Woods last played in this event here in 2000 and lost in the final to Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke.

Woods is matched against Peter O'Malley, the 64th seeded player based on the official world golf rankings, and O'Malley leads, 1-up through nine holes. Woods is in the same bracket as eighth-seeded Davis Love III and Vijay Singh of Fiji.

John Cook leads second-seeded Phil Mickelson, 3-up through six holes and Kevin Sutherland leads third-seeded David Duval, 2-up through five holes.

The Match Play Championship is the only World Golf Championships tournament that Woods has failed to win. Jeff Maggert won the inaugural event here in 1999, followed by Clarke in 2000. Last year, Steve Stricker beat Pierre Fulke of Sweden.