MARANA, Ariz. – GolfChannel.com senior writer Rex Hoggard is at the Ritz Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain for the opening round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He is providing a running blog for the 1:45 p.m. ET match between (1) Tiger Woods and (16) Thomas Bjorn. For complete scoring of all 32 matches, click here.
(7:05 p.m. ET) A final word on Thomas Bjorn’s OT upset of Tiger Woods on Wednesday at Dove Mountain. When Woods conceded the match a fan yelled, ‘Anyone want Thursday tickets?’
Tough crowd.
(7:02 p.m. ET) Thomas Bjorn isn’t one of the best quotes in the game but the Dane summed up his Round 1 victory over Tiger Woods at the WGC-Match Play as good as anyone. ‘It wasn’t pretty,’ Bjorn said of his 19-hole victory over Woods. ‘Early on it was a lot of giving each other holes.’
Woods could be guilty of giving Bjorn the match when it took him two swings to escape the desert.
For Woods it was an opportunity lost.
‘I had the match . . . I blew it,’ he said.
(6:40 p.m. ET) Tiger Woods holed an 8-foot birdie putt at the last to square his match with Thomas Bjorn and force extra holes at Dove Mountain. It’s worth noting Woods missed putts of 22 and 9 feet on the previous two holes to square the match. It’s also worth noting that he bogeyed the first hole the first time around to fall behind early to the Dane.
(5:58 p.m. ET) Tiger Woods and Thomas Bjorn are all square through 14 holes. The latter is starting to look like the Danish Nick O’Hern.
(5:45 p.m. ET) Just spotted swing coach Sean Foley headed down the 13th hole following Tiger Woods at Dove Mountain. Pretty good day for the Canada native, Woods is all square with Bjorn, fellow pupil Justin Rose is up on Zach Johnson and Hunter Mahan beat well, Sean O’Hair. He couldn’t win them all.
(5:19 p.m.) Tiger Woods took his first lead of the day, going 1 up on Thomas Bjorn at Dove Mountain with a 15-footer for birdie at the 11th hole. Although Bjorn conceded birdie putts at the ninth and 10th after hitting into the desert and a bunker, Woods has been solid after a sloppy start.
It’s even more impressive that he’s turned his game around in the day’s worst wind.
(4:49 p.m. ET) A day not condusive to low scores has taken a toll on Tiger Woods and Thomas Bjorn. The Dane was 2 up before pushing his 3-wood tee shot at the ninth into the desert. He chipped out backwards and conceded the hole moments later to take a slim lead into the back nine.
Because of the frost delay, the group may run out of daylight if extra holes are required.
(3:33 p.m. ET) Tiger Woods’ swing change may have clicked, as Isleworth stablemate John Cook said last week, but if his first three holes on Wednesday at Dove Mountain are any indication, there is still an ebb and flow to his game. Woods missed the green at the first for bogey, birdied the par-5 second to square his match with Thomas Bjorn and hit his tee shot into the water at the third to fall 1 down.
A wild ride indeed.
(3:20 p.m. ET) Tiger Woods’ first-round match at the WGC-Match Play Championship started more than an hour late because of a frost delay and a host of extra-hole matches, but he didn’t have to wait long to fall behind. The world No. 3 missed the green at the first and couldn’t convert his par putt. He trails Thomas Bjorn by one hole.
