Accenture: First-round notes

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Morning temperatures were in the low 50s with partly cloudy and breezy conditions. Temperatures and cloud coverage increased through with day with temps reaching the mid 60s.

Breakdown of 2008 field of 64 players:
International players: 44
United States players: 20
Countries represented: 17
Largest international contingent: Australia, 10

After the first round:
International players: 20 of the 44 won their first round match
United States players: 12 of the 20 won their first round match
Countries represented: 12 of the 17 still in the field
Largest international contingent following first round: England and Australia, 5 each

All-time Accenture Match Play Championship First-Round Results:
1999 -- 14 of 32 matches won by top seed
2000 -- 21 of 32 matches won by top seed
2001 -- 20 of 32 matches won by top seed
2003 -- 19 of 32 matches won by top seed
2004 -- 20 of 32 matches won by top seed
2005 -- 19 of 32 matches won by top seed
2006 -- 19 of 32 matches won by top seed
2007 -- 21 of 32 matches won by top seed
2008 -- 19 of 32 matches won by top seed

First-time Participants: 17 --

Of the 17 first-time participants at the 2008 Accenture Match Play Championship, five came out on top on Wednesday: two matches had first-time participants going head to head. See chart below

First-time participants who played other first timers:
USA's Boo Weekley, (No. 44) defeated Germany's Martin Kaymer (No. 21), 2 and 1
USA's Hunter Mahan, (No. 35) defeated South Africa's Richard Sterne (No. 30), 4 and 3

First-time participant winners:
USA's Woody Austin (No. 37)defeated Japan's Toru Taniguchi (No.30), 6 and 5
USA's Jonathan Byrd (No. 62) defeated South Africa's Ernie Els (No. 4), 6 and 5
Argentina's Andres Romero (No. 36) defeated South Africa's Retief Goosen (No. 31), 2 and 1

First-time participant losers:
Australia's John Senden (No. 54) lost to Spain's Sergio Garica (No. 13), 3 and 2
Sweden's Peter Hanson (No. 56) lost to Fiji's Vijay Singh (No. 11), 19 holes
Colombia's Camilo Villegas (No. 57) lost to South Korea's K.J. Choi (No. 8), 3 and 2
Australia's Brenden Jones (No. 61) lost to Australia's Adam Scott (No. 5), 2 and 1
Denmark's Soren Hansen (No. 41) lost to Argentina's Angel Cabrera (No. 14), 3 and 2
England's Nick Dougherty (No. 47) lost to England's Luke Donald (No. 16), 2 and 1
USA's Brandt Snedeker (No. 48) lost to England's Lee Westwood (No. 19), 3 and 2
USA's J.B. Holmes (No. 65) lost to USA's Tiger Woods (No. 1), 1 down
Sweden's Daniel Chopra (No. 63) lost to USA's Steve Stricker (No. 3), 20 holes
USA's Pat Perez (No. 64) lost to USA's Phil Mickelson (No.2), 1 up

Only three matches went extra holes during Wednesday's first-round matches:
Vijay Singh def. Peter Hanson, 19 holes
Charles Howell III def. Stephen Ames, 19 holes
Steve Stricker def. Daniel Chopra, 20 holes

Winners of the 32 matches by Country:

USA: Boo Weekley, Stewart Cink, Woody Austin, Charles Howell III, Jonathan Bryd, David Toms, Hunter Mahan, Justin Leonard, Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Arron Oberholser, Phil Mickelson
Australia: Adam Scott, Rod Pampling, Nick O'Hern, Aaron Baddeley, Stuart Appleby
England: Nicolas Fasth, Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter
Argentina: Angel Cabrera, Andres Romero
Ireland: Padraig Harrington
Spain: Sergio Garcia
South Korea: K.J. Choi
Sweden: Henrik Stenson
South Africa: Trevor Immelman
Scotland: Colin Montgomerie
Fiji: Vijay Singh
Wales: Bradley Dredge

With his victory on Wednesday, Tiger Woods ran his career Accenture Match Play Championship record to 26-6 and has won 17 of his last 20 matches.

2005 Champion David Toms, who has the second-most wins in this event, won his ninth-consecutive first-round match (he has never lost in the first round) at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.

The largest margin of victory on Wednesday was 6 and 5, recorded in three matches. Niclas Fasth over Richard Green; Woody Austin over Toru Taniguchi; and Jonathan Byrd over Ernie Els. Byrd's 6 and 5 win over Ernie Els is the largest margin of victory over a top-4 seed (No. 1 seed in the Ben Hogan bracket) in any round in the history of the Accenture Match Play Championship history.