The first morning of the Cisco World Match Play Championship produced a series of cut-and-thrust affairs with little separating the players in all four matches. At no time did any of the eight hold more than a two-hole lead, and as the matches went into the second 18 holes of the day, all eight still had a genuine chance of making further progress.
Craig Parry was behind only once to Paul Lawrie in the first match on the course. The Australian opened up a one-hole lead on the par-five fourth when he put a pitching wedge to three feet and made the putt for a birdie. Lawrie got back on level terms when he birdied the next from two feet and took the lead on the seventh.
Parry hit back immediately with a birdie on the eighth and was never behind again. He birdied the 12th and went two up on the 15th, a lead he held until the players went in for lunch.
On a gloriously sunny autumn morning on the West course, Sergio Garcia and Retief Goosen had a battle royal. It was nip and tuck from first tee to 8th green, with Garcia going into a two-hole lead after two holes. The resilient Goosen kept grinding away, however, and reduced the gap to one with a birdie four on the fourth.
It took an eagle three to Garcia's birdie four on the 12th to bring Goosen back to parity, and the game South African took the lead on the 13th after Garcia had bogeyed. He surrendered it on the 15th when Garcia sank a 16-foot putt, but went back into the lead on the long 17th by holing from five feet.
The best golf of the morning session was produced by Carlos Franco and Padraig Harrington. They both went through the turn all square in 32, and continued to pepper the flag on the back nine. Franco led briefly on the 12th only for Harrington to square the match on the next hole.
Harrington had a bidie three on the 15th to move into the lead and extended it to two holes with another birdie on the 17th. He finished with a seven-under-par 65 for the opening 18 holes, two strokes better than the Paraguayan. The two players had one eagle, 11 birdies and only one bogey between them in a low-scoring first 18 holes.
Notah Begay III dominated the first half of his match against Jose Maria Olazabal, taking the lead on the third when Olazabal dropped a shot. Begay went two up on the fourth with a par to Olazabal's bogey -- then Olazabal drove into trees and was struggling thereafter.
Begay passed the turn three shots and two holes in the lead and although Olazabal twice pulled back to one down, the American ended the morning round two up on his Spanish opponent.
