Tiger Woods' bid for a first PGA Tour victory in over two years ended prematurely on Thursday when he lost one-down to fellow American Nick Watney at the WGC-Accennture Match Play Championship The former world number one struggled with his putting on the heavily contoured greens at Dove Mountain's Ritz-Carlton Golf Club and never got back on level terms after going one down at the 10th.
Though Woods won the par-three 16th after his opponent's tee shot sailed over the grandstand at the back of the green to trim the deficit from two-down, he missed a six-foot birdie putt at the 18th to keep the second-round match alive. "I hit it well all day," three-times champion Woods told reporters after going out in the second round for a third time at the elite World Golf Championships event. "I didn't make any putts today and subsequently I didn't win the match.
"I was fighting the blocks all day with my putter. The putter was going back a little bit shut, and subsequently I let it go and it goes left, and I block it right. "A left-to-right putt right there, I took it slightly shut right there, and I knew it, and blocked it open," he said of his birdie putt on the 18th green which slid past the right edge of the cup.
Woods, who had scraped through his opening match on Wednesday one up against Spaniard Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, took some comfort from the quality of his shot-making over the closing holes. "I didn't miss a single shot coming in, which is good," the 36-year-old said. On a sun-splashed day on the Arizona desert, Woods lost the opening hole when he missed a 13-foot birdie putt after Watney had rolled in an 18-footer.
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