Top 3 seeds out on first day

Tiger Woods was pumping his fist, seemingly poised for another stirring comeback.

The next minute, he was waving goodbye.

On a day of shockers in the opening round of the Match Play Championship, none was bigger than Woods heading to the clubhouse to clean out his locker after a stunning loss to Peter O'Malley, the pudgy Australian who wasn't even supposed to be here.

``It's not exactly the greatest of feelings,'' Woods said. ``But it's one of those things where anything can happen in match play. And it does.''

At least he had some company Wednesday.

About 15 minutes after Woods tipped his cap and shook hands with O'Malley, Phil Mickelson watched helplessly as John Cook rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole to send Lefty home early for the third tournament in a row.

``I don't know what to say,'' Mickelson said. ``It's disappointing.''

David Duval was at a loss for words, too. He was 2-up with two holes to play against Kevin Sutherland, one of three players in the elite, 64-man field who has never won a tournament on his home circuit.

Then, Sutherland birdied the 17th and 18th holes, and sent Duval packing with a two-putt birdie on the 20th hole of the match.

``It's tough any time you play well and get beat,'' said Duval, who played the best of the top three at 4 under for the day. ``Kevin stepped up to the plate and made some great shots. I give him a lot of credit for that.''

The other top seeds had only minor difficulty as Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, David Toms, Vijay Singh and Davis Love III all advanced. Only Toms was taken to the 18th hole, where he defeated Rory Sabbatini.

John Daly's debut was a quick one. He was 5-down at the turn and was defeated 5 and 4 by Rocco Mediate, who made seven birdies in 14 holes. Another early departure was Colin Montgomerie, who fell behind when Scott McCarron made an ace on the 14th hole.

``Yes, well, that was unfortunate,'' Montgomerie said.

Woods had said the Accenture Match Play Championship was anyone's tournament to win, and he was right.

Just not his.

And not Mickelson's or Duval's, either.

``It is surprising,'' Duval said. ``Tiger and Phil have played better than anyone over the past year. But that's the beauty of match play. That's why the Ryder Cup is always so exciting, because you might not know much about the other player until he wins.''

O'Malley has won five times internationally and played the first two rounds with Woods at the New Zealand Open last month. Included on his resume now is a 2 and 1 victory over the No. 1 player in the world.

``No one expected to me to win,'' O'Malley said.

He became the first No. 64 seed to win a match in the four-year history of the event. Even more surprising is that it wasn't all that close.

Woods had the lead briefly when O'Malley failed to get up-and-down from bunkers on the fifth and sixth holes. The Aussie took it back with birdies on the eighth and ninth holes, and never allowed Woods back in the game.

He was 3-up with three to play when Woods tried to make it interesting, pumping his fist when a 30-foot birdie putt -- his first of the day -- dropped on No. 16. Then, he stuffed a wedge into 3 feet on No. 17.

His goal was to get the match to the 18th hole. O'Malley wouldn't let him.

Woods began walking to mark his ball as O'Malley's 20-foot birdie putt was on its way. When the ball fell for a birdie, Woods stopped, changed directions and headed toward O'Malley to shake his hand.

Well done, mate.

``I had a no-lose situation, really,'' said O'Malley, who didn't get into the tournament until Jose Coceres withdrew last week because of a broken arm.

Cook birdied three of the first five holes to build a 3-up lead, although Lefty fought back. He had a chance to square the match with a 2-foot birdie putt on No. 11, but it lipped out, and Mickelson never had another opportunity like that one.

Cook was 6 under through 16 holes.

``I just didn't hang with him. I got outplayed,'' said Mickelson, who came into the World Golf Championship event having missed the cut in his last two events.

Cook was on the outside, too, but made the field when Thomas Bjorn stayed home to rest his ailing shoulder. He took a putting tip from Woods on Tuesday and put it to good use against Mickelson.

Woods could have used some help. He didn't hit the ball poorly, but watched as several putts broke away from the cup at the last second. It started early, with a 4-footer that did swirled around the hole on No. 2.

``I didn't put any heat on him until the end,'' Woods said. ``I had a chance, but he closed the door.''

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