Woods Has a Little Bit of 1-Upmanship

CARLSBAD —  Tiger Woods took the last two holes to win his opening match Wednesday at La Costa, although he had to go 18 holes to do it. But at least his match didn’t join the group of six that went even longer, so that had to make him happy, didn’t it?

“I suppose,” Woods said.

That sort of answer is to be expected at the Accenture Match Play Championship, where the vagaries and fickle nature of match play golf tend to warp the normal standards of what’s acceptable and what isn’t.

Let us review. Unacceptable is a first-round loss, and neither Woods nor any of the top four seeded players had that happen to them on opening day at golf’s version of early checkout.

Woods birdied the last two holes to defeat John Rollins, 1-up, to highlight the day of match play, where only one player in the top 10 was upset. That was fifth-seeded Retief Goosen, who was sent home by 60th-seeded John Huston, 2 and 1, but not before issuing a stinging critique of La Costa’s bumpy greens.

Goosen, of course, has a point, because they are bumpy. Any time you’re on the green and it’s like putting over waffles, it can’t be good.

Colin Montgomerie, who was two holes down to Nick Price with three to play and managed to win in 20 holes, said it was not a simple assignment to get anything positive done on the greens.

“Bumpy and slow you can almost manage, but bumpy and quick gets away from you and you can suffer,” he said.

As usual, there was more than enough suffering to go around. Six matches went extra holes, the longest of them a 25-hole marathon that Darren Clarke won over Eduardo Romero. Six other matches were decided on the 18th green, including Woods’ hard-earned victory over Rollins.

In 32 matches, 11 lower-seeded players won, but there was no large-scale exodus by the top players as in previous years. Second-seeded Vijay Singh defeated Shingo Katayama, 5 and 3; third-seeded Davis Love III defeated Briny Baird, 2-up; and fourth-seeded Mike Weir defeated Rich Beem, 3 and 2.

Phil Mickelson, who skipped last week’s Nissan Open at Riviera to go skiing with his family, was solid in a 3-and-1 victory over Lee Westwood. Mickelson, who lost in the first round in 2002 and 2000, said his confidence was high.

“You don’t want to walk back to the clubhouse after losing your match ever,” Mickelson said, “not just Wednesday.”

For a while, it appeared that Woods might have to take that kind of walk against the world’s 69th-ranked player. Woods bogeyed the first hole, and Rollins built a 2-up lead through 12 holes, helped some by Woods, who lost three holes because of bogeys. Woods had only two bogeys in his first 103 holes last year.

Woods got closer when Rollins bogeyed the 13th, and then he passed him on the last two holes. At the par-four 17th, Woods’ eight-iron second shot from 171 yards stopped three feet from the hole. Rollins was forced to play aggressively with his putt from 25 feet, but he rolled it five feet past and missed it coming back. Rollins conceded Woods’ birdie putt to tie the match.

Rollins said he was expecting something dramatic from Woods.

“I told my caddie that he’s due any minute to just hit one of his towering shots that sit right by the flag, and it just so happens he must have heard me and he hit it right there by the hole,” Rollins said. “I know that that’s when he shines.”

The match ended at the par-five 18th when Woods was on the green in three, about 15 feet from the hole, and Rollins was in the greenside bunker. He left his bunker shot in the rough, chipped past the hole, and Woods made his putt to advance.

Woods said he was fortunate to get out of the first round.

“Without a doubt,” he said. “The good putts I hit didn’t go in, and the bad putts weren’t even close.”

In the second round, Woods faces Trevor Immelman, who knocked out Shigeki Maruyama, 2 and 1. Immelman already has won a tournament this year, the South African Airways Open on the European Tour.

Next for Mickelson is Ben Curtis, who defeated Charles Howell III, 1-up.

Mickelson said he would like to see a change in the format so that there are 54 holes of stroke play and then the top eight engage in the match play format over the weekend.

“You want to go to an event and feel like you’re going to be there for at least three days,” he said.

All the winners guaranteed themselves Wednesday is that they are still here today.