Ross McGowan of England rolled in a 30-foot par putt on the 19th hole to beat Steve Stricker Wednesday, only the second time in the Match Play Championship that the No. 1 seed was beaten in the opening round. McGowan only got into the 64-man field because Woods did not enter while on his indefinite break from golf. That also elevated Stricker to the No. 1 seed, and he became the first top seed since Woods in 2002 to lose in the first round. Lee Westwood controlled his match against fellow Englishman Chris Wood, Jim Furyk went 17 holes before beating Ryder Cup teammate Scott Verplank, and Martin Kaymer of Germany beat Chad Campbell, the first time Campbell has failed to make it out of the first round. Ryo Ishikawa made a sensational debut by winning the last three holes for a 2-up victory over Michael Sim of Australia. Ishikawa advanced to the second round to face McGowan. Ireland's Padraig Harrington, the No. 8 seed, couldn't make a putt and lost to Jeev Milkha Singh of India, who won his first match in three trips to Arizona. Henrik Stenson of Sweden, who won this event in 2007 and was the No. 7 seed, didn't even get past the first hole. He conceded his match to Ben Crane because of flu-like symptoms. The longest match belonged to Zach Johnson, who made a 3-foot par putt on the 21st hole to beat Italy's Francesco Molinari. Even though Italy's Edoardo Molinari built a 4-up lead early on Stewart Cink, the British Open champion played what he called the best nine holes of his career for a 2-up victory. The shortest day of work belonged fittingly to Mike Weir of Canada, who faced Alvaro Quiros of Spain, one of the biggest hitters in golf. Quiros didn't stand a chance - not many would have - against Weir's short stick. The Canadian opened with five straight birdies and made nine birdies in 12 holes for an 8-and-6 victory. Champion Geoff Ogilvy built an early lead and then poured it on against Alexander Noren of Sweden, winning 7 and 5. The most peculiar aspect was that none of the holes were halved.
