Thursday, Feb. 21,
2002
Tiger ousted early
at Match Play
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
CARLSBAD, Calif.
(AP) - Tiger Woods was right. The Match Play Championship is anybody's
tournament to win.
Just not his.
Woods was unceremoniously
ousted from the opening round Wednesday by Peter O'Malley, the
pudgy Australian who became the first No. 64 seed to win a match
in the four-year history of the event.
Even more shocking
is that it wasn't even that close.
O'Malley, who qualified
for the tournament only when Jose Coceres withdrew because of
a broken arm, took the lead with short birdie putts on the eighth
and ninth holes, and never allowed Woods a chance to get back
in the match.
"It's not exactly
the greatest of feelings," Woods said. "But it's one
of those things where anything can happen in match play, and it
does."
And not just to Woods.
Not long after Woods
congratulated O'Malley, John Cook knocked in a 35-foot birdie
putt on the 16th hole to eliminate second-seeded Phil Mickelson.
David Duval, the
No. 3 seed, was 2-up over Kevin Sutherland with three holes to
play. The rest of the top-10 seeds advanced with minor difficulty.
Woods was in jeopardy
not only of losing but becoming the only player in the 64-man
field to not make a birdie.
That changed when
he holed a 30-footer on the 16th hole to keep his slim hopes alive.
He hit a wedge into
3 feet on the 17th hole and appeared to be poised for another
remarkable rally. Woods walked to his mark as O'Malley sent his
20-foot birdie putt on its way, then stopped when the ball disappeared
and turned around to shake the Aussie's hand.
Well done, mate.
"Nobody expected
me to win," O'Malley said. "I just had to play the kind
of golf I had been playing the past few weeks, and it worked out."
It was the first
Woods had been eliminated this early in his three years playing
the Accenture Match Play Championship. He was beaten in the quarterfinals
by Jeff Maggert in 1999 and in the final by Darren Clarke two
years ago.
Woods took last week
off to get healthy and get ready for the only World Golf Championship
event he hasn't won.
It didn't help against
O'Malley, a 35-year-old with five career victories.
Woods didn't hit
the ball poorly, he simply couldn't make any putts _ a short birdie
putt that swirled in-and-out of the cup on No. 2, and plenty of
others just like it.
O'Malley failed to
get up-and-down from the bunker on consecutive holes, giving Woods
a 1-up lead through six holes. The Aussie got it back with a 2-foot
birdie putt on No. 8, pulled ahead with another birdie on No.
9 and made no mistakes the rest of the way.
The final margin
was 2 and 1. Next up for O'Malley is Nick Price, a 2 and 1 winner
over Angel Cabrera of Argentina.
Mickelson was only
a little better than Woods, but ran into a buzz saw.
Cook, birdied three
of the first five holes to build a 3-up lead, although Lefty fought
back. He had a chance to square the match with a 2-foot birdie
putt on No. 11, but it lipped out, and Mickelson never had another
opportunity like that one.
Cook was 6 under
through 16 holes.
"It's disappointing,"
said Mickelson, who missed the cut in his last two tournaments.
"I don't know what to say. I got outplayed."
The tournament lost
its defending champions, too.
Steve Stricker, who
won in Australia last year when 28 of the top 64 players skipped
the event, fell victim to eight birdies by Chris DiMarco in a
3 and 2 loss. Clarke, who won at La Costa two years ago, was defeated
2 and 1 by Pebble Beach winner Matt Gogel.
Players have said
that seeds mean nothing and there is no such thing as an upset,
but it was hard to consider Woods' early departure as anything
but that.
This is a format
he loves, a head-to-head competition in which he has thrived his
entire career. Woods' record in match play was 13-4 as a professional,
but he simply was the victim of a bad round at the wrong time.
"There's nothing
really wrong," Woods said. "I was real solid, real consistent.
I hit a lot of beautiful putts, they just didn't go in. They were
wobbling all over the place."
Woods only has to
fly home to Florida.
Colin Montgomerie,
recovering from a back injury, came from England and was tied
with five holes to play until Scott McCarron made a hole-in-one
on the 14th hole, and closed out the Scot, 2 and 1.
Ernie Els, in his
American debut this year, sailed through his match against Jeff
Sluman, while Davis Love III had no problem beating Phillip Price
of Wales.
Also advancing was
PGA champion David Toms, a 1-up winner over Rory Sabbatini; U.S.
Open champion Retief Goosen, who easily defeated Billy Mayfair;
and Vijay Singh, who atoned for his loss in the second round last
year by beating Toru Taniguchi.
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