Justin Rose produced the pick of the first round performances in the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play with a thrilling extra holes victory over David Duval as ten European Tour Members in total progressed to the last 32.
Rose, making his debut in the event at La Costa Resort and Spa in California, looked in trouble against the 2001 Open Golf Champion when three bogeys in a row from the third contrived to help Duval into a two hole lead after six.
But the 22 year old Englishman showed the form which won him four titles worldwide last season to battle back. Birdies at the eighth, tenth and 11th moved Rose into the lead and at two up with three to play, he looked a strong favourite to progress.
Duval, however, had other ideas, birdieing the 16th and 17th holes to force extra time. Indeed the former World Number Two should have won the match at the 19th but he three putted from 40 feet to open the door for Rose who grabbed his chance at the 219 yard second, firing a superb six iron to four feet from where he knocked in the birdie putt to win.
“I remember thinking on the first extra hole, whether I was going to be unemployed tomorrow or be back out there fighting again,” said Rose. “I actually would have put big money on that but then he missed and it worked out for me.
“That’s the beauty of match play though, isn’t it? You do keep you eye on your opponents but I try mostly to focus on my own game, try to make good swings and just go out there and do the right things.”
In the second round, Rose will face defending champion Kevin Sutherland, who looked in trouble when three down against Spain’s Sergio Garcia after 12. But the 38 year old native Californian battled back superbly and birdies at the 13th, 15th and 17th saw him win 2 and 1.
“I don’t know much about him to be honest, other than the fact he won here last year and is obviously a very good match player and very gutsy to come back like that and beat Sergio,” said Rose.
“We bumped into each other in the hallway of the Media Centre and he introduced himself to me right away and he seems a really nice and friendly guy. We all try our hardest out there and are very competitive, but it is cool to play against somebody who will acknowledge you and be friendly.”
Other European Tour Members to move into the second round were the Australian trio of Stephen Leaney, Peter Lonard and Adam Scott, the Argentine duo of Angel Cabrera and Eduardo Romero, the Irish pair of Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington, Sweden’s Niclas Fasth and Germany’s Alex Cejka.
Leaney beat Bob Estes 2 and 1, Lonard beat Kenny Perry 2 and 1, Scott beat Bernhard Langer 3 and 2, Cabrera beat Scott Verplank 3 and 2, Romero beat John Huston 2 and 1, Harrington beat John Cook 4 and 3, Clarke beat Tim Clark 4 and 3, Fasth beat Charles Howell III by one hole and Cejka beat Colin Montgomerie 3 and 2.
Equalling his fellow countryman Clarke as the biggest European Tour victory margin of the day, Harrington was particularly delighted to progress against Cook, having lost in the first round on his last three visits to the WGC – Accenture Match Play.
“It is a long way to come and that’s one of the hard things about the first round, you don’t want to be one of the 32 guys who come all this way and then go home, it can seem like a wasted journey,” said Harrington, who will now face Scott Hoch.
“I felt a little bit that way in previous years but this year I felt a little bit more relaxed going into the matches. It’s a good start for me, obviously I’m delighted to get past the first round at last, but tomorrow is another day and we’ll wait and see what happens.”
Another man delighted was Cejka, who came through one of the three all European Tour Member ties against an out-of-sorts Colin Montgomerie.
“I have played many times with Colin in Europe where he is like a machine but today was not what I expected from him,” said the winner of last season’s Trophée Lancôme, who will now face Angel Cabrera.
“He had a few good up and downs but didn’t really strike it well. But it is tough out there and this rough is so brutal that if you miss the fairway it is almost impossible to make par. I’m just happy to be here and I’ll take it one round at a time.”
European Tour Members on their way home after the first round were Thomas Björn, Michael Campbell, Paul Casey, Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia, Retief Goosen, Anders Hansen, Trevor Immelman, Robert Karlsson, Paul Lawrie and José Maria Olazábal, alongside Clark, Langer and Montgomerie.
The biggest surprise came with the departure of Number Two seed Ernie Els to the Number 63 seed Phil Tataurangi of New Zealand, the Kiwi holing a brave 20 footer on the 18th to force the match into extra holes before winning at the 20th after Els found the greenside bunker and made bogey four.
At the other end of the draw, top seed and World Number One Tiger Woods, who suffered the same feat at the hands of Peter O’Malley in last year’s opening round, did not make the same mistake again this time round, beating Sweden’s Carl Pettersson 2 and 1.
Finally, a small piece of history was made in the first round when Mike Weir beat Loren Roberts at the 26th hole, the longest match in the Championship’s history, beating the previous longest of 23 holes by Thomas Björn over Colin Montgomerie in the second round in 2000.
