Sat, Sep 16, 2006 page20

• Woods and Furyk dealt shock defeat

  GOLF The World Match Play Championship's opening day saw the top two players fall at the hands of Shaun Micheel and Robert Karlsson

  • AGENCIES
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  US Ryder Cup teammates Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk on Thursday suffered shock defeats in the first round of the World Match Play Championship.

  World No. 1 Woods, who arrived at Wentworth on the back of a remarkable run of five successive tournament wins, wielded a cold putter throughout the 36-hole match as he lost 4 & 3 to fellow American Shaun Micheel.

  "He did what he needed to do," Woods told reporters. "I felt like I hit the ball pretty decent all day, I just didn't make any putts. Only [lengthy] putt I really made was on the second hole of the afternoon round. I had my chances, I just had a hard time with the pace and it was hard to read the greens."

  Furyk, elevated to second in the world after his victory at the Canadian Open last week, also slumped to a 4 & 3 defeat by Robert Karlsson.

  Swede Karlsson, who will make his debut in the Ryder Cup next week, birdied each of the four par-three holes in his eight-under-par morning round of 64, a feat achieved only twice before in the championship.

  Briton Paul Casey marked his debut in the event by hitting six birdies and an eagle in an inspired nine-hole run midway through his match to down world No. 6 Retief Goosen 6 & 4.

  New Zealander Michael Campbell, last year's champion, eased past Britain's Simon Khan 3 & 1 while Colin Montgomerie defeated David Howell one up.

  Ernie Els' hopes of a record seventh World Match Play title were ended by a 2 & 1 defeat by Argentina's Angel Cabrera. Canadian Mike Weir ousted Australian Adam Scott 3 & 2 while Briton Luke Donald put out Tim Clark of South Africa two up.

  Woods, making his second appearance at Wentworth eight years after he was beaten in the final by close friend Mark O'Meara, went one up with a par four at the first but his opponent hit back with three successive birdies from the third.

  A bogey at the sixth by Woods gave the 37-year-old Micheel a three-hole advantage on a West Course drenched by heavy overnight rain.

  The British Open and US PGA champion went four down with a bogey at the 15th before pulling one hole back with a birdie at the 18th.

  Micheel, the 2003 US PGA champion, went round in 70 while Woods took 33 putts in his level-par 72.

  Micheel yesterday carried on the good work in his second-round tie against Donald.

  Micheel was five up on the Englishman, like Woods set to be pivotal figure in next week's Ryder Cup, at the halfway point of this 36-hole match having been ahead for the entire morning after birdying the first.

  He followed that with a birdie two at the second where he and Donald had putts of similar distance but only the American holed.

  Montgomerie staged a magnificent comeback in his match against Campbell to be level at lunch after being four down in six holes.

  Campbell went out in 31, going two up on the par-5 fourth when he holed a 40-foot putt for an eagle, made a par-3 at the fifth and hit an eight-iron to five feet at the sixth to move to four-up.

  But Montgomerie, who had pulled a couple of his early approach shots, won the seventh and eight before three-putting the 12th to go back to three-down.

  However, he won the 14th, 15th -- where Campbell was forced to take a penalty drop, and 16th to draw level. He enjoyed a stroke of luck at the 18th where his second shot, out of a bunker, hit a tree and bounced back onto the fairway enabling him match Campbell's up-and-down for a birdie.

  He was back in an estimated 34, three-under par.
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