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    Devil Ball Golf

    Tiger Woods ekes out 1-up win over Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano

    By Jonathan Wall | Devil Ball Golf – Wed, Feb 22, 2012 6:46 PM EST

    Tiger Woods / Getty ImagesWe've seen Tiger Woods play some pretty good golf over the last five months, winning at the Chevron and coming close at Abu Dhabi and Pebble Beach.

    Sure, there were a couple of rounds in there that made you scratch your head but for the most part, the positives made you believe Woods had finally turned the corner.

    But Wednesday's first round match at the Accenture Match Play? Well, this was 18 holes of golf Tiger will want to forget in a hurry.

    After looking relatively solid off the tee at Pebble, Woods was all over the map in his match against Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, a guy who claimed Woods was beatable, continually missing fairways and looking completely lost on the greens for most of the day. But when Woods needed it most on the 18th hole, he was able to get up-and-down for par to close out the Spaniard, 1-up.

    The beauty of match play is that you can play some awful golf and still end up winning your match, and that's exactly what Woods did on Wednesday, going 4-over in a three-hole stretch before finishing the day at 1-over.

    Woods got the most out of his game when he needed some big shots, and that's the silver lining here, but for the most part, Fernandez-Castano gave the match away with some poor decisions down the stretch that ultimately cost him a spot in the next round.

    Despite coming into the day as a major underdog, the Spaniard looked in complete control after rolling in birdie putts on the first two holes to take a 2-up lead, but when the pressure started to go up a couple notches on the back nine, Fernandez-Castano couldn't produce.

    The good news (and there wasn't much) is Woods is moving on to the next round to face Nick Watney, and that's really all that matters in match play. However, if Woods brings the same game to the course on Thursday, chances are pretty good we won't see another fist-pump from the former No. 1 for at least another week.

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    25 comments

    • Jay
      Jay  •  Brunswick, Georgia  •  2 months ago
      Whatney won't choke on the back nine like this unknown fellow today. tiger better play a lot better
    • Bad Bob
      Bad Bob  •  Ocala, Florida  •  2 months ago
      Fernandez-Castano was absolutely right when he said Tiger Woods was "beatable"....however what he neglected to add was "but probably not by me." Just about ANY other golfer in that 64-player field would have won today's match handily, given the way Tiger played. Talk about having an "off" day, Tiger looked like a total hacker.
      • John H
        John H 2 months ago
        Must be nice to hack up a golf course and shoot +1.
      • UXO
        UXO 2 months ago
        @Bad Bob, are you just running your mouth or did you watch todays matches. There were some pretty bad scores out there today. There are several people out there that tiger would have beat today. Also, I can go 7 over par on one hole in match play and it only counts as one down. With that being said you can't put too much stock in stroke play scores in a match play event.
    • maybeso
      maybeso  •  Houston, Texas  •  2 months ago
      Good thing Tony Romo wasn't playing this time.
    • jon
      jon  •  Dallas, Texas  •  2 months ago
      There appears to be only one golfer left in the world according the media.
      • Bigfoot ate DB Cooper
        Bigfoot ate DB Cooper 2 months ago
        No, Tiger's name attracts readers. Internet sites are no different then newspapers. They put out headlines to bring in the viewers. What part of that don't you get?
      • D R I V E R
        D R I V E R 2 months ago
        We missed a lot of GOOD golf today.
      • Nostradufus
        Nostradufus 2 months ago
        Did you know that advertising rates go up considerably when Tiger is playing? It's a business. Try and understand that concept.
    • Double U
      Double U  •  Glendale, California  •  2 months ago
      Anyway, back on subject...Tiger showed that he's still not there but his srambling when needed came through. He came back from 3down folks.
      • Bigfoot ate DB Cooper
        Bigfoot ate DB Cooper 2 months ago
        I never saw him more than 1 down?
      • Alex
        Alex 2 months ago
        @BIGFOOT, man, you're BLIND and can't read. First two holes Woods was down 2...SHEEEESH, people these days.
      • Jay
        Jay 2 months ago
        both wrong, he was two down at one point
    • D R I V E R
      D R I V E R  •  2 months ago
      "GO NICK ! ! ! "
    • Sam W
      Sam W  •  2 months ago
      Ugly win, but a win regardless. You get them any way you can in this format.
    • Double U
      Double U  •  Glendale, California  •  2 months ago
      Off subject somewhat but it makes me mad. So, I go to Golfsmith today to get my clubs regripped. I bought these Taylor Made irons about a year ago for $700 and the guys talks me into a "protection plan" where I'll get free regripping on 14 clubs, a savings he says about $200. I think I paid $100 for that service. So I get there today, and they're running a promo of free gripping. Okay, I'll take it but I tell him to give me my money back I paid for the regripping fees I paid when I bought them because the service will expire in Jan 2013 and I'll probably buy new clubs in that year. No, they can't do that, he says. So, I go pick out my grips and the total is $85. I pull out my $10 coupon that I picked up at the Chevron Open where they had all these pretty girls giving them out for free but they won't honor it because you can't combine promos. So, I say how about letting me buy the grips separately and then give them to you to put on since that is free. No, you have to buy the grips to get the free service. So basically, I got scr3wed out of $100 maybe more over the years because Golfsmith won't honor coupons on many things, such as Titliest, new items or combining coupons with promos.
      • idiot hater
        idiot hater 2 months ago
        grip them yourself - the money i spent to get the stuff needed was paid back the first time i gripped my clubs - these places charge 3-5 bucks per club - i end up putting on high end grips and i have enough supplies to last me for at least 10 more times.
      • Jay
        Jay 2 months ago
        what did you say? can you repeat than in 25 words or less so i can understand
      • Martin L
        Martin L 2 months ago
        At least when you got off topic you stayed in the golfing universe, but I can't help but think you could find a better place for this.

        But Golfsmith should have handled this better- mine does. I will buy that card that gives you regrips (and 10% off on other services) - and I often will buy grips, take them home, and then take them back in later to have them put on clubs using that card, paying nothing at the time of the install. Plus not doing the $10 coupon is some cheap s&#&. You bought the clubs there - why nit over $10 when it is just going to drive you away - short sighted.
    • John H
      John H  •  Houston, Texas  •  2 months ago
      Always nice to win even though you play bad. All Tiger needs is a little luck to get him going.
      • Big Money
        Big Money 2 months ago
        Replace that "L" with an "F" and you've got his cure.
      • John H
        John H 2 months ago
        Hey! Whatever it takes!
    • Deacon
      Deacon  •  Cleveland, Ohio  •  2 months ago
      Jonathan Wall, You call tied for 15 th in the pepple open close. Tiger is done
    • D R I V E R
      D R I V E R  •  2 months ago
      We missed a lot of GOOD golf today. It seemed there was only one golfer on the course for a while. too bad. We could have done without the multiple replays of TiggyWiggy. We were not granted the luxury of watching Rory's replays over & over & over & over . . . . . . . . . .
    • joe
      joe  •  Los Angeles, California  •  2 months ago
      thats what that guy gets! a win is a win when you say he's beatable then cant close ...fernadez you suck 8===D
    • Kenny
      Kenny  •  Carbondale, Pennsylvania  •  2 months ago
      Good for Tiger, but Nick Watney, with all eyes watching, is going to embarrass him tomorrow.
    • MIKE
      MIKE  •  2 months ago
      So many players and all folks can talk about is Tiger Woods. I'd say golf NEEDS Tiger Woods.
    • whysee
      whysee  •  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  •  2 months ago
      I want Tiger to break Jack' record. After that I want another guy to come along to break Tiger's record. Afterall records are meant to be broken
    • David C
      David C  •  Irvine, California  •  2 months ago
      I like big butts and i cannot lie, tiget woods told me from behind!!!!
    • Skip T
      Skip T  •  Allentown, Pennsylvania  •  2 months ago
      So that POS won his first match, great. So pleased.
    • Andrew
      Andrew  •  Mt Hamilton, California  •  2 months ago
      TigNig barely beat some Mexican nobody...Gonzalo? Lol. Tigroid is terrible
    • Goodlte
      Goodlte  •  Los Angeles, California  •  2 months ago
      It is a win that is all that matters!!!
    • Phillip
      Phillip  •  Hampton, Virginia  •  2 months ago
      i guess the spaniard was beatable. I know tiger played poorly, but the spaniard needs to shut his mouth. If he didn't talk so much, he could have won
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