Golf:Luke Donald's defence of the Accenture Match Play title lasted only 14 holes last night, leaving second seed Rory McIlroy in with a shout of taking the world number one slot off him with an outright win in Tucson after his win over South African George Coetzee.
McIlroy needed Donald to get knocked out before the third round if he was to have any hope of ousting the Englishman from the top of the rankings, so the latter's 5&4 defeat to Ernie Els means the job is now firmly in the Northern Irishman's hands, though there's a long way to go.
He only scraped through himself, after dropping shots at 16 and 17. McIlroy trailed at the turn, but won the 11th, 12th and 13th to move three-up.
After the two bogeys, however, he was just one up going down the last but Coetzee missed a short par putt on the final green to give the Holywood man a two-hole win.
"I struggled to finish it off," said McIlroy afterwards. "I actually felt like before that I played some great golf. I made a bad swing on 16 and made bogey. And then made bogey on 17. I mean it's not great to see the way George finished the match off missing that short putt. But obviously I was relieved."
McIlroy will face Anders Hansen in the second round after the Dane beat South Korea's Kyung-tae Kim 5&3.
Lee Westwood, who could also move to number one in the rankings with a win has never beyond the second round in 11 previous trips, but he overcame Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts.
Westwood, who won on the 17th, said: "I didn't make a bogey and it was a good match. You can't cruise your way into the tournament, as I do in a lot of them."
He has European opposition again in the second round, Robert Karlsson beating fellow Swede Fredrik Jacobson.
Westwood and Robert Rock are the only English survivors, after Simon Dyson, Donald, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose all bowed out.
Donald became only the third top seed to lose in the first round when he lost to Els, who was not even in the event until Phil Mickelson decided to go on holiday.
In winning last year, Donald was never behind in six games and never taken to the final green either. But on his return to Dove Mountain the 34-year-old, who, like Els, finished the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles on Sunday with a seven-over-par 78, trailed from the third hole.
Els, a giant of the game now in the role of giant-killer, finished things off with a 10-foot birdie putt on the 14th.
"Luke had such an unbelievable year last year, winning both money list titles," he said. "I knew I had to play well and I did."
Donald joins Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker in making an instant exit as top seed. They lost to Peter O'Malley and Ross McGowan respectively in 2002 and 2010.
He told Sky Sports: "Not sure where to start - I just didn't play well. t's disappointing. I've worked hard and to lose control of the ball is frustrating. I felt pretty good about where I was and I'm not sure what happened. Hopefully just one of those bad days."
Poulter, winner two years ago, was another of the first-day losers, suffering a 4&3 defeat to little-known Korean Bae Sang-moon, but three-time champion Woods came from behind for a one-hole victory over Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
In a generally scrappy match the Madrid golfer won the first two holes. Woods hit back to lead by one after eight, then hit wild shots and lost the 10th and 11th, but took the 15th and 16th and just held on.
Bunkered in two on the last with Fernandez-Castano only nine feet away, he splashed out superbly down the slope to eight feet and was the one to make his putt.
Rock, conqueror of Woods and the world's top four in Abu Dhabi last month, grabbed another notable scalp when he defeated world number eight Adam Scott.
That came on the last, as did the victories by Scots Paul Lawrie and Martin Laird over Rose and Alvaro Quiros respectively in two of six all-European clashes.
Lawrie, winner of the Qatar Masters three weeks ago, is making his first appearance in the tournament since 2003 and said: "It's great, but there is no point in playing these events if you are not going to play very well."
McIlroy is the only Irishman remianing after Graeme McDowell lost to Korean YE Yang for the second year running and Darren Clarke was crushed 5&4 by American Nick Watney, who next faces Woods.
"I made six birdies and played decent golf," said McDowell, "but I ran into a man who played extremely well. He didn't put a foot wrong, but that's just the way the cookie crumbles with this tournament.
"He seems to have my number a little bit - and I have a tendency to bring out the best in guys around this track for some reason."
Yang will face American Hunter mahan next.
Second Round Draw (matches to be played today)
BOBBY JONES
(64) Ernie Els v (33) Peter Hanson
(49) Kyle Stanley v (17) Brandt Snedeker
(57) Robert Rock v (40) Mark Wilson
(9) Dustin Johnson v (41) Francesco Molinari
BEN HOGAN
(4) Martin Kaymer v (29) David Toms
(13) Matt Kuchar v (20) Bubba Watson
(5) Steve Stricker v (28) Louis Oosthuizen
(53) YE Yang v (21) Hunter Mahan
GARY PLAYER
(2) Rory McIlroyv (34) Anders Hansen
(50) Miguel Angel Jimenez v (18) Keegan Bradley
(7) Jason Day v (39) John Senden
(10) Charl Schwartzel v (42) Bae Sang-moon
SAM SNEAD
(3) Lee Westwood v (30) Robert Karlsson
(14) Nick Watney v (19) Tiger Woods
(59) Matteo Manassero v (38) Martin Laird
(54) Ryo Ishikawa v (43) Paul Lawrie
