* Woods edges past Fernandez-Castano one up
* Bae upsets Poulter 43; Yang edges McDowell 21
(Updates with later matches)
By Mark Lamport-Stokes
MARANA, Arizona, Feb 22 (Reuters) – Top seed and
defending champion Luke Donald crashed out of the WGC-Accenture
Match Play Championship on Wednesday, losing 54 to late-entry
Ernie Els in the opening round.
Donald won last year’s title with an imperious display,
never trailing in any of his six matches, but he struggled
against South African Els on a sun-splashed day at Dove
Mountain’s Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.
The triple major champion made the most of an error-prone
performance by the British world number one and sealed victory
when he sank a 10-foot birdie putt at the par-four 14th.
“I’m not sure where to start,” a subdued Donald told
reporters. “I just didn’t play very well. It’s disappointing.
I’ve been working really hard.
“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.”
The lowest-ranked player in the elite field of 64, former
world number one Els was gifted a spot at Dove Mountain when
Phil Mickelson withdrew to spend time with his family.
Continued…
