Paul McGinley is out of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship after losing 2&1 to Shingo Katayama in the opening round at Carlsbad, California.
The Dubliner conceded ground to his Japanese opponent after a bogey on the par-four fourth and fell further behind on the sixth hole.
McGinley was then three down at the turn but parred the 10th to close the gap after Katama carded a bogey. Ireland’s Ryder Cup player managed to get to within one shot when he won the 16th.
A dropped shot on the par-three 16th however, sealed McGinely’s fate.
Fellow Irishmen Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell are still in the mix but the latter trails Fijian Vijay Singh by two shots after just three holes.
Harrington is in control of his match with Rod Pampling with a two-shot advantage at the turn, while Clarke is all-square with Shigeki Maruyama after seven holes.
Earlier Australian Adam Scott drew first blood with a 2&1 victory over American Lucas Glover.
Soon afterwards, US Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman beat Australian Stuart Appleby 3&2 in the second match out, after reeling off three birdies in the last six holes.
The 25-year-old Scott, who lost his first two holes with bogeys, sank a birdie putt from 20 feet at the par-three 16th to go one up.
He sealed the win with a regulation par on 17, where Glover bogeyed after finding a right fairway bunker off the tee and overshooting the green with his approach.
"We really did not play too well today," Scott told reporters after teeing off in the first pairing of the day at La Costa Resort and Spa."It was cold early on and I didn't feel good warming up on the range. Still, I'm happy I got through this morning."
The world number eight had been two up with seven holes to play, but bogeyed the par-four 14th and 15th after hitting poor wedges into both greens.
"I was really mad with myself," added Scott, a losing semi-finalist at La Costa in 2003. "I gave it right back on 14 and 15. We shouldn't have even stepped on to the 17th tee."
Glover, a pall-bearer last Friday at the funeral of his coach Dick Harmon, suffered a cruel blow at the par-five 11th where it seemed he was destined to win the hole.
Scott, in trouble off the tee and also with his second shot, holed a 60-footer for an unlikely birdie while Glover missed his own attempt from just three feet for the Australian to win the hole and forge two ahead.
Twice winner Tiger Woods made an electrifying start with six successive birdies putting him six up on Canada's Stephen Ames.
The world number one, back in action after withdrawing from the Nissan Open four days ago because of flu, launched his red-hot run by hitting a superb approach to just five feet at the par-four first.
He rolled in a 17-footer at the par-three second, reached the green in two at the par-five third and coolly sank a 12-footer on four to tighten his grip on the match at a sun-drenched La Costa Resort and Spa.
Woods then struck his tee shot at the par-three fifth to within three feet of the flag before making an eight-footer at the par-four sixth to secure his six birdie of the day.
Winner at La Costa in 2003 and 2004, Woods has an excellent record in the opening World Golf Championships (WGC) event of the year.
He also reached the final in 2000, when he lost to Clarke 4&3, and has a win-loss ratio of 21-4 after six appearances at La Costa. Woods is bidding to claim his third title in four starts this year.
The 10-times major winner triumphed at the Buick Invitational in San Diego in late January before clinching the European Tour's Dubai Desert Classic the following week.
