Defending champion Ian Poulter went out on the opening day of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play in Tucson - but plenty of Europeans are through to round two.
Last year's runner-up Paul Casey breathed a huge sigh of relief that he did not join twelfth seed Poulter, who was two up with six to play but lost on the first extra hole to 2009 Open Champion Stewart Cink.
Then sixth seed Casey, who has reached the last two finals in the event, had to go to sudden death as well, but survived when Australian left-hander Richard Green three-putted the 19th.
Poulter said: "I really should have shut the match out, to be honest with you.
"Every credit to him. He holed putts at the right time and that's what you have to do in this format.
"He putted me off the golf course. I missed my chances and therefore I have been punished."
Casey commented: "I just never got it going. I didn't birdie any par five - it was pretty poor to be honest. I made a real botch of the 17th, but Richard kind of handed it to me on the 19th."
Out in the very first match just before 8am - 30 minutes later than planned because of frost - Poulter's interest in the event had ended before Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood had even played a hole.
But while Cink is now outside the world's top 50, the American was a quarter-finalist last year, a semi-finalist in 2009 and a finalist the season before that.
He said: "It was like a Jekyll and Hyde kind of a round out there for me. I didn't have much or on the front nine at all, then my putter woke up.
"It needed to be because I would be going home otherwise. Neither of us played our very best and I'm just pleased to move on - Ian's a guy I really respect and I drew probably the toughest match in the field."
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