Woods to Face Watney in Round Two of World Match Play Golf; Donald Exits
Woods Seeks Fast Start to Avoid Second Early Exit
Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Tiger Woods, seen here, who won the World Match Play title in 2003, 2004 and 2008, is ranked 20th going into the 64-player tournament, while Fernandez-Castano is No. 48 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Tiger Woods, seen here, who won the World Match Play title in 2003, 2004 and 2008, is ranked 20th going into the 64-player tournament, while Fernandez-Castano is No. 48 in the Official World Golf Ranking. Photographer: Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Tiger Woods will play fellow American Nick Watney today at golf’s World Match Play Championship, where defending champion Luke Donald and 2010 winner Ian Poulter failed to make it to the second round.
Woods trailed after 14 holes against Gonzalo Fernandez- Castano yesterday before taking the lead by winning consecutive holes. He sealed the 1-up victory with a six-foot par putt after blasting out of a sand trap on the Dove Mountain course’s 18th hole at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Marana, Arizona.
“It was just a match that was just back and forth, and we both made our share of mistakes,” Woods, 36, said in a news conference. “But somehow I was able to move on.”
Donald, who won the title last year without having to play the 18th hole, lost 5-and-4 to Ernie Els, meaning he trailed by five holes with four left to play. Els gained entry when Phil Mickelson withdrew to go skiing with his family.
“I struggled,” Donald told reporters. “I gave away too many holes and made too many mistakes. You can’t do that in match play against anyone, let alone Ernie.”
Donald, the fourth defending champion to lose in the opening round in the 14-year history of the tournament, will be replaced atop the world rankings by U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy or Lee Westwood if either wins the title. McIlroy faces Anders Hansen today, while Westwood plays Robert Karlsson.
Poulter, who defeated fellow Englishman Paul Casey to win the tournament two years ago, lost 4-and-3 to Sang-Moon Bae, a South Korean who goes on to play Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters Tournament winner.
Four Lead Changes
Woods’s opening match had four lead changes and he missed a chance to end it on the 17th green when he knocked an eight-foot birdie putt past the hole.
Woods lost the first two holes and took the lead with a birdie at the eighth. He surrendered the advantage when he played the next three holes in 4-over par.
Woods, ranked 20th going into the tournament, took the lead for the second time when 31-year-old Fernandez-Castano, a Spaniard who is No. 48 in the Official World Golf Ranking, missed a par putt on the 16th hole.
“If there was one day to beat Tiger Woods, this was it,” Fernandez-Castano said in a news conference. “I didn’t take the opportunity. I missed a few shots and, of course, you can’t miss spots if you want to beat one of the greatest in history.”
Woods, who won the World Match Play title in 2003, 2004 and 2008, tees off at 1:37 p.m. eastern time against Watney, a 5- and-4 winner against Darren Clarke, the British Open champion from Northern Ireland.
PGA Tour Drought
“I’ve got to hit the ball a little better than I did,” Woods said. “I’ve got to get a better feel for my distances.”
Woods, who lost in the first round last year to Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, is chasing his first win on the U.S. PGA Tour since September 2009. He ended a 749-day winless streak in December at the Chevron World Challenge, an 18-player invitational tournament that he hosts, and this year has finished third at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and tied for 15th at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Match play involves head-to-head competition over 18 holes, each one decided by the low score. The match is decided when one player has an insurmountable lead. In stroke-play events, which make up most of the world’s pro golf tours, the player with the lowest score wins the tournament.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Buteau in Atlanta at mbuteau@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net
Rate this Page