Virginia Water (England): US Ryder Cup team mates Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk suffered shock defeats in the first round of the World Match Play Championship on Thursday.
World number one Woods, who arrived at Wentworth on the back of a remarkable run of five successive tournament wins, wielded a cold putter throughout the 36-hole match as he lost 4 & 3 to fellow American Shaun Micheel.
"He did what he needed to do," Woods said. "I felt like I hit the ball pretty decent all day, I just didn't make any putts. The only (lengthy) putt I really made was on the second hole of the afternoon round. I had my chances, I just had a hard time with the pace and it was hard to read the greens."
Furyk, elevated to second in the world after his victory at the Canadian Open last week, also slumped to a 4 & 3 defeat by Robert Karlsson. Swede Karlsson, who will make his debut in the Ryder Cup next week, birdied each of the four par-three holes in his eight-under-par morning round of 64, a feat achieved only twice before in the championship.
Briton Paul Casey marked his debut in the event by hitting six birdies and an eagle in an inspired nine-hole run midway through his match to down world number six Retief Goosen 6 & 4.
New Zealander Michael Campbell, last year's champion, eased past Britain's Simon Khan 3 & 1 while Colin Montgomerie defeated David Howell one up.
Els Out Ernie Els's hopes of a record seventh World Match Play title were ended by a 2 & 1 defeat by Argentina's Angel Cabrera. Canadian Mike Weir ousted Australian Adam Scott 3 & 2 while Briton Luke Donald put out Tim Clark of South Africa two up.
Woods, making his second appearance at Wentworth eight years after he was beaten in the final by close friend Mark O'Meara, went one up with a par four at the first but his opponent hit back with three successive birdies from the third.
A bogey at the sixth by Woods gave the 37-year-old Micheel a three-hole advantage on a West Course drenched by heavy overnight rain. The British Open and US PGA champion went four down with a bogey at the 15th before pulling one hole back with a birdie at the 18th.
Micheel, the 2003 US PGA champion, went round in 70 while Woods took 33 putts in his level-par 72. Woods won the opening two holes of the afternoon round with a par-birdie start but it turned out that he was only offering false hope to his fans.
World number 77 Micheel, who finished second behind Woods at last month's US PGA, avenged his Medinah disappointment by restoring his four-hole lead with birdies at the fourth and seventh and an eagle three at the 12th.
"Sometimes it's easier to play as the underdog," said Micheel. "We each had our share of bogeys and mishaps but it feels really special to beat him. He played pretty well but did not make the putts he usually does. I didn't see too many fist-pumps today which is a good thing if you're playing against him."
Micheel, without a tournament victory this season, plays Donald in the quarter-finals. Campbell takes on Montgomerie on Friday while Casey meets Weir and Karlsson faces Cabrera.
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