Donald, G-Mac, Poulter all knocked out in first round

Luke Donald

Luke Donald’s shaky start to the season continued at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship on Wednesday, as the defending champion found himself unceremoniously dumped out of the competition by Ernie Els, the lowest ranked player at the tournament.

In a comfortable opener for Els, the South African bested Donald 5&4 to progress to the second round, where he will face Sweden’s Peter Hanson; the Scandinavian had earlier defeated American Jason Dufner.

At one stage, Donald found water twice on the same hole en route to gifting victory to his opponent; the Englishman closed out all six of his matches in 2011 before reaching the 18th, but looks far short of the form that has propelled him to the world No. 1 spot right now. And with this early exit, the Donald could lose his top ranking this week if Rory McIlroy wins here at the Dove Mountain layout on Sunday.

McIlroy made it through to the second round, beating South African George Coetzee 2up – and Lee Westwood overcame the challenge from Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts to win 3&1, meaning he too can claim the world No. 1 ranking with victory this week.

But there was a shock for match play specialist and 2010 champion Ian Poulter, who took a beating at the hands of Korea’s Sang-moon Bae; the25-year-old turned over the Englishman 4&3. After the loss, Poulter tweeted: "That was simply rubbish, 5 bogeys I had today, I beat myself. I wouldn't have given many a good game today. It's a shame I love Matchplay. I am a bad loser I've never known a good 1. I'm more disappointed with my own performance. Bae done enough to beat me. Congrats to him."

Not that Bae was the only Korean to have a good day, YE Yang seeing off a bemused Graeme McDowell as the Northern Irishman lost 2&1 - despite making six birdies.

It’s Donald whose play raised most eyebrows however, if only because the 34-year-old has earned a reputation for machine-like consistency in the past 12 months.

"Golf is like that sometimes," Donald said as he became just the third No. 1 seed to lose in the opening round. "It's a fickle game, and sometimes it bites you."

Another Englishman, Robert Rock, pulled off a win over Australia’s Adam Scott, which perhaps shouldn’t have been a surprise given Scott’s poor record in Match Play events. Germany’s Martin Kaymer came through his match against Australia’s Greg Chalmers unscathed, the world No. 4 winning 4&2, but Sergio Garcia slumped to a 2&1 loss to countryman Miguel Ángel Jiménez.

Of the other big hitters, Tiger Woods wasn’t particularly convincing as he edged out Spain’s Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño 1up, but at least he made it through to the second round; US hotshot Webb Simpson lost 3&2 to Italian teenager Matteo Manassero.

Full results (US unless stated otherwise):

Bobby Jones bracket

Peter Hanson (Sweden) beat Jason Dufner 2&1
Brandt Snedeker beat Retief Goosen (South Africa) 21st hole
Ernie Els (South Africa) beat Luke Donald (Britain) 5&4
Kyle Stanley beat K.J. Choi (South Korea) 2&1
Mark Wilson beat Bo Van Pelt 3&2
Robert Rock (Britain) beat Adam Scott (Australia) 1up
Dustin Johnson beat Jim Furyk 20th hole
Francesco Molinari (Italy) beat Thomas Bjorn (Denmark) 20th hole

Ben Hogan bracket

David Toms beat Rickie Fowler 1up
Martin Kaymer (Germany) beat Greg Chalmers (Australia) 4&2
Matt Kuchar beat Jonathan Byrd 1up
Bubba Watson beat Ben Crane 3&2
Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa) beat Aaron Baddeley (Australia) 2&1
Steve Stricker beat Kevin Na 2&1
Yang Yong-eun (South Korea) beat Graeme McDowell (Britain) 2&1
Hunter Mahan beat Zach Johnson 19th hole

Sam Snead bracket

Lee Westwood (Britain) beat Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) 3&1
Robert Karlsson (Sweden) beat Fredrik Jacobson (Sweden) 6&5
Tiger Woods beat Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain) 1up
Nick Watney beat Darren Clarke (Britain) 5&4
Martin Laird (Britain) beat Alvaro Quiros (Spain) 1up
Matteo Manassero (Italy) beat Webb Simpson 3&2
Ryo Ishikawa (Japan) beat Bill Haas 1up
Paul Lawrie (Britain) beat Justin Rose (Britain) 1up

Gary Player bracket

Rory McIlroy (Britain) beat George Coetzee (South Africa) 2up
Anders Hansen (Denmark) beat Kim Kyung-tae (South Korea) 5&3
Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain) beat Sergio Garcia (Spain) 2&1
Keegan Bradley beat Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) 4&3
Jason Day (Australia) beat Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spain) 19th hole
John Senden (Australia) beat Simon Dyson (Britain) 4&3
Charl Schwartzel (South Africa) beat Gary Woodland 4&2
Bae Sang-moon (South Korea) beat Ian Poulter (Britain) 4&3

Steve Colton

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