MARANA, Ariz. —Tiger Woods was eliminated in the first round of golf’s Match Play Championship, a tournament he has won three times.
Woods, one of four No. 1 seeds in the event, lost to Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn at the 19th hole of their match at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club’s Dove Mountain course in Marana, Ariz.. Woods birdied the 18th hole to force extra holes.
“I had the momentum going into the 19th hole and I blew it,” Woods said in a televised interview.
Woods, 35, won the World Golf Championships event in 2003, 2004 and 2008. He didn’t play last year while taking a hiatus from the sport following his admission of extra-marital affairs.
After frost and several extra-hole matches delayed the start of their match by about an hour, Woods fell behind with a bogey on the opening hole. He also lost the par-3 third hole when he hit his tee shot into a lake.
Woods trailed by two holes after the eighth before winning the next two to tie the match. He took the lead for the only time with a birdie at No. 11 before Bjorn tied it with a birdie two holes later.
The Dane birdied the 15th hole to again move into the lead, where he remained until No. 18, when Woods sank a putt from about eight feet for birdie to send the match into extra holes.
Woods’ next drive settled among desert rocks and scrub. He failed to get his ball back on the fairway with his second shot and then chipped back onto the turf before finding the green in four, two more shots than Bjorn. Woods then missed his putt before conceding the match to Bjorn.
Woods’ only prior loss in the first round of the tournament was a 2-and-1 defeat to Peter O’Malley of Australia in 2002.
Bjorn Thursday will play Geoff Ogilvy for a place in the quarterfinals. Two-time Match Play champion Ogilvy, an Australian, beat Ireland’s Padraig Harrington 4-and-3.
Also Wednesday, defending champion Ian Poulter of England lost in 19 holes to 2009 British Open champion Stewart Cink of the U.S.
In another upset, 17-year-old Matteo Manassero of Italy, the youngest player ever in the event, beat world No. 8 Steve Stricker 2-and-1. Stricker, an American, was the last defending champion before Poulter to lose in the opening round, in 2002.
Bjorn, 39, won the Qatar Masters this month for his 11th European Tour title and defeated Woods when they were paired together in the final round of the 2001 Dubai Desert Classic.
Woods hasn’t won a tournament since he confessed to marital infidelity, which led to his divorce last year. His title drought has dropped him to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
In his last tournament appearance 10 days ago, Woods shot a 3-over 75 in the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic to finish in a tie for 20th place. It was his worst performance in six appearances at the tournament, which he won in 2006 and 2008.
Woods opened his season in January by tying for 44th at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Club in La Jolla, California. He’d won on his previous five visits to the course.
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