MARANA, Ariz. -- Englishman Ian Poulter, a No. 3 seed, defeated 14th-seeded Stephen Gallacher of Scotland, 2 and 1, in the completion Thursday of their first-round match.

Poulter now faces American Bo Van Pelt in the second round Friday of the Snead bracket.

Poulter entered the day 3 up through 12 holes. He stumbled at the par-4 14th, losing the hole with a double bogey. But after Gallacher drained a 20-foot birdie putt at the 15th, Poulter followed with his own short birdie putt after hitting his approach shot inside 4 feet to halve the hole and derail Gallacher's momentum.

For Poulter, it was the first time he had advanced past the first round since winning here in 2010.

"I'm fully aware of my early exits the last couple years," Poulter said, "and obviously didn't want to do that again."

MARANA, Ariz. – Tim Clark has withdrawn from the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship due to an injury.

The South African, who won THE PLAYERS Championship last year, has been replaced by J.B. Holmes.

Holmes will now play Camilo Villegas in Match 4 at 9:55 a.m. ET on Wednesday. The match is in the Sam Snead bracket.

Holmes has only played in one Accenture Match Play Championship, nearly pulling off an upset of Tiger Woods in 2008 before losing 1 down.

Clark has not played since he tied for second at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He developed severe blisters on his foot there, then was sidelined by an elbow injury and withdrew from the Bob Hope Classic, AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am  and Northern Trust Open.

The next alternate is Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher, followed by Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and Lucas Glover of the United States. – Helen Ross