The Daily Wrap-up, Round 1: Accenture Match Play

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Tiger Woods' return from an eight-month layoff due to knee surgery went well with Woods winning 3 and 2.

Feb. 26, 2009

MARANA, Ariz. (AP) -- Eight months later, Tiger Woods looked as though he had never been away.

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Round 1 highlights
Tiger opens with eagle
Tiger on his return to golf
PGA TOUR Today

Woods made a triumphant return to golf Wednesday in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship with a start that showed golf what it had been missing in the 253 days since he limped his way to an epic U.S. Open title.

Just past high noon in the desert, Woods fired an 8-iron into 5 feet for birdie. Then came a gentle fist pump when his 3-iron from 237 yards on the par-5 second settled 4 feet from the cup for eagle.

He closed out Brendan Jones of Australia with a 3-foot par on the 16th hole for a 3-and-2 victory.

"It felt like nothing had changed," Woods said. "Walking down the fairway, it was like business as usual."

But this was no ordinary day.

Before thousands of fans who scurried through the high desert, eager to see every shot from the world's No. 1 player, Woods showed no sign of the reconstructive surgery done on his left knee a week after winning the U.S. Open.

"It held up," he said. "It felt good."

Woods said he had looked forward to the rush of competing. It was as if all that time away from golf had been bottled up inside him. And then it came gushing out on a scorching day on Dove Mountain, where temperatures approached 90 degrees.

Fans packed into the bleachers around the first tee, with more lined up behind the ropes all the way to the green, and the cheer when Woods walked onto the tee could be heard all the way down the fairway.

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BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR TIGER, DESPITE FANFARE
By Mike McAllister, PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor

MARANA, Ariz. -- Tiger Woods thought he would be nervous. Actually, he expected to be more nervous than usual, since his stomach churns whenever he tees it up, especially at big tournaments. And Wednesday's coming-back party wasn't just big. It was Grand Canyon-size huge

But then something happened, a calming sensation. Despite not having participated in a competitive environment since that sensational day last June when he won the U.S. Open on one leg and took his legacy to a new level, Tiger found something familiar to grab onto, something to ease his nerves.

He rid himself of all the drama surrounding his return to the PGA TOUR and went back to basics, to the simple act that got him 65 TOUR titles and 14 majors. He took out his 3-wood, teed a ball up, aimed for the target and blasted the darn thing down the fairway.

And nothing else mattered. His opening tee shot at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship was special for us. Magical, really. For Tiger, though, it was just another shot that he hoped would lead to a birdie.

Which it did, of course.

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SHOT OF THE DAY	ROUND OF THE DAY
Tiger Woods birdied his first hole and went on to add a pair of eagles en route to a 3 and 2 victory to advance to the second round. Watch his shot	Tiger Woods had three birdies, one eagle and led start to finish in his 3 and 2 win over Brendan Jones. Check out his scorecard

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"It felt like nothing had changed. Walking down the fairway, it felt like business as usual. I thought I would be more nervous on the first tee. I thought it would take me a little bit longer to get into the rhythm of the round and try and find it, but I came out and it felt good." -- Tiger Woods on what it felt like to make his return.

MATCH-BY-MATCH REPORTS
By PGATOUR.COM Staff

Here's a quick look at each match in Wednesday's first round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Click here for the updated Accenture Match Play bracket.

Players	Score	Bracket
TIGER WOODS, USA def. BRENDAN JONES, Australia	3 and 2	Jones
OK, some of the questions have now been answered. The knee seems fine and the rust appears to be coming off quickly. Woods birdied his first hole and never looked back in beating the little-known Australian. He made three birdies and an eagle, as well as three bogeys. "I hit the ball well starting out," Tiger said. "Hit a couple of loose irons in the middle part of the round, but other than that, I really hit it pretty good all day." Jones did manage to win two holes from Woods, so he can walk away with some confidence, too. And as for that Aussie curse? Well, it's overrated. Woods is now 6-3 against players from Down Under. Next match for Woods: Tim Clark.
CHARL SCHWARTZEL, South Africa, def. SERGIO GARCIA, Spain	1 up	Player
Schwartzel put the pressure on the No. 1 seed early, winning the first three holes with birdies. Of course, he promptly gave that advantage away when he went bogey-bogey-double bogey starting at the fifth hole. But the young South African proved enormously resilient when he birdied the eighth to win and added another birdie at the ninth to halve and head to the back nine 1 up. Garcia finally got untracked when he birdied Nos. 13, 14 and 15 to take a 2-up and it looked like he might avoid the upset. But Schwartzel won the next three holes with a birdie and two pars to send the second top seed packing. Next match for Schwartzel: Ian Poulter
PAT PEREZ, USA, def. PADRAIG HARRINGTON, Ireland	1 up	Snead
Perez never trailed as Harrington became the first No. 1 seed to fall. The Arizona State product was playing for the seventh straight week but showed no signs of fatigue. Perez won the first hole and after a see-saw first nine that included a birdie at the ninth made the turn 1 up. Harrington, on the other hand, never seemed to settle in. He did square the match with a birdie at the 11th hole but Perez answered with birdies on the next two to go 2 up. Harrington cut into Perez' advantage with a birdie on the par-3 15th but the American parred in to seal the upset. Next match for Perez: Ross Fisher
VIJAY SINGH, Fiji def. SOREN KJELDSEN, Denmark	2 up	Hogan
Singh produced a bogey-free round, but still wasn't able to take his first lead until the 13th hole. Kjeldsen started quickly with birdies in his first eight holes and was 2 up at that point. But Singh won the next two holes, and a Kjeldsen bogey at the 13th finally turned the moment toward the Big Fijian, who won his first-round match for the eighth straight year at this event. "I wad down early and I just hung in there, got my chances," Singh said. Next match for Singh: Luke Donald

• To read the remainder of the match reports, click here.

INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Fred Albers offers these observations from Wednesday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.com.

Brendan Jones had his hands full against Tiger Woods in the opening round of the Accenture Match Play Championship and had to battle the media on the 11th hole as well. When Jones' ball released through the green, a member of the media accidentally stepped on it. Jones arrived at the green, looked at his lie and asked what happened. A media member is deemed an "outside agency" and Jones was given his original lie, which helped him halve the hole. Woods eventually eliminated Jones 3 and 2.

Sean O'Hair intended to play the back nine at Dove Mountain on Tuesday afternoon, but his swing felt so bad he decided to head to the driving range instead of playing the course. Having never seen the final nine holes, O'Hair made three birdies and eliminated Adam Scott 1 up on the 18th green.

You do not fully understand how youthful Rory McIlroy looks until seeing him in person. The 19-year-old has a thick mop of hair sticking out from under his hat that frames a cherubic face. You can count the number of whiskers on his chin. McIlroy brings a man-sized game to the course, however, and he eliminated Louis Oosthuizen 2 and 1. He now plays Hunter Mahan in the second round.

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