A month ago, Kyle Stanley’s here-and-now focus and No. 149 world ranking had him on the outside looking in for the prestigious Accenture Match Play Championship.

A win and a second-place finish later, Stanley sits atop the 2012 Fed Ex Cup Standings with a No. 52 world ranking, and is preparing to battle it out with world’s top 64 this week at Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Marana, AZ.

Stanley enters the competition as the No. 13 seed in the 16-player Bobby Jones Bracket, matched in the first round against fourth-seeded K.J. Choi of Korea. Play gets underway on Wednesday.

In the immediate opposite bracket, another former Clemson star, Jonathan Byrd, is seeded 13th in the Ben Hogan Bracket, and will take on former Georgia Tech All-American Matt Kuchar in the opening round. Kuchar, like Choi a No. 4 seed, reached the semifinals of last year’s tournament and finished third overall.

Ahead for Stanley in his bracket is a possible second-round match against Brandt Snedeker, who came from behind to edge Stanley in a playoff at Torrey Pines earlier this month. Snedeker faces Retief Goosen of South Africa in the first round.

The top seed in Stanley’s bracket is defending champion Luke Donald of England, followed by Adam Scott of Australia and South Carolinian Dustin Johnson.

The winner of the match between Byrd and Kuchar will take on the Bubba Watson-Ben Crane winner in the second round. Martin Kaymer of Germany in the No. 1 seed in the bracket, followed by Steve Stricker of the U.S. and Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland is the No. 1 seed in the Gary Player Bracket, while Lee Westwood of England is the top seed in the Sam Sneed Bracket.

Playing this week in the PGA Tour’s alternate event – the Mayakoba Golf Classic at Riviera Maya, Mexico – will be former Tiger Tommy Biershenk. Play gets underway on Thursday in the tournament.

The Nationwide Tour will take a two-week break before resuming at the Panama Claro Championship at Panama City, Panama on March 1. Kevin Johnson and Charles Warren tied for sixth place in last week’s season-opening Pacific Rubiales Colombia Championship.

Brent Delahoussaye, who opened the eGolf Professional Tour’s 2012 season by winning the Palmetto Hall Championship at Hilton Head Island, SC, will lead a group of eight former Clemson players in this week’s Oldfield Open at Okatie, SC.

Others in the field include Ben Duncan, Brian Duncan (who is coming off a victory in the NGA Professional Tour’s final Winter Series event), Elliot Gealy, David May, Phillip Mollica, Stephen Poole and Frank Wrenn.