Woods, Duval advance in match play

Tim Dahlberg

Thursday, Feb. 25, 1999 | 9:59 a.m.

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- By late afternoon, the breeze was freshening off the Pacific Ocean, blowing across the fairways at La Costa Resort. It was almost rivaled by the sigh of relief from those who made it into the second day of the Match Play Championship.

An opening round usually reserved for nothing more than positioning became do-or-die for 18 holes Wednesday for the world's best golfers, who found themselves wrapped up in the uneasy tension of match play that eliminated half the field in just one round.

Tiger Woods rose above it to beat Nick Faldo and make it to today's second round, along with David Duval and such big names as Fred Couples and Greg Norman.

Others, including Ernie Els, Mark O'Meara, Davis Love III and Colin Montgomerie, were looking for flights home after early exits that even the $25,000 they got just for showing up could not make up for.

"I feel like I missed the cut," said Els, who won the Nissan Open only three days earlier, but was beaten 1-up by Paul Azinger when Els drove it into the rough and made a bogey on the 18th hole.

The day began with the world's 64 best players teeing it up in search of the $1 million first prize that goes with the first of this year's three world tour events. It ended with only 32 advancing to the second of a possible six matches at La Costa.

Pros used to grinding it out over 72 holes of a tournament instead battled head-to-head, hoping to avoid the embarrassment of a first-round loss. For the first time in 14 years on the PGA Tour, the words, "That's good" were uttered around the course as players conceded putts to an opponent.