Bjorn again Thomas takes down Woods

Woods concedes match to Bjorn on 19th

Thomas Bjorn claimed the biggest scalp of the opening round at the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play in Arizona, by beating an out-of-sorts Tiger Woods.

The revived Dane, who rose from 134th to 65th in the World Rankings after capturing the Commercialbank Qatar Masters two weeks ago, sent the third-ranked player packing after prevailing at the first extra hole on the Dove Mountain course.

The topsy-turvy match saw both players take the lead on the back nine, with the American holing a crucial eight-foot birdie putt at the last to send the game into sudden-death.

But just when we thought the Woods of old was back, as he fist-pumped his way to the 19th, a swing later with pressure at the peak, he reminded us why he is no longer the force of old.

A poorly struck 3-wood to the right saw the ball land in a desert bush and after taking a further two shots to recover, Woods was forced to concede the hole to the 2010 European Ryder Cup Vice-Captain.

Bjorn's 19 holes victory marks the second time Woods has been eliminated from the first-round of the event in its 13-year history.



Cink defeats defending champion Poulter on 19th

Following Woods out the exit door was Ian Poulter, who became the first defending champion to lose a first-round tie in nine years.

Poulter led Stewart Cink 2 up with four holes remaining but the plucky American, who has never finished worse than a quarter-final berth in the previous four years of the WGC Match Play, fought back to win on the 19th hole with a birdie three.

World number one Lee Westwood, however, progressed after the Englishman beat Henrik Stenson 3&2, to set up a second-round rematch against American Nick Watney - a player who defeated Westwood 2&1 at the same stage last year.

Westwood's compatriots Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Ross Fisher and Paul Casey also went through, as did Northern Ireland duo Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell.

Fisher's 4&3 victory over Australian Robert Allenby sets up a mouthwatering second-round European Ryder Cup tie with McDowell, who comfortably saw off American Heath Slocum by the same scoreline.

Martin Kaymer and Phil Mickelson, number one seeds in their respectable brackets, also sailed through to the next round.

One of the best performances of the day came from 17-year-old Italian superstar Matteo Manassero who bounced back from 1 down at the turn to stun world number eight Steve Stricker 2&1.

First-round results

Bobby Jones Bracket:

(1) Lee Westwood (Eng) beat (64) Henrik Stenson (Swe) 3&2
(49) KJ Choi (S Kor) beat (16) Retief Goosen (SA) 1 up
(32) Nick Watney (US) beat (33) Anthony Kim (US) 5&4
(48) Ryan Moore (US) beat (17) Francesco Molinari (Ita) 3&1

(57) Matteo Manassero (Ita) beat (8) Steve Stricker (US) 2&1
(25) Charl Schwartzel (SA) beat (40) Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 20 holes
(9) Luke Donald (Eng) beat (56) Charley Hoffman (US) 6&5
(24) Edoardo Molinari (Ita) beat (41) Martin Laird (Sco) 3&2

Ben Hogan Bracket:

(4) Phil Mickelson (US) beat (61) Brendan Jones (Aus) 6&5
(29) Rickie Fowler (Aus) beat (36) Peter Hanson (Swe) 1 up
(13) Matt Kuchar (US) beat (52) Anders Hansen 22 holes 
(45) Bo Van Pelt (US) beat (20) Louis Oosthuizen 2 up
(5) Graeme McDowell (NI) beat (60) Heath Slocum (US) 4&3
(37) Ross Fisher (Eng) beat (28) Robert Allenby (Aus) 4&3 
(53) Stewart Cink (US) beat  (12) Ian Poulter (Eng) 19 holes

(44) YE Yang (S Kor) beat (21) Alvaro Quiros (Sp) 20 holes 

Gary Player Bracket:

(2) Martin Kaymer (Ger) beat (63) Noh Seung Yul (S Kor) 7&6
(34) Justin Rose (Eng) beat (31) Zach Johnson (US) 2&1
(15) Robert Karlsson (Swe) beat (50) Hiroyuki Fujita (Jpn) 5&3
(18) Hunter Mahan (US) beat (47) Sean O'Hair (US) 4&3
(7) Rory McIlroy (NI) beat (58) Jonathan Byrd (US) 4&2
(39) Ben Crane (US) beat (26) Adam Scott (Aus) 4&2
(55) Ryan Palmer (US) beat (10) Jim Furyk (US) 2 up

(23) Miguel Angel Jimenez (Sp) beat (42) Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 2&1

Sam Snead Bracket:

(62) Thomas Bjorn (Den) beat (3) Tiger Woods (US) 19 holes
(30) Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) beat (35) Padraig Harrington (Ire) 4&3 

(51) Mark Wilson (US) beat (14) Dustin Johnson (US) 19 holes

(19) Bubba Watson (US) beat (46) Bill Haas (US) 3&2
(6) Paul Casey (Eng) beat (59) Richard Green (Aus) 19 holes

(38) Jason Day (Aus) beat (27) Kim Kyung-tae (S Kor) 3&2

(11) Ernie Els (SA) beat (54) Jeff Overton (US) 19 holes
(22) JB Holmes (US) beat (43) Camilo Villegas (Col) 4&2