Padraig Harrington drew on his vast reserves of resilience and determination to record a dramatic 19th hole victory over Lee Westwood at the Accenture Match Play Championship Arizona.
Trailing for much of the contest, indeed, the Dubliner was never in front until the first extra hole, Harrington levelled matters with a birdie on the 17th before finally breaking his Ryder Cup team-mates resolve with a 40-foot eagle at the first extra hole.
The Irishman was two-down with seven holes to play, but he fought back to take the tie into a play-off and sent Westwood packing in unlikely fashion when they played the par-five first hole for the second time.
With Westwood nailed on for birdie, Harrington was just trying to get his putt close. And he was as surprised as anybody when it rattled into the back of the cup on at Dove Mountain.
"I was putting up and over a hill but I did know the line from the first time. It probably would have gone four feet by, so I was happy to see the back of the hole," Harrington said.
Barely an hour earlier, Harrington had been on the ropes, facing a 12-foot putt at the 12th hole to prevent himself from falling three-down. He holed it and carried the momentum forward as he won the 13th and 17th holes to square the match, and even had a chance to win in regulation, only to miss an eighth-footer at the par-four 18th.
Darren Clarke, on the other hand, was on the wrong end of an extra hole result after losing out to Sergio Garcia on the 19th hole.
While Garcia calmly rolled in his birdie putt, Clarke could only manage a par and bows out after the first round.
It was turning into a very good day for most of the 19-strong European contingent, as other early winners included Ian Poulter, Luke Donald, Bradley Dredge, Henrik Stenson and Jose Maria Olazabal.
Poulter was particularly impressive, not dropping a shot in a five and four drubbing of American Bart Bryant. Dredge pulled off perhaps the upset of the day, winning four and two over South African Ernie Els, while Donald progressed comfortable, three and one over fellow European Miguel Angel Jimenez.
But it was not such a great day for Thomas Bjorn in the World Golf Championships event.
The Dane travelled about 5000 miles to play 13 holes, as he was steamrollered by South African Trevor Immelman six and five in the first match of the day.
Results to date
Trevor Immelman (Rsa) bt Thomas Bjorn (Den) 6 & 5
Chris DiMarco bt Brett Wetterich 4 & 3
Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) bt Steve Stricker 4 & 3
Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) bt Paul Goydos at the 19th
Henrik Stenson (Swe) bt Zach Johnson 1 up
KJ Choi (Kor) bt Carl Pettersson (Swe) 2 & 1
Stewart Cink bt Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 3 & 2
Ian Poulter (Eng) bt Bart Bryant 5 & 4
Ernie Els (Rsa) Lost to Bradley Dredge (Wal) 4 & 2
Robert Karlsson (Swe) Lost to Stephen Ames (Can) 8 & 7
Retief Goosen (Rsa) bt Scott Verplank 5 & 4
Padraig Harrington(Irl) bt Lee Westwood (Eng) at
the 19th
Luke Donald (Eng) bt Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 3 & 1
Vijay Singh (Fij) bt John Rollins 4 & 3
Joe Durant Lost to Niclas Fasth (Swe) 1 down
Stuart Appleby (Aus) Lost to Charles Howell III 4 & 3
Nick O'Hern (Aus) bt Lucas Glover 4 & 3
Sergio Garcia (Spa) bt
Darren Clarke(NIrl) at the 19th
David Toms bt Arron Oberholser 5 & 4
Paul Casey (Eng) bt Mike Weir (Can) 1 up
Colin Montgomerie (Sco) bt Johan Edfors (Swe) 2 & 1
Michael Campbell (Nzl) Lost to Justin Rose (Eng) 6 & 5
Shingo Katayama (Jpn) Lost to Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 1 down
YE Yang (Jpn) Lost to Rodney Pampling (Aus) 5 & 4
David Howell (Eng) Lost to Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 2 down
