MARANA – Tiger Woods was the highest seed to lose on the opening day at the Accenture Match Play Championship on Wednesday. It would have been considered a shocking upset in past years but these days, not so much.
Woods looked more like a journeyman than the 14-time major champion that he is. After sinking a clutch birdie at the 18th hole to square his match with Thomas Bjorn, Woods threw it all away with a dreadful tee shot at the 19th. Bjorn’s reward is a second round match against Australian Geoff Ogilvy, a two-time winner of this event who relishes the match play format.
The other top seeds won easily, with No. 1 Lee Westwood, No. 2 Martin Kaymer and No. 4 Phil Mickelson barely breaking a sweat. The second highest seed eliminated was No. 8 Steve Stricker, whose 44th birthday was soured by a kid less than half his age when he lost 2 and 1 to Italian Matteo Manaserro. Mickelson didn’t bother with a practice round, not that it mattered as he dusted Australian Brendan Jones 6 and 5, who had not played since early December.
Tiger Woods upset by Bjorn
