Feb22 Worldmatchdayone
Last updated:
A scintilating first day saw plenty of Brits battle their way into the second round of the World Accenture Matchplay in America.
Paul Casey came through a tight match with Canadian Mike Weir to win one up. But he now faces Colin Montgomerie later today. Montgomerie also came through a tough match – he finally finished off Johan Edfors and won by two with one to play.
Monty said: “In matchplay being shorter off the tee can be an advantage. I would often hit first as I was further away from the hole, but knew if I could get to 10-12 feet, that he would feel he would have to fire at the pin.
“That’s when mistakes can creep in and that’s what happened. Casey will be a hard challenge tomorrow.”
Ian Poulter also cruised through by beating Batrt Bryant.
Justin Rose played superbly to humble Major-winner Michael Campbell. But now he faces on-form Phil Mickelson. Rose said: “Mickelson can sometimes hit some loose shots, but because of his awesome short game he is never out of a hole.
“I feel I can improve and hole some more putts and I may have to do that against Phil!”
And Welshman Bradley Dredge caused the upset of the day by beating Ernie Els comfortably. He said: “He missed some putts and I kept pushing.
“I will play Poulter tomorrow and that should be fun! He is playing well and it will be a good game.”
Luke Donald also came through and will face Aaron Baddely in the next round.
But other Brits failed to get through the first round. David Howell lost to Rory Sabbatini after being in control early on and Lee Westwood lost an epic battle with Padraig Harrington after the game went to an extra play-off hole.
Darren Clarke also had a cracking match against Sergio Garcia. That too went to an extra hole and Garcia clinched it.
Tiger Woods went through after beating JJ Henry and Vijay Singh also eased through. Retief Goosen also made it look easy as he beat Scott Verplank by five holes with four to play.
PICTURES BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
