This week the PGA Tour travels to Marana, Ariz., for the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain. Australian Geoff Ogilvy, already a winner this season, is the defending champ. Before the Match Play tees off on Wednesday, we caught up with Ritz-Carlton Golf Club PGA Head Professional Jeff McCormick for a little Q&A.

PGA.com: Thanks for joining us, Jeff. First off, tell us a little about the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club course.

McCormick: This is the second year we've hosted the event. After last year, I think tee to green, the players loved it. However, we did get some comments about the severity of the greens due to the slope and the speed. Right after the event ended, we spent April and May renovating 17 of the 18 greens. We took out some of the slope, but we were able to maintain the speed.

PGA.com: I remember a lot of players commenting on the slope of the greens last year. Was it almost to the point where they were unfair in your opinion?

McCormick: To be honest, I never thought they were unfair. With the changes we've made now though, I do think they're more enjoyable to putt on. Because of that, a player can get more creative on the greens and we can make them roll a little faster.

PGA.com: Last season, young Rory McIlroy made his very first PGA Tour start in the Accenture Match Play Championship and managed to come away with a tie for fifth, his second-best finish in the U.S. last season. What was your impression of Rory?

McCormick: He was phenomenal. It was definitely exciting to have him here. Shortly before that, I think he won for the first time on the European Tour in Dubai and then this was kind of his splash on the U.S. scene. It's great to have him back here again this year. Golf certainly needs young stars to generate some more interest in the sport and Rory fits that bill beautifully.

PGA.com: We'd be remiss not to discuss two key players who won't be in Marana this week—world No. 1 Tiger Woods and world No. 3 Phil Mickelson. Obviously, we don't know right now when Tiger will return. Mickelson on the other hand, has decided to take a family vacation having played the last three weeks in a row. Does their absence hurt the tournament?

McCormick: Let's put it this way, you'd be absolutely crazy to not want to have both those players in the field. You would like to have as strong a field as possible and obviously, that would include Tiger and Phil. With that said, however, we've got a pretty darn good field. We'd love to have the top 64 players in the world here, but instead we've got the top 62. We're not complaining about that. Also, with a format like we have, there's no guarantee that the top-seeded players are going to make it to the finals anyway. History shows that some of those top seeds don't even make it out of their first round match. Even without them, this event will be every bit as good as it was last year.

PGA.com: Speaking of last year, Geoff Ogilvy continued his incredible play in the Accenture Match Play, winning for the second time in three years—he was the runner up to Henrik Stenson in 2008. What is it that makes Ogilvy such a force in match play?

McCormick: That was tremendous last year. Geoff and Paul Casey were just a couple of top-10 players duking it in the 36-hole final. I guess what makes Geoff so tough to beat in this format is just something he has mentioned several times—match play just suits his game. Who can argue with that?

PGA.com: Last thing, Jeff. What part about hosting a World Golf Championship event is it that you most look forward to experiencing as the Head Professional?

McCormick: I'm looking forward to the feedback we get from the players. We take their comments about the course to heart. What do they think about the improvements? Did we miss anything? We have a fantastic event here, but there's always room to improve. We're aware of that and we make it a point to make the necessary changes.

By T.J. Auclair, Interactive Producer