England's Ross McGowan pulled off the biggest shocker on Wednesday, knocking off top overall seed Steve Stricker.
MARANA, Ariz. -- Here's a look at each of the 32 matches in Wednesday's first round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.
MORE MATCH PLAY: Wednesday's live report | Updated bracket | Highlights
| Shot of the Day
SECOND ROUND: Previews of each match | Staff predictions
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| Bobby Jones bracket results |
| No. 16 ROSS McGOWAN def. No. 1 STEVE STRICKER |
19 holes |
| McGowan is the lowest-seeded player in this tournament, but that didn't stop him from feeling confident going into the match against the top overall seed. "I would say I fancied my chances," McGowan said. "I knew I had a good chance at the beginning of the day." It didn't start so great for McGowan, was 2 down after a double bogey at the par-3 third. But he fought back with five birdies in an eight-hole stretch, including three straight that put him 1 up after 15 holes. A bogey at the next squared the match, but when Stricker plugged his approach shot at the 19th hole, McGowan had the opening. "It was not good," Stricker said of his lie in the bunker. "It was just a little speck of white where the ball was there. ... It was a little unfortunate that I didn't get a clean look at the bunker shot. "Still, McGowan had to drain a 29 feet, 6 inch putt to save par and hope Stricker couldn't get up and down. Stricker couldn't, making McGowan just the second 64th-seeded player to knock off a top overall seed at this event. "To hole a few putts, especially the one on 19 -- I could go all the way," McGowan said. Noted Stricker, who'll head back to Wisconsin for two weeks before starting the Florida swing at Doral, "(Losing in Match Play) can happen to anybody. That's just the nature of this event." |
| No. 8 RYO ISHIKAWA de. No. 9 MICHAEL SIM |
2 up |
| A year ago, Ishikawa's visit to Arizona was cut short when no one withdrew and the teenager, who ranked No. 65 in the world at the time, didn't get to play. In 2010, he gets to stay another day, though, after winning his last two holes to beat the young Australian. Ishikawa broke open a tight match with a 15-inch birdie putt at the 17th hole after a deadly 8-iron approach. Sim had a chance from 27 feet on the 18th but he missed and Ishikawa converted from 8 feet to seal the victory. "We had a very good match today. ... I'm very nervous," Ishikawa said. "The first-hole birdie start ... gave me a good experience and confidence." |
| No. 4 ROBERT KARLSSON def. No. 13 RORY SABBATINI |
20 holes |
| In a well-played match, Karlsson outlasted Sabbatini with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-5 second hole. Karlsson carded four birdies and an eagle in the first nine holes, while Sabbatini had five birdies on the day. But the match's lone bogey proved costly for Sabbatini as he fell one down when he bogeyed the 16th. He did rally with a birdie on the ensuing hole to square the match, but Karlsson was not to be denied. It's the first time in five Match Play starts that he has won a first-round match. |
| No. 12 THONGCHAI JAIDEE def. No. 5 ROSS FISHER |
5 and 4 |
| What a difference a year makes. In 2009, Fisher reached the consolation finals of the Accenture Match Play Championship. On Wednesday, he couldn't even make it out of the first round as Jaidee pulled the upset in his debut. The Thai veteran set the tone for the day when he won the first two holes with pars. Two more pars at Nos. 6 and 7 padded his advantage and an eagle at the eighth gave Jaidee a 5-up lead at the turn. Fisher's only win all day came with a birdie at the 10th hole, but it was just a matter of time before Jaidee closed him out. "We flew from Bangkok. We get here, we have jet lag on the first day," Jaidee said. "After that we have a very good sleep every day. Then we start today ... largely, we have no trouble and very good game plan. I came here to win today." |
| No. 15 JEEV MILKHA SINGH def. No. 2 PADRAIG HARRINGTON |
3 and 1 |
| The third time was the charm for Singh, who was making his debut as a PGA TOUR member. Singh had lost in the first round in two previous appearances but got untracked on the back nine to upset the three-time major champion. Harrington led for two holes early, but the match was all square through 12 holes when Singh took control with consecutive birdies. He then added a third birdie at the 17th hole to close the match out. "At the end of the day in match play, it all comes down to who holes more putts," Singh said, "and I was lucky enough to do that." |
| No. 10 MATT KUCHAR def. No. 7 ANTHONY KIM |
3 and 2 |
| The match was tight, but Kuchar never trailed in beating Kim. Kuchar, who had to withdraw last week due to a bout with a stomach virus, was steady on Wednesday as he won the fifth and seventh holes with pars to take the lead he would not relinquish. Kim only won one hole all day, the 12th with 29-foot birdie putt, and promptly gave that back with a three-putt bogey at the par-5 13th. When Kuchar birdied the 16th hole, he was on his way to the second round. "I played really steady golf, never was in trouble today," Kuchar said. "Two birdies, no bogeys, so just wore him down." |
| No. 3 IAN POULTER def. No. 14 JUSTIN LEONARD |
19 holes |
| This was a battle between two excellent practitioners of match play. Neither player led more than 2 up and Leonard finally forced extra holes when he made a birdie on the 18th hole. Poulter closed out the American, though, with a 5-footer for birdie on the first extra hole after Leonard had come up short. |
| No. 11 ADAM SCOTT def. No. 6 ANGEL CABRERA |
3 and 2 |
| What a wild ride for the Australian Scott. He made a double bogey and three bogeys and yet still never trailed in beating the reigning Masters champ. That's because when Scott wasn't giving away holes, he was pounding out birdies -- five to be exact, including two in his last four holes to seal the win. Cabrera, meanwhile, started with a double bogey and could never find his rhythm. It's the third time in his last four Match Play starts that Cabrera has suffered an early knockout. |
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| Ben Hogan bracket results |
| No. 1 MARTIN KAYMER def. No. 16 CHAD CAMPBELL |
4 and 2 |
| Kaymer isn't the best known of the top seeds, but he showed he belonged when he pulled away on the back nine Wednesday. Campbell actually drew first blood but it came courtesy of Kaymer after the 25-year-old from Germany hit his tee shot into the water on the par-3 third hole. Kaymer clawed back with a birdie at the eighth and an eagle at No. 9 where he holed a shot from 177 yards in the fairway. Kaymer, who is ranked No. 6 in the world, then earned the win when he reeled off four straight birdies beginning at the 13th hole. "Look forward to tomorrow because I played very, very solid today," Kaymer said. |
| No. 9 TIM CLARK def. No. 8 VIJAY SINGH |
1 up |
| Clark, who eliminated Tiger Woods in the second round a year ago, once again came up big against a high-profile opponent. Singh was playing in his 10th Accenture Match Play Championship and had only lost in the first round once before. Clark, who used a yellow ball on Wednesday, had one stretch on the front nine where he won three straight holes with birdies but he only led 1 up at the turn. A birdie at the 12th hole then put Clark 2 up but Singh got one back with a 21-inch birdie putt at the driveable 15th. Singh then missed a 6-footer at the 18th hole that would have extended the match. "Any match you get is going to be tough, especially Vijay," Clark said. "I certainly committed to win my matches but it's a difficult course for me. I find it tough to get it close to a lot of these holes. If I can make some birdies where I can and hang on for some of the longer holes, I'll have a chance." |
| No. 4 SERGIO GARCIA def. No. 13 DAVID TOMS |
2 up |
| That closing 77 at Pebble Beach last Sunday has got to be a distant memory now for Garcia, who made four birdies and only dropped one shot to par. The Spaniard, who turned 30 last month, never trailed in his match with the American Ryder Cup veteran, but he never led more than 2 up, either. The first two times, Toms was able to win the next hole but Garcia closed the match out when he won the 18th with a scrambling par. |
| No. 11 ANDERS HANSEN def. No. 5 LUCAS GLOVER |
2 and 1 |
| The reigning U.S. Open champion held the upper hand at the turn after he made his second birdie in four holes to go 2 up. But Hansen went on a tear on the back, making three birdies and winning a fourth with a concession to go to 2 up through 13. The two halved the next four holes with pars, but Glover had a chance to extend the match at the 17th hole ... only to miss an 8-footer for birdie. |
| No. 2 RORY McILROY def. No. 15 KEVIN NA |
1 up |
| McIlroy survived a scare from Na, who made an eagle and two birdies in his first six holes to take a 4-up advantage. The 20-year-old from Northern Ireland got his game untracked as he made the turn, though --- winning the seventh hole with a par, the eighth with an eagle and the 10th with a birdie. A bogey at the 11th hole, though, gave Na a cushion again but McIlroy won No. 15 with a birdie and the 16th with a par to square the match. McIlroy's par at the 18th then sent him through to the second round to play Oliver Wilson. "I was pretty fortunate to get through today," McIlroy said. "I'll need to play a lot better if I want to progress into the latter stages of the tournament." |
| No. 10 OLIVER WILSON def. No. 7 MIGUEL ANGEL JIMENEZ |
3 and 2 |
| Jimenez came in on form after winning the OMEGA Dubai Desert Classic two weeks ago. Wilson, though, had top-15s in his last two starts and he had played well a year ago in his debut, reaching the third round. Wilson made six birdies Wednesday, building a 4-up advantage through 12 holes. Jimenez got two back on Nos. 13 and 14 but Wilson's final birdie restored the cushion to 3 up and he held on for the win. |
| No. 3 ROBERT ALLENBY def. No. 14 PETER HANSON |
4 and 2 |
| Allenby, who had lost in the first round each of the last three years, never trailed in his match with Hanson. He built a 5-up lead with a birdie on the par-5 13th, but lost the next two holes to delay the inevitable. A clutch par on the 16th sent the Aussie into the second round. "I was in total control," Allenby said. "Every time he won a hole, I cam back and won another one." |
| No. 6 LUKE DONALD def. No. 11 GRAEME McDOWELL |
2 and 1 |
| Donald weilded a red-hot putter in this match -- making eight birdies to beat McDowell. Donald won the sixth and eighth holes with birdies to go 2 up, then birdied Nos. 9, 10 and 11 just to halve in the well-played match. A par at the 13th put Donald 3 up but McDowell hung in until the 17th hole. Donald faces Robert Allenby in the second round. "Luke played beautifully today," McDowell said. "He just kept making them outside me. Every time I'd smell the sniff of a chance, he'd just make a great putt." |
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| Gary Player bracket results |
| No. 1 LEE WESTWOOD def. No. 16 CHRIS WOOD |
3 and 1 |
| Lee Westwood lost his first hole with a bogey but otherwise was basically in control of his match with the young Englishman who was making his World Golf Championships debut. Westwood's birdie at the fourth hole quickly squared the match and another at the par-3 sixth gave him a lead he would not relinquish. He rolled in an 8-footer for birdie at the ninth hole to turn 3 up but Wood answered with a pair of birdies to narrow the gap briefly. Westwood then reeled off five pars -- the first of which put him back to 2 up -- and sealed the win with a 10-footer for birdie at the 17th. "I played steady," Westwood said. "I wouldn't say I played great. I used the experience in a couple of places. Chris gave me a couple of holes that he shouldn't have done. I kind of feel like I skated on a couple of holes." |
| No. 8 NICK WATNEY def. No. 9 YUTA IKEDA |
4 and 3 |
| In a battle of two Accenture Match Play rookies, Watney gradually pulled away, delivering the big blow when he holed out from 154 yards for eagle at the par-4 14th. Ikeda had gone 2 up quickly, but the nerves might have kicked in then as he made three consecutive bogeys to help bring Watney back into the match. With the match all square after six holes, Watney heated up with birdies on the eighth and 11th holes before his fireworks at the 14th. |
| No. 4 ERNIE ELS def. No. 13 RYAN MOORE |
4 and 3 |
| Els never trailed in his match with Moore. He won the second hole with a par and the third with a birdie to go 2 up. Moore birdied the fourth hole to briefly narrow the gap but he never won another hole all day. Els patiently picked his spots, making birdies on the seventh and 13th holes to go 4 up and waited for the win. "In match play, you lose one hole, the other guy gets a bit of momentum," Els said. "I didn't want to let that happen. I made good putts on 10 and 11. Those are probably the putts that swung the match in my favor. If I missed those two, I was only 1 up and it would have been a dogfight them." |
| No. 5 RETIEF GOOSEN def. No. 12 SOREN HANSEN |
3 and 2 |
| Goosen branded the golf a little "gruffy" but he still managed to beat the Dane with relative ease. The South African drew first blood with an eagle at No. 2 but Goosen gave it right back when he hit his tee shot at the par-3 third into the water. Undaunted, he birdied the third hole, then won Nos. 7 and 9 with pars to turn 3 up. Seven pars later, Goosen was off to the second round. "I didn't play that great," Goosen said. "... I didn't really make a lot of birdies out there but at the end of the day you've got to just try and stay ahead." |
| No. 15 BEN CRANE def. No. 2 HENRIK STENSON |
Conceded |
| Stenson conceded the match after one hole due to illness. "As soon as I tried to hit balls, it was an out-of-body experience," said Stenson, who stayed in bed all day on Tuesday. "It was no point, really ... The first tournament of the year in America didn't really turn out the way I had hoped." Added Crane, "He came up to me and said, 'I'm not feeling good. It doesn't look good.' ... He obviously had the flu and was feeling awful, had the cold sweats and everything." After Stenson conceded, Crane continued to play a practice round by himself. "Everyone else's match was so intense," he said, "and I'm just out there goofing around and hitting some balls. The crowd was just loving it." A former Accenture Match Play winner and reigning PLAYERS champ, Stenson was making his first start after deciding to join the PGA TOUR this year. |
| No. 7 Y.E. YANG def. No. 10 SOREN KJELDSEN |
2 and 1 |
| Yang's chances didn't look promising through 10 holes. He was 2 down after posting four bogeys, one double bogey and no birdies. But a Kjeldsen bogey at the 11th and Yang's first birdie of the day at the 13th squared the match. With the momentum, the PGA champion seized control. He eagled the 14th by holing out from 152 yards, then followed with another birdied at the short par-4 15th when he drove the green and two-putted. |
| No. 3 GEOFF OGILVY def. No. 14 ALEXANDER NOREN |
7 and 5 |
| Noren hung in for the first six holes -- squaring the match each of the three times Ogilvy took the lead. But Ogilvy finally got untracked and ran off seven straight birdies to earn what turned out to be a very lopsided victory for the defending champion. "An odd match to start, we gifted each other a couple of holes, and then I start playing really, really solid and Alex didn't play like he can," Ogilvy said. "So a bit of both contributed to the big result." |
| No. 6 CAMILO VILLEGAS def. No. 11 DUSTIN JOHNSON |
4 and 3 |
| The tone for this match was set early as Johnson, who had successfully defended his title at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Sunday, had to concede the first four holes. Villegas twice hit approaches within inches during that stretch, though, so it was clear who was in charge. Johnson cut the deficit to 2 down with birdies at Nos. 6 and 8, but Villegas returned the favor at the next two holes and coasted to the win. "Dustin's a good player who's been obviously pretty hot this year, winning last week," Villegas said. "And maybe that got him a little more relaxed and I took a little advantage of that. I kept it in play and he missed a couple of fairways, which kind of killed him." |
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| Sam Snead bracket results |
| No. 1 JIM FURYK def. No. 16 SCOTT VERPLANK |
2 and 1 |
| As might be expected, neither one of these gritty players managed to pull away in this hard-fought match. Furyk won the third hole with a par and Verplank the seventh with a birdie, so the two made the turn even. They each won one of the back nine par 5s with a birdie but Furyk gained the upper hand with a birdie at No. 14 and a par on the 16th. When both players made bogey on the 17th hole, Furyk was through to the second round. "He's tough," Furyk said. "He's a good friend of mine, but he's a real tough competitor. Usually doesn't make a bunch of mistakes. And I actually got the better end of a couple of mistakes at the end. And I feel bad that's the way the match ended. But he's a tough draw and always a grinder and a tough guy and kind of a similar game as me. So I think that always makes it interesting." |
| No. 9 CHARL SCHWARTZEL def. No. 8 HUNTER MAHAN |
2 and 1 |
| This one was a roller-coaster ride. The two only halved two holes on the front side and Schwartzel's birdie at the ninth sent him to the back with a 1-up advantage. He followed with another on the 10th hole to build a bigger cushion but Schwartzel gave one back when he bogeyed the par-5 11th. Birdies on Nos. 13 and 14 lifted the South African, who leads the European Tour's Race to Dubai, to a 3-up lead. He had to concede the 15th hole when his tee shot strayed into the desert but he hung tough for the 2-up win. It was quite an exciting game to watch, actually," Schwartzel said. "I played well, did good off the tee. That always puts a lot of pressure on a guy if you play well off the tee." |
| No. 4 SEAN O'HAIR def. No. 13 SIMON DYSON |
2 and 1 |
| Dyson actually won the first two holes, but O'Hair battled back to win three straight starting at No. 4 with two birdies and a par. He then got up and down from just off the green at the par-5 eighth for birdie and rolled in another from 4 feet at No. 9 to turn 3 up. Dyson never got any closer than 2 down on the back nine and O'Hair, who reached the quarterfinals last year, closed him out with a par on the 17th hole. |
| No. 5 STEWART CINK def. No. 11 EDUARDO MOLINARI |
2 up |
| This was quite a comeback for Cink, who has finished second and third, respectively, in the last two Accenture Match Play Champioinships. He lost five of the first six holes to go 4 down and then found his second shot in a bush at the par-5 eighth. But Cink went on to hack it out of the shrubbery and make a clutch par there, then turned things around on the back nine. He won four of the first five holes to square the match, then rolled in a 15-footer at the 17th for his first lead of the day. When Molinari missed a 31-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole, he conceded Cink's 31-inch putt for the win. "It was definitely a match I'll never forget," Cink said. "... On the back nine I played one of the best nine holes I've ever played. I really just drove it well. I made a couple of key putts and holed out a bunker shot and just kept applying pressure." |
| No. 2 PAUL CASEY def. No. 15 STEPHEN AMES |
5 and 4 |
| Casey won his first three holes with a par and three birdies and never looked back in beating Ames. Pars at Nos. 6 and 8 followed by a birdie at the 10th then gave the Englishman a commanding 5-up advantage and it was only a matter of time. "I've always been someone who can make lots of birdies, and occasionally throws in a mistake or two," Casey said. "That's not as damaging in match play as it is in stroke play. I think you don't worry about the consequences as much in match play, so maybe you take on a drive or something. You don't have to get all of them right, but if you get the majority of them right it's going to put you in a nice position, big advantage." |
| No. 10 MIKE WEIR def. No. 7 ALVARO QUIROS |
8 and 6 |
| Lots of excitement but absolutely no drama in this one. Weir birdied his first five holes, had a hiccup with a bogey at the sixth, then answered with another string of four birdies and was 7 up through 10 holes against the overwhelmed big-hitting Spaniard. "I was starting to laugh," Weir said when asked what was going through his mind. "...That doesn't happen very often in this game, so I guess when it happens, you enjoy it." Whether Weir goes on to win or not remains to be seen, but we may not see that kind of performance over a 10-hole stretch the rest of the week ... or perhaps even the rest of the PGA TOUR season. "Mike Weir has obviously gone bananas," said his second-round foe Paul Casey. |
| No. 14 BRIAN GAY def. No. 3 KENNY PERRY |
2 and 1 |
| Gay, making his Accenture Match Play debut, led for the first eight holes, but found himself 1-down after his second consecutive bogey on the par-4 10th. But he proceded to birdie both par 5s on the back nine, the 11th and the 13th, to eventually regain the lead. Gay rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 13th and never trailed after that. This is the third consecutive time that Perry has lost in the first round here. |
| No. 6 ZACH JOHNSON def. No. 11 FRANCESCO MOLINARI |
21 holes |
| Johnson hasn't played competitively since he tied for 12th in Hawaii a month ago. He shook off the rust on the back nine, though, and rallied to eliminate one of the two Italian Molinari brothers. Johnson was 2 down when he bogeyed the 14th hole, but Molinari lost a ball in the desert on No. 15 and Johnson squared the match with a par at the 16th. Five pars later, the American was off to the second round. |
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK PGA TOUR
Network correspondent Bob Stevens offers these observations from Wednesday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
• I'm not sure I've ever witnessed a putting display like the one Mike Weir put on in his match with Alvaro Quiros. He used just 12 putts in the first 10 holes and made nine birdies in that stretch, dropping putts from 57 feet, 37 feet, then three in a row from outside 25 feet. After dropping the bombs at Nos. 9 and 10, even the usually placid Weir had to laugh, dropping his putter in utter astonishment. After his 8 and 6 win, he told me he didn't think he'd made anything outside 15 feet all year, and he changed to a more heel-centered shaft in his putter. While the Canadian can't carry over the results into Thursday's second round match with Paul Casey, he says he can carry over a ton of confidence off his "gold medal" putting performance.
• We're now deep enough into the season where players are making subtle changes to their equipment to try to improve their results and it resulted in some surprising performances Wednesday. Besides Weir's new putter, Stewart Cink told me he's fallen in love with a new driver, smashing a 350-yarder on the 18th hole to complete a miraculous comeback to beat Italian Eduardo Molinari after trailing 4-down through the front nine. And Ross McGowan told me he's just now getting used to a new ball he's been playing early this season. He'd missed three cuts in his four starts in 2010 before shocking the tournament with a 30-foot putt that gave him a 19th hole win over top-seeded Steve Stricker.
• The best golfers in the world aren't always that much different than you or me. Martin Kaymer, who survived his first-round match with Chad Campbell, is coming off an injury suffered while go-carting last summer. But it didn't keep him off the carts last week in the Phoenix area. He told me he had intended to just watch friends, but one thing led to another and soon he was out on the track mixing it up again. But before European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie issues a cease-and-desist order, Kaymer's promising now to lay off the carting until after the Ryder Cup. We'll see.
• And after his victory over Padraig Harrington, Jeev Milka Singh told me the bonus of making it out of the first round for the first time in three trips will go a long way toward buying more diapers for the newest addition to his family, born a couple of weeks ago.
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