It's win or go home . . . today

By Thomas Bonk

Feb. 20, 2008 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

MARANA, Ariz. -- Tiger Woods is back, but there’s no guarantee that he, or anyone else, will be around for long.

Woods is the top-seeded player in the $8-million Accenture Match Play Championship, the only event on the PGA Tour where half the field is gone after one day.

Woods -- who has won four consecutive official events, five if you include the Target World Challenge -- doesn’t want to be one of them. He is fond of saying anything can happen, and usually does.

“You can go out there and shoot six or seven under par and you’re going home,” Woods said. “Other times, I remember at La Costa, one of the matches, one of the guys shot 80 and advanced. It’s just the way it is. It’s match play. All you have to do is beat one guy, just beat the guy you’re playing against, no matter how.”

Woods may be at the head of the 64-player field based on the world rankings, but he isn’t guaranteed anything except a rough journey to the finish line at the Gallery at Dove Mountain. He plays long-hitting J.B. Holmes in the first round.

Holmes, who won the FBR Open three weeks ago, has never played in this match-play tournament.

This is Woods’ ninth appearance in this event and he’s 25-6. He won in 2003, when he defeated David Toms in the final, 2 and 1, and in 2004, when he beat Davis Love III, 3 and 2, in the final.

Last year, Woods lost in the third round to Nick O’Hern in 20 holes, missing a short putt after his ball rolled across a spike mark. It was the second time that Woods had lost to O’Hern in the event.

So Woods may consider himself fortunate that O’Hern is not in his bracket. O’Hern is in Phil Mickelson’s bracket, but Mickelson may have his hands full when he plays Pat Perez in the first round and, if he wins, either Stuart Appleby or Tim Clark in the second.

There are only two keys to be successful in match play, according to Woods, and they are to play well and to do it quickly.

“It’s not about the marathon, it’s not about the long race of four rounds to position yourself for winning a golf tournament. It’s a sprint,” he said. “You’ve got to get it done in 18 holes. If you get two, three holes behind in this format with only 18 holes, generally the guys lose. But in stroke play, in a tournament, if you get off to a slow start, you can still win the golf tournament.”

Woods restated his position that winning all four majors this year is possible. He says he averages more than four wins a year, so if he does it again, they’ve just got to be the right four tournaments.

Ernie Els, who is playing his first PGA Tour event of the year, says it’s difficult to contradict almost anything Woods says.

“He’s defied all law there is out there in golfing terms,” Els said. “I think [he has] already shown that his game is right there. If there’s one guy that can do it, it’s probably him. But I’d love to stop him.”

Els plays Jonathan Byrd in the first round and would meet Retief Goosen or Andres Romero in the second. If he gets to the third round, he would potentially meet defending champion Henrik Stenson.

But Els has not done well in this tournament, losing in the first round four times, in the second round twice and reaching the finals only once, in 2001. His record here is 6-8, but 2-6 if you take out 2001.

“I really can’t put my finger on it,” he said. “All I can say is I think my mind-set has got to be different here this year.”

Woods won the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines and then a European Tour event at Dubai that ended Feb. 3. He finished last year by winning his final two tour events, then won the Target Challenge in December. He hasn’t lost in six months, since he tied for second behind Mickelson at the Deutsche Bank Championship that ended Sept. 3.

But this is match play, maybe five full days of it if he is fortunate to get that far. Woods says he feels ready.

“You have to be in the moment,” he said. “You can’t just plod along and say, ‘OK, if I make two birdies, three birdies over the next couple of days I’ll be right in the tournament.’ You have to be geared up. You certainly get more psyched up on the first tee, because you have to bring it right away.”

thomas.bonk@latimes.com

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Match Play pairings

Pairings for the Accenture Match Play Championship, which starts today (11 a.m.; Golf Channel) on the Gallery at Dove Mountain near Tucson (seedings in parentheses):

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JONES BRACKET

Tiger Woods (1) vs. J.B. Holmes (64)

Mike Weir (32) vs. Arron Oberholser (33)

Zach Johnson (16) vs. David Toms (49)

Aaron Baddeley (17) vs. Mark Calcavecchia (48)

Rory Sabbatini (8) vs. Bradley Dredge (57)

Paul Casey (25) vs. Robert Karlsson (40)

K.J. Choi (9) vs. Camilo Villegas (56)

Ian Poulter (24) vs. Soren Hansen (41)

HOGAN BRACKET

Ernie Els (4) vs. Jonathan Byrd (61)