Woods pulls out a victory in match play

MARANA, Ariz. -- There was a lefthanded shot out of the sagebrush, a couple of erratic putts and considerable bit of coughing from a cold he got from his kids last week in Florida. But in the end there was a narrow victory for Tiger Woods.

Woods said neither he nor his opponent in the first round of the Accenture World Golf Championships Match Play, the Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, "had our best stuff.'' In this format, when golf is played hole-by-hole, not by cumulative score, a player just needs enough stuff.

That's what Woods showed Wednesday, coming back after losing the opening two holes, to win 1 up at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club outside of Tucson.

"We both made our share of mistakes,'' Woods said. "There's no doubt about it. But somehow I was able to move on.''

Last year he was shocked in the first round by Thomas Bjorn. Wednesday, defending champ and world No. 1 Luke Donald was shocked by Ernie Els 5 and 4. Els, ranked 65th in the world, only got into this event because of the withdrawal of Phil Mickelson.

Former St. John's player Keegan Bradley, who along with Mickelson lost in a playoff to Bill Haas on Sunday in the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles, was a 4 and 3 winner over two-time champion Geoff Ogilvy, but Haas, 3 up after 13, was overtaken by Ryo Ishikawa and bogeyed 18 to lose 1 up.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, the 2011 U.S. Open winner and second in the world rankings, outlasted George Coetzee 2 up, and Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, third and fourth, respectively, also won. Sergio Garcia lost to Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Dustin Johnson was 3 down to Jim Furyk after 10 holes, went ahead, bogeyed 18 to send the match to extra holes, hooked his tee shot into the desert on the second extra hole but won in 20 holes when Furyk three-putted.

Fernandez-Castano, who Tuesday said Woods was "beatable,'' rued his inability to make that prediction reality. "If there was one day to beat Tiger Woods, this was it,'' Fernandez-Castano said. "I didn't take the opportunity.''

Woods wouldn't let him. At 18, Woods hit into a greenside bunker but played a brilliant shot that spun and rolled to 8 feet, 8 inches. The par putt, which Woods said was the most important shot he hit all day, clinched the match.

"The way it went,'' said Woods, who plays Nick Watney in Thursday's second round, "was just up and down for both of us. It was just an emotional match. It was like, boy it was tough. It was tough on both of us.''