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Rose averts full Eng collapse

Marana - US Open champion Justin Rose edged upset-minded American Scott Piercy 1 up on Wednesday to prevent a total England ouster in round one of the World Golf Championships Match Play Championship.

Rose, the top seed in his quarter of the bracket in the 64-man event, didn't break par until a long eagle putt at the 11th hole to square the match, then nursed a lead off a birdie at the 12th into the clubhouse.

"It wasn't a classic, but it didn't need to be," Rose said. "I kept saying to myself, 'I've got all day to beat him,' and that's the way it turned out."

The opening day of the $9 million event at Dove Mountain produced only a record-low nine upsets according to seedings, but three of them were suffered by Englishmen - Lee Westwood and past champions Ian Poulter and Luke Donald.

Third seed Poulter, who won the Match Play crown in 2010 and reached last year's final four, fell 2 and 1 to American Rickie Fowler.

Italy's Matteo Manassero routed fifth seed and 2011 winner Donald 5 and 4, for only Donald's second first-round loss in 10 starts at the event, while Westwood, an eighth seed, was a 5-and-3 loser to American Harris English.

"Tee to green I played very solid," Manassero said.

Add David Lynn's ouster despite pushing US fourth seed Brandt Snedeker to 20 holes, the American taking his lone lead of the match with a nine-foot birdie at the last, and it was four of five gone quickly for England.

"You are going to have matches where you don't play good and survive," Snedeker said. "I did that today."

The day's biggest upset victim was US top seed Zach Johnson, who was routed 5 and 4 by Richard Sterne. The 62nd-ranked South African next faces 2012 winner and 2013 runner-up Hunter Mahan, an American who has eliminated Sterne twice.

Also ousted was US second seed Dustin Johnson, who lost 4 and 3 to 59th-ranked Peter Hanson. The Swede won the first hole and never trailed.

South African Ernie Els, who faces Rose next, beat Scotsman Stephen Gallacher in 19 holes, the same number 2013 PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner needed to dispatch fellow American Scott Stallings.

Top seed Rory McIlroy beat Boo Weekley 3 and 2 to book a date with English. The Northern Irishman won the last three holes on the front nine but struggled to close it out.

"I went 4-up through 11 and got a little complacent," McIlroy said. "Lost a little bit of concentration. I probably went a couple holes further than I should have."

Sweden's Henrik Stenson, the overall top seed, birdied 16 and 17 for his first lead of the back nine to edge Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat 2 and 1.

"I'm still in shock," Stenson said. "It was a tough match. Kiradech is a good player."

- 'I'm just happy to death I won' -

There were also plenty of thrillers among the openers, including Hideki Matsuyama edging Germany's Martin Kaymer 2 and 1. The Japanese star won 14 and 15 with birdies to go 1-up and took the match when Kaymer missed the 17th green and missed a 20-foot par putt.

"I was fortunate to come out on top," Matsuyama said. I played well too. I'm really not that good at match play. I'm just happy to death I won."

His next foe is Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell, who edged Gary Woodland in 19 holes. Woodland birdied the 15th to go 2-up but he went over the green to halve the par-3 16th.

McDowell birdied to win 17, took 18 at par when Woodland took four shots to the fringe and won the last with a wedge to six feet.

"I thought it was over," McDowell said. "It required a mistake from him to give me half a sniff even."

The longest match was Spanish second seed Sergio Garcia's 22-hole triumph over Australian Marc Leishman. Garcia squared the match with an eight-foot birdie putt at 17 then missed a six-footer for par at 18 to force extra holes.

Results on Wednesday from the first round of the $9 million World Golf Championships Match Play Championship (x denotes seed):

Bobby Jones division

Henrik Stenson (SWE x1) bt Kiradech Aphibarnrat (THA x16) 2 and 1

Louis Oosthuizen (RSA x8) v Nick Watney (USA x9) 1 up

Brandt Snedeker (USA x4) bt David Lynn (ENG x13) 20 holes

Webb Simpson (USA x5) bt Thongchai Jaidee (THA x12) 3 and 2

Jason Day (AUS x2) bt Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 2 up

Billy Horschel (USA x10) bt Jamie Donaldson (WAL x7) 6 and 5

George Coetzee (RSA x14) bt Steve Stricker (USA x3) 3 and 1

Patrick Reed (USA x11) bt Graham DeLaet (CAN x6) 1 up

Ben Hogan division

Rory McIlroy (NIR x1) bt Boo Weekley (USA x16) 3 and 2

Harris English (USA x9) bt Lee Westwood (ENG x8) 5 and 3

Charl Schwartzel (RSA x4) bt Kevin Stadler (USA x13) 3 and 2

Jim Furyk (USA x5) bt Chris Kirk (USA x12) 2 and 1

Sergio Garcia (ESP x2) bt Marc Leishman (AUS x15) 22 holes

Bill Haas (USA x7) bt Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP x10) 4 and 3

Rickie Fowler (USA x14) bt Ian Poulter (ENG x3) 2 and 1

Jimmy Walker (USA x6) bt Branden Grace (RSA x11) 5 and 4

Gary Player division

Justin Rose (ENG x1) bt Scott Piercy (USA x16) 1 up

Ernie Els (RSA x8) bt Stephen Gallacher (SCO x9) 19 holes

Jason Dufner (USA x4) bt Scott Stallings (USA x13) 19 holes

Matteo Manassero (ITA x12) bt Luke Donald (ENG x5) 5 and 4

Matt Kuchar (USA x2) bt Bernd Wiesberger (AUT x15) 3 and 2

Ryan Moore (USA x7) bt Joost Luiten (NED x10) 1 up

Jordan Spieth (USA x3) bt Pablo Larrazabal (ESP x14) 2 up

Thomas Bjorn (DEN x6) bt Francesco Molinari (ITA x11) 2 and 1

Sam Snead division

Richard Sterne (RSA x16) bt Zach Johnson (USA x1) 5 and 4

Hunter Mahan (USA x8) bt Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP x9) 3 and 2

Graeme McDowell (NIR x4) bt Gary Woodland (USA x13) 19 holes

Hideki Matsuyama (JPN x5) bt Martin Kaymer (GER x12) 2 and 1

Peter Hanson (SWE x15) bt Dustin Johnson (USA x2) 4 and 3

Victor Dubuisson (FRA x7) bt Kevin Streelman (USA x10) 5 and 4

Bubba Watson (USA x3) bt Mikko Ilonen (FIN x14) 2 and 1

Jonas Blixt (SWE x11) bt Keegan Bradley (USA x6) 2 and 1

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