Tiger Woods dominated the opening round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship with a record 9 & 8 win over Canadian Stephen Ames. However, it was a bad night for the Irishmen with only Padraig Harrington advancing to the next round.
World number one Woods, who withdrew from the Nissan Open four days ago because of flu, reeled off birdies at the first six holes before sealing victory with a regulation par at the 10th hole.
His victory margin eclipsed the previous mark of 7 & 6 achieved by six players, including himself when he beat Australia's Stephen Leaney in the third round in 2003.
"It's been a while since I played one like that," Woods said. "I hit a bunch of good golf shots today, and basically it was an extension of (practice) yesterday. I just wanted to continue it and actually use it in competition, and I finally did."
Champion at La Costa Resort and Spa in 2003 and 2004, Woods was smarting after comments by Ames about the accuracy of his driving.
Of the four Irishmen in the field, only Harrington progressed. He beat Australian Rod Pampling 4 & 2. Graeme McDowell lost 5 & 4 to world number two Vijay Singh, Darren Clarke tumbled out 4 & 3 to Shigeki Maruyama while Paul McGinley lost 2 & 1 to Japan’s Shingo Katayama.
World number four Ernie Els, back at La Costa for the first time in three years, lost to 2004 European Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer by a hole in the day's biggest upset.
Davis Love III beat Australian Mark Hensby 2 & 1 and Britain’s David Howell finally edged Australian Steve Elkington in a 22-hole marathon at a sun-drenched La Costa.
Eight-times European number one Colin Montgomerie prevailed over Swede Niclas Fasth after 23 holes and holder David Toms edged Ian Poulter after 19 holes.
American Phil Mickelson, winner of last year's US PGA Championship at Baltusrol, beat fellow American Charles Howell III two up and world number three Retief Goosen knocked out Paul Broadhurst 5 & 4.
Results
(9) Adam Scott (Aus) bt (56) Lucas Glover 2 and 1
(24) Stuart Appleby (Aus) lost to (41) Tom Lehman 3 and 2
(23) Davis Love bt (42) Mark Hensby (Aus) 2 and 1
(10) Kenny Perry lost to (55) Carl Pettersson (Swe) 1 hole
(22) Paul McGinley (Irl) lost to (43) Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 2 and 1
(25) Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) bt (40) Brandt Jobe 3 and 2
(12) David Howell (Gbr) bt (53) Steve Elkington (Aus) at 22nd
(28) Bart Bryant lost to (37) John Daly 4 and 2
(7) Chris DiMarco bt (58) Mark Calcavecchia 2 and 1
(1) Tiger Woods bt (64) Stephen Ames (Can) 9 and 8
(8) David Toms bt (57) Ian Poulter (Gbr) at 19th
(5) Phil Mickelson bt (60) Charles Howell 2 holes
(11) Colin Montgomerie (Gbr) bt (54) Niclas Fasth (Swe) at 23rd
(17) Chad Campbell bt (48) Tim Herron 4 and 2
(20) Nick O'Hern (Aus) bt (45) Fred Funk 4 and 3
(21) Scott Verplank bt (44) Lee Westwood (Gbr) at 26th
(6) Jim Furyk lost to (59) Zach Johnson 1 hole
(18) Padraig Harrington (Irl) bt (47) Rod Pampling (Aus) 4 and 2
(19) Darren Clarke (Irl) lost to (46) Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 4 and 3
(26) Tim Clark (Rsa) lost to (39) Arron Oberholser at 21st
(27) Fred Couples lost to (38) Sean O'Hair at 19th
(16) Henrik Stenson (Swe) bt (49) Paul Casey (Gbr) 1 hole
(13) Michael Campbell (Nzl) lost to (52) Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) at 19th
(14) Luke Donald (Gbr) bt (51) Richard Green (Aus) 2 and 1
(32) Robert Allenby (Aus) bt (33) KJ Choi (Kor) 3 and 2
(2) Vijay Singh (Fij) bt (63) Graeme McDowell (Irl) 5 and 4
(29) Stewart Cink lost to (36) Mike Weir (Can) 4 and 3
(4) Ernie Els (Rsa) lost to (61) Bernhard Langer (Ger) 1 hole
(3) Retief Goosen (Rsa) bt (62) Paul Broadhurst (Rsa) 5 and 4
(31) Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) lost to (34) Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 2 and 1
(30) Justin Leonard lost to (35) Ben Crane 4 and 3
(15) Angel Cabrera (Arg) bt (50) Peter Lonard (Aus) 1 hole
