Tiger looks strong as ever in Match Play return

[February 26, 2009]  MARANA, Ariz. (AP) -- Tiger Woods was as curious as everyone else to see how he would play after an eight-month layoff. He knew he was ready to return from surgery on his left knee. Woods has said on more than one occasion that he will not enter a tournament if he doesn't think he can win. But there is no substitute for competition, and he had not experienced that since his epic U.S. Open victory on June 16. It was the longest break of his career.

"I thought it would take me a little bit longer to get into the rhythm of the round," he said Wednesday.

It only took about 10 minutes at the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Woods hit an 8-iron to the middle of the green, where it fed down a slope and stopped 5 feet away for a birdie. He twirled his driver after hitting the fairway on the par-5 second hole -- always a good sign for him -- then hit a majestic 3-iron that settled 4 feet away for an eagle that eventually was conceded when Brendan Jones could only make par.

Two holes into his comeback, Woods went birdie-eagle and was 2 up.

Any questions?

"After that, it was uphill for me," Jones said.

Woods made a triumphant return from knee surgery, never trailing against an Australian opponent who was outmatched and overwhelmed. The world's No. 1 player never trailed, seized control with yet another eagle -- this one a 4-iron to 20 feet on the 13th -- and put Jones away on the 16th hole with a par save from the bunker, winning 3 and 2.

For all the hysteria over the return of the world's No. 1 player, it didn't take long for Woods to settle into his comfort zone.

Walking off the first tee at Dove Mountain, it was like he had never been gone.

He ignored thousands of fans who crammed into the bleachers, lined every inch of desert behind the ropes from tee-to-green and shouted "Welcome back!" on every occasion. Woods seemed to forget that he had been gone 253 days, missing two majors won by Padraig Harrington, a Ryder Cup victory by the Americans and everything else that happened in the world of golf.

"Walking down the fairway, it felt like business as usual," he said. "I thought I would be more nervous on the first tee. It just came back down to playing the game again, and that felt good."

All it earned him was a tee time Thursday in the second round, where he was to face Tim Clark.

Woods and Clark played once before, two years ago at the Match Play Championship a few miles down the road on another course. Woods was going for his eighth consecutive PGA Tour victory, and he had no trouble with Clark in the second round, a 5-and-4 victory.

Woods is going for his second straight victory, but this is different.

Very different.

It's not often that Woods is greeted with applause simply for showing up on the practice range. He warmed up next to Padraig Harrington and Vijay Singh, two world-class players with three majors who virtually were ignored.

"It is what it is," Woods said of the hoopla. "I've been away from the game for a while, and I came back."

Even so, Clark knows what he will be facing.

"We'll see what happens," Clark said after his 3-and-2 victory over Retief Goosen. "I played him a couple of years ago, so I know what to expect. I'm not afraid of the match. I'm just going to give it my best shot, and if I lose, it's not a big deal. And if I win, great. I'm not going to put any pressure on myself."

Besides, Clark said the worst that can happen is a short drive, and he wasn't talking about his limited distance off the tee.

"I live up in Scottsdale," he said. "So I'm prepared to get in my car and go home whenever I need to."

Some predicted Jones would make the long flight home to Australia much sooner.

After Woods opened with a flourish and a birdie, Jones heard a reporter mention that Tiger was on his way to winning every hole for a 10-and-8 victory. That irked him slightly, but then he watched Woods launch his 3-iron from 237 yards to 4 feet on the par-5 second.

"I thought, 'Well, maybe he's right,'" Jones said.

The Aussie never led, although he trimmed the lead to one hole when Woods made his third bogey in a five-hole stretch on the front nine. Woods answered with a 6-foot birdie to go 2-up at the turn, padded his lead when Jones made bogey from behind the 12th green, and the match effectively ended when Woods hit 4-iron to 20 feet on the 13th and made the eagle.

"He made two eagles on me," Jones said. "He really doesn't waste any shots out there."

There were no visible problems with Woods' knee, and the rest of his body parts functioned properly -- the gentle fist pump after the 3-iron on No. 2, raising the left arm and his putter when he holed the eagle on the 13th.

The only question came at No. 15, which plays 315 yards. They had to wait some 20 minutes for the green to clear, and Woods worried that the knee might be stiff. He stretched his legs before pulling out a 3-wood and hitting it onto the green.

Jones hit his tee shot closer, made the eagle and extended the match until he failed to birdie the 16th.

Woods' return dwarfed everything else that took place in the first round at The Ritz-Carlton Club.

• Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington, the Nos. 2 and 3 seeds, respectively, each lost on the 18th hole.

• Phil Mickelson nearly joined them. He blew a 4-up lead against Angel Cabrera, only to beat the Argentine on the 16th hole.

• It was a good day for the Americans. They had 17 players -- the fewest amount ever in this event -- yet 13 made it to the second round, including Pat Perez (who beat Harrington) and Sean O'Hair (who beat Adam Scott).

Still, it was all about one player on Wednesday.

And not many complained.

"They weren't screaming on any other matches, but you could hear them screaming out there on his match," Davis Love III said. "And that's what we needed."

[Associated Press; By DOUG FERGUSON]

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