Woods survives, Donald out in desert

MARANA, Ariz. – Luke Donald won’t be playing the 18th hole at Dove Mountain this year, either.

Donald, so dominant in winning the Match Play Championship last year that he closed out every match before the 18th hole, became only the third No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round Wednesday in another predictably crazy day on Dove Mountain.

Ernie Els, who only got into the 64-man field when Phil Mickelson took his family on a ski vacation, delivered the biggest shocker in the first round with a 5-and-4 victory.

“I don’t think it would have mattered who I played today. I just didn’t play well,” Donald said. “I struggled. I gave away too many holes and made too many mistakes. You can’t do that in match play against anyone, let alone Ernie.”

Tiger Woods nearly found that out against Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.

Woods had to play left-handed in one of his three journeys into the desert. He trailed the Spaniard with four holes to play, and both of them looked beatable. That changed when Woods drove the par-4 15th green to win with a two-putt birdie, won the 16th with a par and then closed out the Spaniard with an 8-foot par putt for a 1-up win.

“We both made our share of mistakes, there’s no doubt about that,” said Woods. “But somehow, I was able to move on.”

That was the only objective in this World Golf Championship, a single-elimination format in which the only proper use of the word “upset” is the mood of the 32 guys who are headed home.

Among them:

 • Ian Poulter, the Match Play winner two years ago, suffered his worst loss in nine appearances when Bae Sang-moon beat him, 4 and 3.

 • Bill Haas, coming off that monster win at Riviera just three days ago, looked like a winner when he was 1 up on the 17th green and had a 5-foot birdie putt. Ryo Ishikawa holed from 18 feet, Haas missed, and the Japanese star made par on the 18th to win.

 • In the most thrilling match of the opening round, Jim Furyk was on the verge of sending Dustin Johnson home early for the fourth straight year when Johnson hit his tee shot into the desert and had to take a penalty drop on the 20th hole. Furyk chipped across the green and three-putted for bogey to lose.

Locally, Gig Harbor’s Kyle Stanley, who is seeded 49th, beat No. 16 seed K.J. Choi of South Korea, 2 and 1. Stanley will face Brandt Snedeker today. Snedeker needed 21 holes to beat Retief Goosen.

It was just four weeks ago – at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego – that Stanley led Snedeker by 3 shots going into the 18th hole, only to triple bogey the final hole and then lose in a playoff.

The other top seeds Wednesday didn’t have too many problems, although U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy had a nervous moment.

He won four straight holes on the back nine to seize control against George Coetzee and was 3 up with three to play when McIlroy lost the next two holes with bogeys, then popped up a tee shot and made par a challenge. Coetzee, however, blew his approach some 60 feet long on the 18th and three-putted for bogey, giving McIlroy a 2-up win.

Lee Westwood never trailed in his 3-and-1 win over Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium. The test for Westwood comes today against Robert Karlsson, when he tries to advance to the third round for the first time. Martin Kaymer easily dispatched Greg Chalmers, while Steve Stricker outlasted Kevin Na.

McIlroy and Westwood now have a chance to replace Donald at No. 1 in the world if either were to win this week.

“I’m not sure where to start,” Donald said. “I just didn’t play very well. It’s disappointing. I’ve been working really hard. To lose control of the golf ball like I did today is really frustrating, but I believe the hard work will start paying off soon.”

Fernandez-Castano got some attention this week for saying Woods was “beatable” and not at his best. “He’s beatable, too,” Woods replied, and the way they played, both were right.

Woods lost the opening two holes and looked as though he might fall 3 down until making a 10-foot par save. Woods won three of the next five holes, one of them with a 50-foot birdie putt, and that’s when the match became a case of give-and-take.

Woods was on the verge of going 2 up until he three-putted the ninth, and Fernandez-Castano got up-and-down for bogey. Three holes later, Woods had to make a par to avoid falling 2 down.

TRACKING LOCAL GOLFERS

GIG HARBOR’S KYLE STANLEY

THIS WEEK: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships, through Sunday, Ritz-Carlton Golf Club of Dove Mountain, Marana, Ariz.

Seed: 13th in the Bobby Jones Bracket.

First round: Defeated No. 4 seed K.J. Choi, 2 and 1.

Recap: Thirteen double-digit seeds, including Stanley, posted upset victories Tuesday. And five of them came in the Jones bracket. Choi took a 1-up lead when he eagled the par-5 13th hole, but Stanley ran off a three-hole string of wins – starting when he tried to drive the green on the par-4 15th, then got up and down by making an 8-footer for birdie. He then watched Choi self-destruct, missing the green at the 16th and coming up short on a 16-foot par-saving bid, to give Stanley a 1-up lead. The match came to an end at No. 17 when the Bellarmine Prep product got up and down out of a greenside bunker, sinking a 4-foot putt for par while Choi again bogeyed.

Tee time today: 11:01 a.m. PST against Brandt Snedeker, the No. 5 seed.

TACOMA’S TROY KELLY

This week: Mayakoba Golf Classic, today through Sunday, El Camaleon Golf Club in Riviera Maya, Mexico.

World ranking: 361st.

2012 earnings: $23,408 (159th on the PGA Tour).

Last tournament: Kelly has missed back-to-back cuts – including in his last appearance, at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am (2-over 216). The Central Kitsap High graduate played in the Mayakoba event in 2009 and withdrew after an opening 82.

Tee time today: 5:50 a.m. PST off the first tee.

Todd Milles, staff writer