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I am just curious, in the upcoming Match Play event, Michael Campbell is seeded #1 despite being ranked lower in the world rankings than 9 of the others and lower in the Order of Merit than 9 others. Is it simply due to the fact that he won last years event?

World Rankings
Tiger Woods 1
Jim Furyk 2
Adam Scott 5
Retief Goosen 6
Ernie Els 7
Luke Donald 9
David Howell 11
Colin Montgomerie 15
Tim Clark 19
Angel Cabrerra 23
Michael Campbell 26
Paul Casey 27
Mike Weir 37
Robert Karlsson 43
Shaun Micheel 75
Simon Khan 77

Order of Merit
David Howell 1
Paul Casey 2
Robert Karlsson 3
Ernie Els 7
Retief Goosen 8
Colin Montgomerie 9
Luke Donald 10
Tim Clark 17
Simon Khan 24
Michael Campbell 34
Shaun Micheel 41

This years seeding/Last years finish

1. Michael Campbell Defeated P. McGinley final round
2. Tiger Woods DNP
3. Jim Furyk DNP
4. Adam Scott DNP
5. Retief Goosen Lost to M. Campbell round 3
6. Ernie Els DNP
7. Luke Donald Lost to P. McGinley round 2
8. David Howell Lost to J M Olazabel round 1
9. Colin Montgomerie Lost to M. Hensby round 1
10. Tim Clark Lost to S. Elkington round 1
11. Angel Cabrerra Lost to P. McGinley round 3
12. Paul Casey DNP
13. Mike Weir DNP
14. Robert Karlsson DNP
15. Shaun Micheel DNP
16. Simon Khan DNP

It has to be the defending champion status, as all the others are seeded in order of their WGR.

Yes, M. Campbell is the defending champion, therefore, he gets the #1 seeding, regardless of his world or order of merit rankings.