Woods trails early at Match Play

2009-02-26

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MARANA, Arizona (Ticker)—World No. 1 Tiger Woods continued his comeback from an eight-month injury layoff Thursday afternoon with his second-round match against Tim Clark of South Africa at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

The defending champion, Woods found himself trailing for the first time in the tournament when Clark parred the par-3 sixth hole to take a 1-up lead at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club near Tucson.

Woods got his match under way with an almost identical tee shot to the previous day’s, finding the fairway on his way to a par and a halved hole with Clark.

Woods went one up with a birdie at the second but Clark brought the match back to all square with a magnificent 68-foot putt for victory at the fifth.

There was trouble for both Woods and Clark when their tee shots both overshot the sixth green, the world No. 1 finding his ball plugged in a sand trap and the South African in the rough.

It was Clark who recovered best, sending his approach to within six feet while Woods’ more difficult bunker shot ran 16 feet past the hole. He missed his putt, leaving Clark to putt to win the hole and take the lead.

Phil Mickelson jumped out to a big early lead for the second straight day in his tussle with Zach Johnson as the Americans got the second round under way.

Mickelson had needed 19 holes to get past Argentina’s Angel Cabrera in Wednesday’s opening round after squandering a four-hole lead over the back nine.

Against Johnson, a first-round winner over Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, Mickelson moved in front on the opening hole before the 2007 Masters champion leveled with a birdie at the par-three third.

Mickelson, the winner of last week’s Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles, then regained the lead with a birdie at the fourth and was still 1-up through six holes.

The lefthander did not increase his lead until the par-5 11th, when Johnson bogeyed the 659-yard monster, and he went 3-up at when Johnson bogeyed the par-3 12th.

American Stewart Cink, last year’s runner-up, took an early lead against Lee Westwood, the first of six Englishmen in the last 32 out on the course, but Westwood squared the match through 13 holes.

Westwood got back to all square with Cink by winning the 12th and went 1-up at the 13th, only for the American to hit back and win two holes in a row to regain a 1-up lead.

Anthony Kim and Oliver Wilson, Ryder Cup rivals from last year, were involved in an early seesaw match, with American Kim drawing first blood with a birdie at the opening hole.

Both players birdied the second but England’s Wilson, who with Henrik Stenson came from four holes down to beat Mickelson and Kim in foursomes at Valhalla last September, got back to all square with a birdie at the par-3 third while Kim bogeyed.

Wilson opened a 2-up lead over Kim after 10 holes with birdies at the eighth and ninth, while Justin Leonard held a similar advantage over fellow American Davis Love III through 11 holes.

Vijay Singh and Luke Donald were all square after six holes while Ernie Els was 1-up on Steve Stricker after five.

Woods admitted Wednesday he expects the effects of his knee reconstruction will linger for some time after resuming his professional career with a 3-and-2 victory over Australia’s Brendan Jones in the first round on Wednesday.

The American was pleased to be back in action having completed his often painful rehabilitation from the surgery on his left knee, but believes he will experience soreness after a round for some time to come.

“I’m sure that’s going to be a little while,” he said. “It’s to be expected.

“But I’m very pleased at how it felt all day. I thought that it would be more stiff on the 15th tee when I had to hit my shot after that long wait. But I felt fine.”

Following Woods among the late starters will be U.S. Ryder Cup star Hunter Mahan, who faces Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, with a possible third-round date with the world No. 1 an incentive for victory.

Also out late will be England’s Ian Poulter, who faces Charl Schwartzel, the South African who upset world No. 2 Sergio Garcia in the first round on Wednesday.

A total of 16 matches were scheduled for Thursday. Friday features eight matches and the quarterfinals and semifinals will both be contested on Saturday.

On Sunday, the championship match is scheduled for 36 holes with a consolation match to determine third place on the schedule for 18 holes.

The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain plays at par-72 and 7,466 yards.

First prize at the $8.5 million event is $1.4 million.