Set to Meet His Match

Carl Pettersson signed his scorecard Sunday at Riviera and then someone handed him a note.

“It said, ‘You’re playing the match-play at La Costa,’ ” Pettersson said. “It was a pretty nice message.”

Really? Here’s what the note should have said: “Tiger Woods invites you to meet him at the first tee ... and maybe you should bring your airplane ticket.”

That’s what it amounts to, the Accenture Match Play Championship -- a $6-million merry-go-round, a one-shot chance at the lottery for longshots like Pettersson, who is the 64th and lowest-seeded player in the field and as a reward faces the top-seeded Woods in the first round Wednesday.

Pettersson, a 25-year-old Swede who made it through PGA Tour qualifying school, made $486,000 when he was second at Torrey Pines on Feb. 16. So he’s off to a good start, even though he doesn’t know how long this week is going to last for him.

“All I know is, I’m just glad to get in and I’m looking forward to competing against the greatest athlete in the world,” Pettersson said. “Obviously, you’ve got to play well, but over 18 holes, anything can happen.”

That one chance is what Pettersson is looking for.

“If I can go out there and do my best, then I might have a chance.”

Then there is the task awaiting the 63rd-seeded player, Phil Tataurangi of New Zealand. He plays No. 2 Ernie Els, who has won four of the five tournaments he’s played this year and is probably the hottest player in golf.

Tataurangi and Pettersson tied for 37th at the Nissan Open, but no one handed him a note at the scorer’s tent to advise that he had made the match-play field. When Toru Taniguchi pulled out last week, Tataurangi knew he was in.

He was slated to play Woods, but then Nick Faldo withdrew because of flu, Tataurangi moved up one spot and Pettersson took his place and the date with Woods.

When he learned he would play Els instead of Woods, Tataurangi smiled.

“Another easy one,” he joked.

There isn’t anything to do except show up and see what happens,” said Tataurangi, who made a smart tactical move two weeks ago. He missed the cut at Torrey Pines, after being paired with Woods, but then played a practice round at La Costa, just in case he managed to get into the elite match-play field.

Tataurangi, 31, figures he has a chance, but knows he must be realistic.

“I’m certainly not expected to win,” he said. “I’m playing the hottest player in the world, so nobody’s expecting me to win. But that doesn’t mean to say I can’t.”

There are no guarantees in match play. The players, in fact, are fond of saying there are no such things as upsets. They say that, partly, because of what happened in the first round last year. Peter O’Malley, the 64th-seeded player, defeated Woods; 63rd-seeded John Cook ousted No. 2 Phil Mickelson and 62nd-seeded Kevin Sutherland knocked No. 3 David Duval out of the tournament.

Sutherland, who went on to win, became the lowest-seeded player to claim the title in the 4-year-old event. In 1999, No. 24 Jeff Maggert won it; 19th-seeded Darren Clarke won in 2000, defeating the top-seeded Woods. In 2001, 55th-seeded Steve Stricker came through.

Woods says his 2-and-1 loss to O’Malley was disappointing.

“Because I didn’t play well and Peter played smart,” said Woods, a veteran of the format with his Ryder Cup and match-play experience. “He didn’t play great, but he put a lot of pressure on me when I wasn’t striking the ball very good. He did exactly what he needed to do to win the match.”

Although Tataurangi enjoys match play, he doesn’t indulge in it often.

“Last time? Probably with my mates over the Christmas holidays,” he said.

Chances are, when he plays Els, it’s not going to be much like a holiday.

* WORLD MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRINGS: D9