Over and Out Round for Els

So much for that Tiger-Ernie battle of the heavyweights.

Tiger Woods didn’t have much trouble winning his first-round match Wednesday at La Costa in the $6-million Accenture Match Play Championship, but Phil Tataurangi upset Ernie Els in 20 holes and ruined a potential Woods-Els final.

Tataurangi, the second-lowest seeded player in the field, made a 25-foot birdie putt at the 18th to even the match, then knocked it stiff on the 20th hole to send Els on his way. Els conceded the putt.

“I was surprised that Ernie gave it to me, to be honest,” Tataurangi said. “Not that I would think that I would miss that putt.... I was surprised he didn’t make me putt out to win.”

The 31-year-old from New Zealand made no apology for spoiling the chances of an Els-Woods final.

“I’m feeling great about that,” Tataurangi said. “I would have liked to see an Ernie Els-Tiger Woods finish, too, had I not been playing in the tournament. Yeah, I’ve got to go home and iron another shirt. I hadn’t planned on playing tomorrow.

“As I’ve said, it’s an 18-hole sprint ... and when it came down to it, I was maybe one shot better over 20 holes. That’s match play.”

Els seemed more concerned about whether to play next week at Dubai, a decision he says he will make by Friday. If he doesn’t make the trip, he says he will schedule Doral instead.

“I see they may start bombing the place on the 14th,” Els said of Iraq. “So now I’m scared that if I get there and it kicks off, how do I get out of there? That’s my concern. I’d love to go.”

Woods did what he could to keep on track for a potential showdown with Els by scoring a 2-and-1 victory over Carl Pettersson on a day when four of the top 10 seeded players didn’t make it into the second round.

As far as carnage goes, that’s one worse than last year ... but last year, it was the top three of Woods, Phil Mickelson and Els.

Besides Els, Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia and Chris DiMarco also said goodbye. Jay Haas steamrollered Goosen, 5 and 3, Garcia led by three holes with six to go and lost to defending champion Kevin Sutherland, 2 and 1, and Toshi Izawa defeated DiMarco, 2 and 1.

It took nearly six hours, but Mike Weir outlasted Loren Roberts in 26 holes, the longest match in the tournament’s five-year history. Afterward, Weir says he was fortunate to keep himself together.

“It’s tough to just stay and keep your focus and attention to detail at the level you need it to be,” Weir said. “There’s so much going on.”

Woods was satisfied with his start.

“Right from the first hole it definitely takes a lot out of you,” he said. “Generally, in a four-round tournament, you can kind of build. Here, if you don’t go out there and play right away, you’ll be going home. So I know that and everybody else knows that and you’ve got to get up for it.”

Next up for Woods is K.J. Choi, who was a 1-up winner over Fred Funk. Choi said he was happy with his draw.

“I will love to play Tiger,” he said.

Mickelson avoided an upset with a 1-up victory over Robert Karlsson. Mickelson plays Brad Faxon next after Faxon ousted Craig Perry, 2 and 1.

Mickelson needed only to match Karlsson’s score at the last to win, but he went for the green and reached it. He birdied the hole, same as Karlsson, to end the match. There wasn’t any question of his strategy, he said.

“You’ve seen me play, come on,” Mickelson said.

There is further opportunity to see Mickelson play in the second round today, something that is not true of Els.

“That’s match play,” he said.

And that’s what Tataurangi said, too.

“I’m [ranked] 66th in the world and Ernie is winning everything that he’s looking at right now,” Tataurangi said. “Yet, over 18 holes, everyone can compete. I think that more than anything that’s what it’s saying about how strong the competition is.”