Times wires
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
MARANA, Ariz. — Tiger Woods' road back to elite status took another detour Wednesday with a first-round loss to Thomas Bjorn in the Match Play Championship. It was only the second time Woods, the No. 3 seed, was eliminated in the first round.
But this was stunning even to him.
Moments after making an 8-foot birdie at No. 18 to extend the match, he hit a 3-wood into a desert bush. It took two shots just to get it back onto the grass, and he badly missed an 18-foot putt for bogey.
"I blew it," Woods said.
Even before that, he failed to convert two simple chips on the back nine and missed a 10-foot birdie at No. 17 he said he should make "every time."
"It's easy to put the ball in the fairway, and I couldn't even do that," Woods said, so visibly upset that he stumbled over his words.
Woods had company in going home. The Americans had four of the top 10 seeds, and No. 4 Phil Mickelson is the only one left. The highlights: Italy's Matteo Manassero, 17, became the event's youngest winner ever, 2 and 1 over No. 8 Steve Stricker, and No. 10 Jim Furyk lost to Ryan Palmer 2-up.
Bjorn was gracious, saying Woods is not playing "his absolute best right now" although he saw some good swings. Others weren't.
"I mean, I don't think Tiger and Phil have got any … well, yeah, I mean I don't think Phil has gotten any worse," Rory McIlroy said after beating Jonathan Byrd 4 and 2. "Tiger isn't as dominant as he used to be, and Phil won the Masters last year."
Then came a tweet from Hank Haney, the swing coach from whom Woods split in May: "For all the talk of Tiger's poor driving the last six years, I have never seen him drive it out of play with a match or tournament on the line."
Day 1 of the World Golf Championships event ended with a record eight matches going into extra holes and four others going the distance.