or try to prove anything. I played well that week and I don't need to prove myself here," insisted Stricker.

In fact, in 118 holes of golf that week in Melbourne, Stricker only trailed on nine holes, and among his victims were Ryder Cup members Harrington, Scott Verplank and Justin Leonard. He also beat Nick O'Hern, Toru Taniguchi and Pierre Fulke to claim the biggest win of his career.

"Unfortunately for Steve, I don't think he got the credit he deserved for the win," admitted David Toms, the USPGA champion.

Stricker's first round opponent today is world number 10 Chris DiMarco. "The attention and the focus won't be on me," insisted Stricker, now ranked 55 in the world, who has lived with the reputation of being erratic off the tee but among the top players once he finds the putting surface.

"Hopefully I can surprise a few people again."

At least the return of the championship to La Costa - its home for the first two years - has ensured that the player representation reflects the status of the event. Only two of the top 64 ranked players in the world are missing, Thomas Bjorn and Jose Coceres.

The locals in San Diego, however, haven't quite taken the event to their heart. Two weeks ago, the Buick Invitational - won by Jose Maria Olazabal - was staged at nearby Torrey Pines and a crowd of 160,000 attended the tournament. Organisers this week believe they will do well to break a figure of 7,000. And that's with Tiger Woods in the field.

Of all the first round meetings, it is the rematch of Olazabal with his Ryder Cup conqueror of 1999, Leonard, that probably holds most anticipation. And eyes will also be on Colin Montgomerie, who has returned to competitive play sooner than anticipated after his well-documented back problems. He faces Scott McCarron in the first round.

This is the only WGC tournament that Woods has yet to win - and, on the two occasions that he has competed in the matchplay, the men that beat him won: Maggert in 1999, Clarke in 2000. Woods pulled out of last week's Nissan Open in order to work on his game prior to the matchplay and he arrived at the La Costa resort on Sunday claiming that his swing was in good order.

Meanwhile, prize money for the 2002 International Open has been increased by 10 per cent to £1.1 million, with a first prize of £183,000 available at the Belfry on May 9th-12th.

John Daly, who recently took up membership of the European Tour, is among those committed to playing.