MARANA, February 22, 2012 (AFP) - Tiger Woods advanced to the second round of the World Golf Championships Match-Play Championship on Wednesday with a 1-up first-round victory over Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
Fifth seed Woods, who was eliminated in the first round last year, ousted the 12th-seeded Spaniard to book a second-round match Thursday against US fourth seed Nick Watney, a 5-and-4 winner over Northern Irishman Darren Clarke.
Former World No. 1 Woods, a 14-time major winner, has not won a US PGA title since September of 2009 as he struggled with injuries and the aftermath of his infamous sex scandal, but Woods is a three-time champion of this tournament.
Fernandez-Castano birdied the first two holes to seize a 2-up edge on Woods, who answered with a par to win the fifth hole and birdies at the par-4 seventh and par-5 eighth to stand 1-up at the turn.
Woods took a double bogey at the par-4 10th, allowing the Spaniard to level the match despite a bogey, and Woods made bogey at the par-5 11th while Fernandez-Castano birdied to seize a 1-up lead.
Woods squared the match with a birdie at the par-4 15th and took the lead with a par at the par-3 16th. Both made par at the par-4 17th and par-4 18th.
Four other matches in Woods' quarter of the draw, the Sam Snead division, saw upset victories by 14th-seeded Japanese prodigy Ryo Ishikawa and Italian 15th seed Matteo Manassero as well as Scotsmen Martin Laird and Paul Lawrie.
Results from Wednesday's first-round matches at the $8.5 million World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championship:
Jones Division
Ernie Els (RSA x16) bt Luke Donald (ENG x1) 5 and 4
Peter Hanson (SWE x9) bt Jason Dufner (USA x8) 2 and 1
Kyle Stanley (USA x13) bt K.J. Choi (KOR x4) 2 and 1
Brandt Snedeker (USA x5) bt Retief Goosen (RSA x12) 21 holes
Robert Rock (USA x15) bt Adam Scott (AUS x2) 1 up
Mark Wilson (USA x10) bt Bo Van Pelt (USA x7) 3 and 2
Dustin Johnson (USA x3) bt Jim Furyk (USA x14) 20 holes
Francesco Molinari (ITA x11) bt Thomas Bjorn (DEN x6) 20 holes
Hogan Division
Martin Kaymer (GER x1) bt Greg Chalmers (AUS x16) 4 and 2
David Toms (USA x8) bt Rickie Fowler (USA x9) 1 up
Matt Kuchar (USA x4) bt Jonathan Byrd (USA x13) 1 up
Bubba Watson (USA x5) bt Ben Crane (USA x12) 3 and 2
Steve Stricker (USA x2) bt Kevin Na (USA x15) 2 and 1
Louis Oosthuizen (RSA x7) bt Aaron Baddeley (AUS x10) 2 and 1
Y.E. Yang (KOR x14) bt Graeme McDowell (NIR x3) 2 and 1
Hunter Mahan (USA x6) bt Zach Johnson (USA x11) 19 holes
Player Division
Rory McIlroy (NIR x1) bt George Coetzee (RSA x16) 2 up
Anders Hansen (DEN x9) bt Kyung-Tae Kim (KOR x8) 5 and 3
Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP x13) bt Sergio Garcia (ESP x4) 2 and 1
Keegan Bradley (USA x5) bt Geoff Ogilvy (AUS x12) 4 and 3
Jason Day (AUS x2) bt Rafael Cabrera-Bello (ESP x15) 19 holes
John Senden (AUS x10) bt Simon Dyson (ENG x7) 4 and 3
Charl Schwartzel (RSA x3) bt Gary Woodland (USA x14) 4 and 2
Bae Sang-Moon (KOR x11) bt Ian Poulter (ENG x6) 4 and 3
Snead Division
Lee Westwood (ENG x1) bt Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL x16) 3 and 1
Robert Karlsson (SWE x8) bt Fredrik Jacobson (SWE x9) 6 and 5
Nick Watney (USA x4) bt Darren Clarke (NIR x13) 5 and 4
Tiger Woods (USA x5) bt Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP x12) 1 up
Matteo Manassero (ITA x15) bt Webb Simpson (USA x2) 3 and 2
Martin Laird (SCO x10) bt Alvaro Quiros (ESP x7) 1 up
Ryo Ishikawa (JPN x14) bt Bill Haas (USA x3) 1 up
Paul Lawrie (SCO x11) bt Justin Rose (ENG x6) 1 up