Irish prodigy finds game just before Na loses his on last hole

He drives were erratic, and his short game inconsistent.

McIlroy's mind wandered.

Maybe, he thought, he could fly home in time for Friday's rugby match between Ulster, his favorite team, and the Newport Gwent Dragons.

Instead, McIlroy created - and won - a scrum of his own.

The 20-year-old made his grand return to The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain on Wednesday, defeating Na 1-up when his opponent's tee shot landed in the desert on the 18th hole. McIlroy will take on Oliver Wilson today with a chance to advance to the round of 16.

"I didn't make it very easy for myself today," McIlroy said. "I got off to a very slow start, and Kevin got off to a very good start. Four down through six, it wasn't looking too good."

Na and McIlroy headed to the par-4, 451-yard 18th hole all-square.

McIlroy hit first, booming a drive 322 yards over a fairway bunker and within a short pitch of the green. Na hit second and drove a shot into the desert scrub to the right of the fairway.

McIlroy and Na searched for his ball for 15 minutes. Unable to find it, Na was forced to take a two-stroke penalty and tee off again. McIlroy, meanwhile, was in an enviable position: 100 yards in front of the pin with shots to spare.

He needed every edge. McIlroy missed short on a sand wedge approach, and was forced to two-putt. His par was good enough to beat Na, who finished with a bogey.

McIlroy's solid finish helped salvage an otherwise-lackluster round.

"I was pretty fortunate to get through today," McIlroy said. "I'll need to play a lot better if I want to progress into the latter stages of the tournament."

Oh, Henrik!

Match Play Championship lost a former champion Wednesday after just two shots.

Henrik Stenson, the tournament's 2007 winner, conceded his opening-round match to Ben Crane on the first green.

Stenson spent Tuesday in bed with the flu. He forced himself out of bed Wednesday morning but couldn't make his body cooperate.

"As soon as I tried to hit balls, it was an out-of-body experience," he said. "It was no point, really. I mean, I was just slashing my arms up at the ball worse than normally."

Stenson's two shots earned him $45,000, the money given to first-round losers. Stenson wouldn't have made a penny had he withdrawn before Wednesday's match.

Jubilant play

The player they call "Jubilant Jeev" had extra reason to smile on Wednesday. Jeev Milkha Singh stunned No. 2 seed Padraig Harrington 3 and 1 to advance to the second round of Match Play. The first Indian golfer on the European Tour was winless in Match Play appearances in 2007 and 2009.

"You always come out here thinking that it's going to be better, so this time was lucky for me," Singh said.

Though Singh shot just 2-under par for the round, he birdied three of his final nine holes.

Harrington said Singh "played lovely."

"He out-putted me," Harrington said. "I putted badly; he putted well. At the end of the day in Match Play, it's huge who putts the best."

It's Tim, again

Tim Clark made international headlines a year ago when he stunned Tiger Woods in the star golfer's return to competition.

Wednesday, the South African struck again. Clark dispatched Vijay Singh 1-up to advance to the second round. He will take on No. 4 seed Martin Kaymer today.

Clark, who played with a yellow ball that seemed straight out of a putt-putt course, downplayed his reputation as a giant killer.

"I was expected to beat Tiger, wasn't I?" he said with a laugh. "Well, if you look at my record, it hasn't been great. I barely got out of the first round the first four of five years I played this.

"I don't know - I guess my game has gotten better over the years and the last few years I've played good. In this tournament, though, you can have a great round and get beaten.

"I've lost matches that I played really good. I probably won one where I didn't play great."

On StarNet: Tales from the Morgue revisits the inaugural Tucson Open golf tournament. See the blog: azstarnet.com/news/blogs/ morgue-tales