Woods survives, Donald dropped

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 the third No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round Wednesday in another predictably crazy day on Dove Mountain.

Ernie Els, who 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-5 15th green to win with a two-putt birdie, won the 16th with a par and closed out the Spaniard with an 8-foot par putt for a 1-up win.

Among the 32 guys who are headed home:

•  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.

•  Greer’s Bill Haas, coming off that monster win at Riviera 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 the Columbia native 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.

•  Rafael Cabrera-Bello was 3 up with three holes to play against Jason Day when he bogeyed three straight holes, and Day beat him with a 4-foot birdie putt on the 19th hole.

The other top seeds 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.

Johnson had no business winning his match.

He was 3 down when he drove into the desert. He was given relief, but didn’t check the path of his swing, and his club hit a cactus on the way back, leading to a muffed shot that stayed in the desert and required a penalty drop. He was hitting his fourth shot from the desert. Furyk was hitting his third from the desert.

Johnson wound up winning the hole with a bogey.

He took the lead going to the 18th, only to bogey. Then, on the par-5 second hole, Johnson had to take another penalty drop from the desert and appeared to be beaten until Furyk chopped up the rest of the hole for bogey.

“It’s a funny golf course. Anything can happen,” Johnson said. “And I just hung in there.”