Friday, February 22, 2013

GECKO PRO TOUR OPENING DAY BEATEN BY RAIN IN SPAIN

No first round scores were completed on a very rainy day on the Costa del Sol - at Valle Roman Golf Club, Estepona to be precise - where the Gecko Pro Tour event should have started today.
Well it did start after a four-hour rain delay and two tees were used but back came the rain and eventually play was abandoned for the day.
Four Scots are in the field of 66 players - Myles Cunningham (Longniddry), John Gallagher (Duddingston), Elliot Saltman (Archerfield) and Malcolm Isaacs (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre).

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JUSTIN ROSE GOES OUT - AND LUKE DONALD IN BIG TROUBLE

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Nicolas Colsaerts overcame Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose as another of the Official World Golf Ranking’s top ten made an early exit from the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Tucson.
One of the favourites for the title after the first-round defeats of world top two Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, fifth seed Rose was beaten 4 and 2 by Colsaerts.
And with third seed Luke Donald, winner two years ago, losing four of the first five holes to American Scott Piercy, conqueror of another Ryder Cup hero, Paul Lawrie, on Thursday,  the shocks looked like coming thick and fast again.
At least Ian Poulter, Donald's predecessor as champion, was going well. He led American Bo Van Pelt by three after 12.
A Colsaerts victory was not that big a surprise in truth - the Belgian won the Volvo World Match Play in Spain last year, had eight birdies and an eagle in his first-ever Ryder Cup game last September and began this week with a crushing 5 and 4 win over American Bill Haas.
Rose actually won the first hole, but he could not match his big-hitting opponent's birdie on the long second and by the seventh was already three down.
A birdie at the ninth and eagle on the 11th - both with 14 foot putts - hinted at a comeback, but the Englishman plugged his ball in a bunker on the next and Colsaerts hit his approach to two feet at the 14th.
The 15th was halved in birdie threes - Colsaerts drove the green on the par four - and it ended on the following green when Rose three-putted.
After a 2 and 1 win over Scot Stephen Gallacher, unbeaten Ryder Cup hero Poulter fell behind to Van Pelt on the fourth, but a tee shot to three feet two holes later turned the tide.
The American fluffed a chip at the next, Poulter birdied the eighth and further wins came at the start of the back nine.
Donald gave Piercy all the encouragement he needed by double-bogeying the opening hole, but losing the fifth had nothing to do with what the world number three did - Piercy sank his approach for an eagle 2.
Following Wednesday's freakish snowstorm and then the loss of Thursday morning as well while the course was made playable, it was decided to play only the second round today and then try to cram the last 16 and quarter-finals into Saturday.
The first round actually spilled into a third day, Swede Carl Pettersson overcoming Rickie Fowler at the 19th after the American had birdied the last two, while Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño beat Italian Ryder Cup player Francesco Molinari at the last.
Pettersson then took on McIlroy's conqueror Shane Lowry and Fernandez-Castaño faced the man who knocked out Woods, his former Presidents Cup partner Charles Howell III.
Trying to climb into the OWGR's top 50 to qualify for The Masters Tournament - he is currently 68th and needs to make the semi-finals to do it this week - Lowry set off in fine style with a six foot birdie putt and was still one up after four.
Graeme McDowell, who put out Padraig Harrington in the other all-Ireland first-round duel, was level after two with another Swede, Alex Noren.

Europe's contingent became even smaller when Sergio Garcia lost to American Matt Kuchar 2 and 1, and by the turn Donald was six down to Piercy, who covered the outward half in just 30 strokes.
Poulter came to the 15th two up, however, while another six foot birdie putt gave Lowry a two-hole lead on the sixth.


FIRST-ROUND TIES COMPLETED THIS MORNING
(Arizona time):
Carl Pettersson (Sweden) bt Rickie Fowler  1 hole.
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) bt Francesco Molinari (Italy) 2 holes.

 LIVE SCORING FROM SECOND-ROUND TIES 
Follow the live scoring service from the US PGA Tour website on the second-round matches at the WGC-Accenture World Match-play Championship at Dove Mountain,
Arizona

CLICK HERE

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MAIDEN PRO WIN FOR MIVIS IN MOROCCO

FROM THE GERMAN PGA PRO GOLF TOUR 

WEBSITE (formerly the EPD TOUR) 

Christopher Mivis is the winner of the Open Mogador in Morocco. With a total score of 9 under par (64, 71, 72),  he finally had a solid two-shot-lead over runner-up Florian Jahn from Germany (71, 69, 69/-7) and celebrated his maiden victory as a golf professional. 

Third place went to Antoine Schwartz (France) who finished the tournament with 6 under par (69, 71, 70).

 LEADING FINAL TOTALS AND PRIZE MONEY

Par 216 (3x72)

207 Christopher Mivis (Belgium) 64 71 72 (5,000 Euros)

208 Florian Jahn (Germany) 71 69 69 (3,000 Euros)

210 Antoine Schwartz (France) 69 71 70 (2,000 Euros)

211 Jose Felipe Lima (Portugal) 74 67 70, Darren Wright (England) 68 71 72 (1,425 Euros each).

TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS

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NEIL HENDERSON LEADING AMATEUR IN W FLORIDA PRO TOUR EVENT


North Berwick's Neil Henderson, pictured above, graduated from Old Dominion University, Viriginia in May last year and has spent a good part of the winter at the family house near Orlando, Florida, practising at Orange County National GC which is a fantastic facility and has hosted a few events on pro mini tours round the area.

Neil, playing as an amateur, secured two third place finishes  and an eighth before playing a two-day event at Lake Jovita Country Club on the West Florida Tour this week.
He finishing 23rd overall with rounds of 75 and 72 for three-over-par 147 and won the leading amateur award.
Says his dad Ian in an E-mail to Scottishgolfview.com
"Imagine Neil's surprise when he looked up the draw to find a few familiar names playing: Nick O'Hern, Lee Janzen, Robert Damron, Robert Gamez, Rhys Davies and a few others! A great experience!"

For the record, American Nick Lindheim won the $2,000 first prize with scores of 66-67 for 11-under 133. 
He finished four shots ahead of Nick O'Hern (68-69) and Zack Byrd (67-70) who each earned $900.
Robert Gamez (70-71) and Lee Janzen (72-69) tied for fifth place on 141
Sean Jacklin, son of Tony whose name is linked with the Western Florida Tour, e.g. the Tony Jacklin Western Florida Tour, finishedT14 on 144 (73-71).
Neil Henderson had the satisfaction of finished three shots ahead of former Walker Cup player and past European Tour member, Welshman Rhys Davies who scored 79-71 for 150 and T29 position in a field of 42 players.    
Neil is playing in three  amateur events on the US Amateur circuit in Florida and South Carolina before returning to Scotland in mid-April for the start of the Scottish season.

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JAMES BYRNE MISSES THE CUT IN MYANMAR OPEN


Yangon, Myanmar: Kiradech Aphibarnrat is in position to win a second Asian Tour title after shooting a five-under-par 67 for a two-shot lead in the halfway stage of the Zaykabar Myanmar Open presented by Alpine today.
The Thai rising star, who was the co-overnight leader, struggled with his putting but scrambled to a 13-under-par 131 total at the US$300,000 event which is the curtain raiser for the 10th Asian Tour season celebrations. 
Northern Open champion James Byrne (Paul Lawrie Golf Centre) from Banchory missed the cut by four shots with scores of 73-71 for 145. 
He had bogeys at the third, fourth and 15th, while he birdied the fifth, 10th and long 14th. 
Thai duo Thanyakon Khrongpha and three-time Asian Tour winner Chawalit Plaphol, who shot a 67 and 66 respectively, were a further two shots back on 133 at the Royal Mingalardon Golf and Country Club.
Marcus Both of Australia blitzed the front nine with seven-under-par 29 to tie for the second lowest first nine score on the Asian Tour. He eventually settled for a 66 to share fourth place with Joonas Granberg (69) of Finland and Hung Chien-yao (67) of Chinese Taipei on 134.
There was heartbreak for title holder Kieran Pratt of Australia, who was disqualified for arriving late for his tee time while overnight leader Chapchai Nirat of Thailand shot a 72.
Kiradech, who lost-in a playoff to Pratt last year, is on the right path to erase that defeat but he is wary of the talented challengers, who are hot on his heels.
“I’ve had a lot of experience in the last few years of being in contention and winning. Right now, I’m not thinking about winning yet because it isn’t the last day. I have two more rounds and I want to do my best and give myself a chance,” said the 23-year-old.
Having shot a 64 in the opening round, the burly Thai hopes to rediscover his putting touch in the weekend. “Whatever happens, I want to do my best. I feel my putting stroke isn’t as smooth as it was yesterday but I won’t do much change, just tweak a bit of my back swing.”
Thanyakon has not tasted victory since his 2010 win on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) and was clearly delighted to be within touching distance of his compatriot.
“I’m very happy to see my name on the leaderboard. The last time I won was on the Asian Development Tour in 2010! It has been a long time. I hope I can keep up with Kiradech,” said the 22-year-old.
Australia’s Both needed only nine putts on his superb front nine but wobbled on his return when he bogeyed 16 and 17 before adding his eighth birdie of the day on the last.
“It might sound very stupid but I didn’t play that well. I sort of hit everything nicely on the greens and holed everything. I had nine one putts on the front nine. That was pretty much the reason why. I hit it okay but not amazingly well. It sort of caught up with me on the back nine,” said the two-time Asian Tour winner.
South Korea’s Baek Seuk-hyun, 22, took advantage of the ideal scoring conditions and birdied three out of the four par fives for a 68 and 135 total to trail Kiradech by four shots going into the penultimate round.
“I found all the fairways on the par fives and took advantage of that. I made easy birdies especially on the 14th hole when I missed a five feet eagle chance. You need good tee shots and putting here because the greens are very tricky,” said Baek.
The halfway cut was set at three-under-par 141 with a total of 68 players making the weekend rounds.

SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD
Par 144 (2x72). Yardage: 7,218 
131 Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 64-67.
133 Thanyakon KHRONGPHA (THA) 66-67, Chawalit PLAPHOL (THA) 67-66.
134 Joonas GRANBERG (FIN) 65-69, Marcus BOTH (AUS) 68-66, HUNG Chien-yao (TPE) 67-67.
135 BAEK Seuk-hyun (SKOR) 67-68, Darren BECK (AUS) 66-69, Arnond VONGVANIJ (THA) 68-67.
136 Lionel WEBER (FRA) 67-69, Mardan MAMAT (SIN) 67-69, HWANG In-choon (SKOR) 66-70, Chapchai NIRAT (THA) 64-72.
137 David LUTTERUS (AUS) 70-67, HU Mu (CHN) 67-70, Angelo QUE (PHI) 69-68, CHOO Tze Huang (SIN) 67-70, Prom MEESAWAT (THA) 65-72, Rahil GANGJEE (IND) 71-66.
138 Rikard KARLBERG (SWE) 67-71, Berry HENSON (USA) 70-68, Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND) 70-68, Thaworn WIRATCHANT (THA) 71-67, Koichi KITAMURA (JPN) 69-69, Namchok TANTIPOKHAKUL (THA) 70-68, Danny CHIA (MAS) 68-70, Nicholas FUNG (MAS) 70-68, KIM Seng-yong (SKOR) 72-66.

SELECTED SCORES
140 Stephen Lewton (England) 69 71

MISSED THE CUT (141 and better qualified)
142 Chris Rodgers (England) 69 73, Mike Tunnicliff (England) 71 71
143 Niall Turner (Ireland) 74 69
145 James Byrne (Scotland) 73 72.
 

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SCOTTISH PGA SEC MICHAEL MACDOUGALL LEAVING TO JOIN PAUL LAWRIE TEAM

FROM THE ABERDEEN PRESS AND JOURNAL
Scottish PGA secretary Michael MacDougall will leave the organisation next month to take up a role with Paul Lawrie.

MacDougall, who has worked for the PGA for nine years and been the Tartan Tour supremo for the past five, has been based at the PGA Scotland headquarters at Gleneagles
He will move to Aberdeen to take up his new role in April.
He said: "I'm looking forward to working with Paul. Between his foundation and the golf centre, Paul's workload off the golf course has increased dramatically and he wants some help in managing the process.
"He has sponsors locally and those who support him on his tour clothes and kit, and requires someone to help him manage those relationships.
"Paul is in America for a couple of weeks so we still have not finalised exactly what the arrangement will be but I'm sure it will be a varied and exciting one."
Liam Greasley, PGA director of regions and membership, said:
"Michael has been a great asset and we wish him all the best in his new venture."  

SEARCH FOR SUCCESSOR HAS BEGUN
 
FROM THE PGA WEBSITE
The PGA in Scotland has embarked on a search for a successor to current secretary Michael MacDougall who is leaving the organisation.
MacDougall has announced he will be joining Paul Lawrie Golf at the end of March after nine years with The PGA.
His departure creates a unique opportunity in Scottish golf with the high profile role including responsibility for the Tartan Tour and developing The PGA's partnerships with other golfing bodies.
A key part of the position will be looking after the interests and needs of Scotland's 650 PGA members and assistant professionals who are pivotal in growing and promoting the game through such initiatives as ClubGolf - the national programme which has introduced more than 40,000 youngsters to the game.
"Michael has been a great asset to The PGA and we wish him all the best in his new venture," said Liam Greasley, PGA Director of Regions and Membership.
"His departure obviously creates a fantastic opportunity to lead The PGA in Scotland in what has probably never been a more exciting time for Scottish golf with the build-up to the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles gaining momentum and a packed Tartan Tour schedule already in place for 2013.
"The PGA and its members play a very important role at golfing facilities across Scotland, whether as coaches and teachers, club professionals or in more senior managerial positions and we look forward to appointing a similarly high calibre person to succeed Michael in representing them as Secretary of The PGA in Scotland."

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AMERICAN BOWEN DIGS IN A TOP IN MALAYSIA

Kedah, Malaysia: James Bowen of the United States cemented his lead atop the leaderboard when he carded a four-under-par 68 to secure the third round lead at the PGM Sime Darby Harvard Masters on Friday.
The American posted a three-day total of 17-under-par 199 to take a two-shot lead over Thailand’s Jakraphan Premsirigorn who returned with a 66 to take second place at the RM200,000 (approximately US$65,000) Asian Development Tour (ADT) event.
Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert, who shared the second round lead with Bowen, slipped two places down to third after he signed for a 72 at the Harvard Golf and Country Club.
Bowen, who missed out on the opportunity to earn his Asian Tour card at Qualifying School last month, remained on course to seal his maiden ADT breakthrough and potentially a spot on the region’s premier Tour.
The top three players at the end of the ADT season will earn their Asian Tour cards for 2014.
“I played solid golf all day and I’m pleased with how things are going for me. I just need to maintain my focus for the last 18 holes and hopefully, it’ll be enough for me to seal a win this week,” said Bowen.
Bowen started his round strongly by carding two birdies in his opening three holes. He dropped two shots on the fourth and fifth holes but managed to recover quickly by making further birdies on the eighth and ninth holes.
The American bogeyed the 12th but stormed home with three birdies on holes 13, 15 and 18.
Meanwhile Jakraphan remains hopeful that he can make a final day charge and seal a memorable win in his ADT debut.
“This is the first time I’m playing in the ADT and I really want to do well,” said Jakraphan, who mixed his card with three bogeys, seven birdies and an eagle.
“I’m only two shots back and anything can happen in golf. Hopefully, I can play well and luck is on my side tomorrow,” added the Thai.

Leading third round scores
Par 216 (3x72)
199      James BOWEN (USA) 66-65-68
201      Jakraphan PREMSIRIGORN (THA) 71-64-66
203      Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 68-63-72
204      Ratchapol JANTAVARA (THA) 69-69-66, Lindsay RENOLDS (CAN) 65-70-69
206      Wasin SRIPATTRANUSORN (THA) 70-68-68, Zanie Boy GIALON (PHI)71-66-69, S. Siva Chandhran (MAS)69-66-71, Malcolm KOKOCINSKI (SWE) 70-69-68, Akhmal TARMIZEE (MAS) 68-69-70, HSIEH Chi-hsien (TPE) 68-66-73
207      Shaifubari MUDA (MAS) 65-73-70
 


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MIDLAND ALLIANCE SCORES AT SCOTSCRAIG

This week the Midland Golfers’ Alliance held the Hi Acustic Services Ltd Pro Am at Scotscraig Golf Club, Tayport in Fife. The weather was cold but very pleasant. 
The leading scratch score was returned by Paul Brookes (Pitreavie). He had a one-under-par 70 which helped his team win the team event.
LEADING TEAM TOTALS
127
P Brookes (Pitreavie) pro
J Gilchrist (6)
R McLean (7)
C Westland (10)
132
P.Wyttrazek (Burntisland Golf House) pro
G Muir (5)
H Haldane (9)
B White (8)
132
S McKendrick pro
W Hutton (1)
R McGuigan (4)
D A Spaven (9)

LEADING INDIVIDUAL SCRATCH
70 Paul Brookes (Pitreavie)
71 Paul Wytrazek (Burntisland Golf House).
72 Mark Pirie (Pitlochry)

NEXT MEETING
Thursday 28th February
Montrose (Caledonia Golf Club)
Sponsored by J. B. Motor Co.
Tee reserved: 8.30 - 12.30

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GUNN OUT OF THE MONEY, SHIELDS MISSES THE CUT

Dornoch exile Jimmy Gunn finished out of the prizemoney in this week's All-American Professional Golf Tour 54-hole event in Arizona.
Gunn had rounds of 67, 75 and 71 for a level-par total total of 213 and a share of 39th place Trilogy at Power Ranch Golf Club, Queen Creek in Arizona.
Fellow Scot and rookie pro Paul Shields missed the cut by two shots with a pair of 72s for 144.
Winner was American Ryan Hogue with rounds of 69-68-63 for 13-under-par 200 - a shot ahead of another American Roger Tambellini (67-69-65)

TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

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EARLY BIRDS SHARE LEAD IN US WEB.COM TOUR OPENER

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEB.COM WEBSITE
By Joe Chemycz, Web.com Tour staff
PANAMA CITY, Panama – South Carolina’s Mark Anderson and Louisiana newcomer Andrew Loupe used early tee times to beat the heat and the wind to fire 6-under-par 64s and share the first-round lead at the Panama Claro Championship, the first stop on the 2013 Web.com Tour.
Peter Tomasulo, James Nitties and Korea’s Dae-Hyun Kim have a share of second place, one shot back. The trio of Scott Harrington, Chris Wilson and Kevin Foley are next at 4-under 66. Seven players are knotted at 3-under 67, including former PGA Champion Rich Beem and Patrick Cantlay.
Thursday’s first-day scoring average was 71.242 for the Panama Golf Club’s par-70 layout.

Anderson was in the first group off the first tee and jumped to the top of the leaderboard quickly with a string of five straight birdies starting at the third hole.

“On the front nine I made everything. Putts from all over the greens, from 10 to 30 feet,” said Anderson, who was a rookie on the PGA TOUR last year and finished No. 164 on the FedExCup standings. “When that starts happening you just let it roll. There’s no need to second-guess your lines and figure out your speed. You just try to it, and that’s when they go in. The goal is to do that on every putt.”
Anderson rolled in eight birdies on the day, but only one on the final nine holes as the winds began to pick up speed and by mid-morning were blowing at a more normal 10-20 mph.
“This course plays a lot harder when the wind is blowing,” said Tomasulo, the one of three players in the field of 132 to post a bogey-free round. “You didn’t have to judge anything for the first seven holes and I’ve never played it when it was that calm. It’s a tricky golf course and you have to think your way around out here.”

First-Round Notes
-- Thursday weather: partly cloudy, wind N 10-20 mph and a high of 93.
-- Anderson’s 6-under 29 matched the second-lowest opening nine holes in tournament history. Anderson is the sixth player to shoot 29 on the front but only the second to do it in the first round (Erik Compton, 2011). Kevin Kisner posted a 7-under 28 on the front in second round in 2010.
-- Anderson ran off a string of five birdies in a row on the front nine (Nos. 3-7), matching the third-best birdie run in the 10 years the tournament has been contested at the Panama Golf Club.
-- Loupe is in his rookie season the Web.com Tour. The 24-year old is a 2011 graduate of Louisiana State University, where he was a two-time All-America and two-time First Team All-SEC.

“I worked hard on my game during the off-season. I put in a lot of time on my game and in the gym to get ready for this year,” said Loupe, who three starts in 2011 and four last year. “It’s an honor to be out here on this Tour. Hopefully there won’t be anymore Monday qualifying out here for me. I didn’t take advantage of the chances I had last year. It’s just nice to have a place to play.”

-- Tomasulo fired a bogey-free round of 65 and is tied for third after the opening 18. Tomasulo, winner of last year’s inaugural United Leasing Championship, has already made three starts on the PGA TOUR and will have five more starts to fill out a Major Medical Exemption that began last year. As a result, the Californian can’t finalize any type of schedule.

“I literally have no idea if I’m going to be in Colombia or West Palm Beach for The Honda Classic,” he said, laughing. “I don’t know if I’ll get in so my schedule is really up in the air. I bought a ticket for Colombia but I don’t know if I’ll be there or in Florida. It doesn’t mess with my head but it messes with my bank account.”

-- Scott Harrington fired a 4-under 66 and is T5 after the first day, which is not bad considering he didn’t get to play a practice round. Harrington was home in Scottsdale, Arizona on Tuesday when he got a call notifying him he was in the tournament.

Harrington was relaxing following a T46 at the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles, where he got into the field as a Monday qualifier – his third career start on the PGA TOUR and his first since 2006.

“I resigned myself to not playing this week,” said Harrington, the last man in the field this week. “I haven’t played here in a long, long time and all I did was walk the course on Tuesday. All things considered, without sleeping much the past two days, I’m happy with that.”

Harrington hopes he can build off his solid play at Riviera.

“I’ve been real focused on getting off to a good start and playing my way into the top-25. I’ve played mini-tours the last couple of years and won a lot of tournaments and I know I’m ready to make that next jump. I really wanted to be ready to go and playing last week at Riviera was nice. Getting off to a good start is the key. It’s kind of a spring this year with 21 events leading up to the playoffs. A win any week just about locks you up for the top-25 so I want to come out firing from the get-go.”

-- Head club pro Mike Norman is making his ninth start in this event. Norman fired a 4-over 74.
-- Scott Gutschewski fired a 5-over-par 75 in the morning with only 13 clubs in his bag.
“It was purely by accident,” he said with a laugh. “I had two hybrids in my bag and took one of them out that I knew I wasn’t going to use. I got here and realized I was one short. I really could have used a 120-yard club today. I had that shot about five times and pulled it off only once. That’s not a very good percentage.”


TO VIEW ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES

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RORY McILROY, TIGER WOODS BOTH BEATEN IN FIRST ROUND IN ARIZONA

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE
MARANA, Arizona -- Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods were both eliminated from the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship on Thursday -- the first time in 11 years the top two seeds were knocked out on the first day. 
Editor's Insertion: All three Scots in the field of 64 - Paul Lawrie, Richie Ramsay and Stephen Gallacher - were beaten.

In a stunning conclusion to what already is a bizarre week on Dove Mountain, Shane Lowry of Ireland made a 4-foot par putt on the 18th hole to eliminate McIlroy in the opening round Thursday of golf's most unpredictable tournament.


SCROLL DOWN TO THE END OF STORY TO VIEW ALL THE RESULTS
"It's definitely a day I'm going to remember," said Lowry, the third player in the last four years to beat the No. 1 seed in the opening round.
Moments later, Charles Howell III finished off a fabulous round in cold conditions by defeating Woods on the 17th hole. Howell, who had not faced Woods in match play since losing to him in the third round of the 1996 U.S. Amateur, played bogey-free on a course that still had patches of snow and ice after being cleared Thursday morning.
The match was all square when Howell hit a wedge that stopped inches from the cup on the 15th hole for a conceded birdie. Then, he holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 16th and went 2 up when Woods badly missed a 12-foot birdie putt.
"I had nothing to lose," said Howell, who started the year outside the top 100 in the world and hasn't qualified for this World Golf Championship in five years. "In this format, match play is crazy. He's Tiger Woods. I was lucky to hang in there."
The final matches were played in near darkness, and they could have stopped after 15 holes. Woods wanted to play on, even though Howell had the momentum. Woods was 2 under for the day, and neither of them made a bogey.
"We both played well," Woods said. "He made a couple of more birdies than I did. He played well, and he's advancing."
McIlroy, the No. 1 player in the world, built a 2-up lead early in the match until Lowry rallied and grabbed the moment by chipping in for birdie on the par-3 12th and then ripping a fairway metal to within a few feet for a conceded eagle on the 13th.
Lowry missed a short par putt on the 14th, only for McIlroy to give away the next hole with a tee shot into the desert and a bunker shot that flew over the 15th green and into a cactus. But the two-time major champion hung tough, coming up with a clutch birdie on the 16th to stay in the game.
McIlroy nearly holed his bunker on the 18th, and Lowry followed with a steady shot out to 4 feet and calmly sank the putt.
"Deep down, I knew I could beat him," Lowry said. "There's a reason I'm here, and this is match play."
For McIlroy, more questions are sure to follow him to Florida for his road to the Masters. He now has played only 54 holes in the first two months of the season, missing the cut in Abu Dhabi and losing in the first round at Dove Mountain.
"You want to try and get as far as you can, but I guess that's match play," McIlroy said. "I probably would have lost by more if I had played someone else in the field. It wasn't a great quality match. But it would have been nice to get through and just get another day here and another competitive round under my belt."
Just like that, the Accenture Match Play lost its two biggest stars in one day. The only other time the top two seeds lost in the opening round was in 2002, when Woods and Phil Mickelson lost at La Costa.
Luke Donald nearly made it the top three seeds except for a clutch performance. He holed a 10-foot birdie putt to halve the 17th hole and stay tied with Marcel Siem of Germany. Donald then birdied the 18th from 7 feet to win the match.
Louis Oosthuizen, the No. 4 seed, rallied to get past Richie Ramsay of Scotland by 2 and 1.
Ramsay comes from Aberdeen and so too does Ryder Cup player Paul Lawrie who lost by 4 and 3 to lesser known American Scott Piercy. Bothered by a bad back, Lawrie went two down early on and could never make up the deficit.
Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland beat Padraig Harrington from Ireland by two holes.  
The opening round was halted Wednesday after 3 hours because of a freak snowstorm that covered Dove Mountain with nearly 2 inches. It continued to snow at times overnight, and it took nearly five hours to clear snow from the golf course for the tournament to resume.
Turns out snow wasn't the only surprise.
Howell said he has never beaten Woods -- not as an amateur, not even in dozens of games at Isleworth before Woods moved away to South Florida. What a time to change that losing streak.
"I had to play extremely well to have a chance, and I still kept waiting for that Tiger moment," Howell said.
It never came.
Woods missed short birdie chances at the 10th and 11th, but the real damage came on the 15th when he went long of the green with a wedge in hand. Howell also missed a pair of short putts on the back nine, but he came up big with the putt on the 16th.
"Really, I didn't even realize I was 2 up with two to go until I got right to the tee on 17, and it actually threw me for a bit because I never maybe was really in the moment and didn't quite realize how things were," Howell said. "And as far as beating Tiger Woods, it shows you that match play is crazy. I did have to play a good round. But yeah, it's a bit hard to believe I'm sitting here today."
Howell and Lowry will have to wait until Friday to find out their opponents.
Carl Pettersson was 1 up on Rickie Fowler through 17 holes when they stopped because of darkness. The winner gets Lowry, who will be fighting some history. Of the previous three players to beat the No. 1 seed in the opening round, all of them lost in the second round.
Howell gets either Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano or Francesco Molinari, who were all square through 15 holes.
In other matches:
-- Ernie Els lost in the opening round for the sixth time. He missed a 3-foot par putt on the 16th hole that would have given him the lead, and he missed a 5-foot par putt on the 18th hole to lose to Fredrik Jacobson.
-- Russell Henley, two months into his rookie season, defeated the hottest player in the field when he took down Charl Schwartzel, who had won twice and finished no worse than fifth in his last six tournaments worldwide.
-- Rafael Cabrera Bello beat Lee Westwood in 19 holes after Westwood missed a 6-foot par putt on the last hole.
The opening round of the Match Play is typically the best day in golf. This one took two days, and it was unlike any other.
Nearly 2 inches of snow covered Dove Mountain on Wednesday, and with more snow overnight, nothing had changed when players began arriving Thursday morning. There already was a two-hour delay when they arrived.
"There was a guy building a snowman this morning at 8, and they said they were going off at 10:30," Henley said. "I figured it was going to be awhile."
No one had an easier day than Bo Van Pelt.
Having won six straight holes to go 5 up before snow suspended play on Wednesday, Van Pelt finally got back on the golf course and struck all of two shots -- an 8-iron and a 45-foot putt. He won the 13th hole with a par to complete a 6-and-5 win over John Senden of Australia.
And then there was Sergio Garcia. He was one putt away from winning when play stopped Wednesday. He three-putted from 12 feet to lose the hole, and on the 18th hole, Thongchai Jaidee made a 6-foot birdie to send the match into overtime.
On the first extra hole, Garcia removed his cap and was putting his golf ball and tees in the bag as Jaidee settled over a 10-foot birdie. The putt ran around the back edge of the cup, giving Garcia life. He made birdie on the par-5 second hole to win in 20 holes.
So instead of hitting one shot Thursday, he had to play 19 of them. Garcia's was the first match of the tournament. It took him about 30 hours to finish.
"It's weirdness, I guess," Garcia said. "I guess at the end of the day, I was pleased to get through."
That's one thing McIlroy and Woods can't say.
  FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Sergio Garcia bt Thongchai Jaidee (20th hole)
Matt Kuchar bt Hiroyuki Fujita 3&2
Ian Poulter  bt Stephen Gallacher 2&1
Bo Van Pelt bt John Senden 6&5
Russell Henley bt Charl Schwartzel 1-up
Jason Day bt Zach Johnson 6&5
Richard Sterne bt Jason Dufner 1-up
Hunter Mahan bt Matteo Manassero 5&4
Justin Rose bt K J Choi 2&1
Nicolas Colsaerts bt Bill Haas 5&4
Tim Clark bt Adam Scott 2&1
Thorbjorn Olesen bt Jamie Donaldson 3&2
Bubba Watson bt Chris Wood 2&1
Jim Furyk  bt Ryan Moore 4&2
Rafael Cabrera Bello bt Lee Westwood 19th hole
Martin Kaymer bt George Coetzee 2&1
Marcus Fraser bt Keegan Bradley 1-up
Fredrik Jacobson bt Ernie Els  1-up
Steve Stricker bt Henrik Stenson 5&4
Nick Watney bt David Toms 5&4
Alexander Noren bt Dustin Johnson  6&4
Graeme McDowell bt Padraig Harrington 2-up
Webb Simpson bt David Lynn 5&4
Peter Hanson bt Thomas Bjorn 3&2
Louis Oosthuizen bt Richie Ramsay 2&1
Robert Garrigus bt Branden Grace 4&3
Luke Donald bt Marcel Siem 1-up
Scott Piercy bt Paul Lawrie  4&3
Shane Lowry bt Rory McIlroy  1-up
F Charles Howell III bt Tiger Woods 2&1.
 
Matches to finish on Friday morning
Rickie Fowler v Carl Pettersson (1-up thru 17 holes)
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano  v Francesco Molinari  (a/s thru 15).


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