Woods escapes loss to critic with late par

MARANA, Ariz. — Tiger Woods lost the first two holes, needed to hit one shot lefthanded, made three birdies and scrambled throughout the back nine in his first-round match Wednesday in the World Golf Championships-accenture Match Play Championship. And he won. Woods barely escaped an upset when he pulled out a 1-up win with a par on the final hole to beat Gonzalo Fernandez-castano, who said this week that Woods “wasn’t at his best” and that he was beatable.

“I don’t think either one of us had our best stuff today; subsequently, the match was back and forth. It was the epitome of match play,” said Woods, the only three-time winner of the event. “We both made our share of mistakes. But somehow I was able to move on.”

Woods moves on to face Nick Watney (1:37 p.m. ET, Golf Channel). Watney beat Geoff Ogilvy, who has won this tournament twice, 5 and 4.

“I’ve got to hit the ball a little better than I did. And I’ll certainly do that,” Woods said. “I’ve got to get a better feel for my distances out here. Just the numbers we can hit the golf ball out here is just amazing, with the altitude and with the wind and being warm.” More key Round 2 matches: Kyle Stanley vs. Brandt Snedeker (2:01 p.m. ET): This is a rematch of a playoff in the Farmers Insurance Open this year, when Stanley blew a three-shot final-hole lead and lost on the second extra hole of a playoff. Stanley, who won the following week in the Waste Management Phoenix Open, beat K.J. Choi, and Snedeker needed 21 holes to oust Retief Goosen.

Matt Kuchar vs. Bubba Watson (1:13 p.m.): Kuchar’s precision will be matched up against Watson’s power. Kuchar beat Jonathan Byrd 1 up, and Watson, who finished fourth last year in his debut, beat Ben Crane 3 and 2.

Martin Kaymer vs. David Toms (1:01 p.m.): Kaymer, who lost in the final last year to Donald, cruised to a 4-and-2 win vs. Greg Chalmers. Toms, who won this championship in 2005, used his accuracy and putting to hold off Rickie Fowler’s rally.

Jason Day vs. John Senden (12:37 p.m.): Day will match up his aggressive nature against fellow Australian Senden’s impressive ball striking. Day had to win the last four holes of his match vs. Rafael Cabrera Bello to win on the first extra hole.