Justin Rose wobbles but Lee Westwood goes out
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Your support makes all the difference.Two of Europe's Ryder Cup heroes will play each other in the second round after the Match Play Championship shook off the snow and finally got going again in Arizona.
It will be Justin Rose against Nicolas Colsaerts following contrasting victories.
The first world championship of the year is playing catch-up after an amazing snowstorm cut short the opening day and then another overnight meant the resumption was delayed until 1pm. Belgian Colsaerts easily dispatched American Bill Haas 5&4, but Rose breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw off South Korean KJ Choi following the loss of a four-hole lead.
Fifth seed Rose was even in danger of falling behind at the 15th, but sank a 15-foot birdie putt and Choi missed from 12. He did not even need to putt two holes later as his 42-year-old opponent got in trouble and conceded, but Rose said: "I said at the beginning of the week it comes down to that one moment in the round where you need to make something happen.
"That moment for me was on 15. I was looking like I was going one down. To make a putt when I really needed it feels good and I felt like that's what I've begun to do a lot recently."
Another all-Ryder Cup clash was on the cards, but Medinah match-winner Martin Kaymer, who beat South African George Coetzee 2&1, was kept waiting to discover his opponent when Lee Westwood lost a three-hole lead and was taken into sudden death by Spain's Rafael Cabrera Bello.
Westwood bogeyed the 12th and 14th, got his nose back in front on the next, but dropped another shot at the last. However, Westwood, who reached the semi-finals last year before losing to Rory McIlroy, has not made it past the second round on his other 11 appearances in the event and another early exit came when Cabrera Bello sank a 12-foot birdie putt at the 19th.
Ian Poulter, playing his first event since the first week of January, beat Scotland's Stephen Gallacher, recent winner of the Dubai Desert Classic, 2&1. "I'm going to hit some balls," the Poulter said. "It's been stop-start and I don't feel I have done enough work."
The first big shock was ninth seed Charl Schwartzel losing to PGA Tour rookie Russell Henley.
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