Tiger Woods stayed home. Phil Mickelson went on vacation.
And Ross McGowan made Southern Arizona golf history.
The 64th-ranked McGowan stunned No. 1 Steve Stricker in 19 holes Wednesday, bringing some much-needed drama to The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, on a day otherwise notable for its lack of major upsets.
McGowan's late-afternoon shocker marked the biggest upset in Southern Arizona Match Play history, and was just the second time in the history of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship that No. 64 has defeated No. 1. Little-known Peter O'Malley stunned Woods, 2 and 1, in the 2002 event, held in Carlsbad, Calif.
McGowan, who made the tournament when Woods (personal issues) and Mickelson (family vacation) decided not to travel to the Tucson area, said the win "feels pretty good."
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Although, to be fair, the Brit didn't consider himself much of an underdog.
"I would say I fancied my chances," he said.
Stricker, who ascended to the No. 1 overall seed with Woods out, was the best player eliminated on a day when just 12 lower-seeded players won.
Top seeds Jim Furyk and Lee Westwood survived upset bids, winning their matches over Scott Verplank and Chris Wood, respectively. Martin Kaymer, Ernie Els and defending champ Geoff Ogilvy all cruised to easy wins.
The day's best comeback belonged to Stewart Cink, who rallied from 4-down to defeat Italy's Edoardo Molinari, 2-up.
Cink, who birdied four of his final eight holes, called it "a match I'll never forget."
"On the back-nine, I played one of the best nine holes I've ever played," he said. "I just really drove it well. I made a couple of key putts and holed out a bunker shot and just kept really applying pressure."
Cink's comeback actually started on No. 8. Trailing by four, the lanky Southerner chipped his ball into a green-side bush. Cink was able to halve the hole anyway, an accomplishment that shifted his mindset - and sparked a rally.
"Instead of losing the hole and going to 5-down and really starting to think about the Delta schedule back to Atlanta, I salvaged the halve there," he said. "It's amazing what your mind thinks of when you're in that situation. It just sort of boosts your spirits a little bit."
McGowan knows the feeling.
He was 2-down through four holes before rallying to tie Stricker with back-to-back birdies on 5 and 6. McGowan went 1-up with birdies on Nos. 14 and 15 before Stricker pulled even with a key putt on the 16th hole.
The match went to sudden-death when McGowan missed a 12-foot putt on No. 18 for the win.
That's when things got interesting.
Stricker, hitting first, drove left of the fairway, then put his second shot deep into a left-side bunker. The ball, swallowed by sand, was barely visible.
"It was just a little speck of white where that ball was there, and I had to kind of wipe some sand away off of it and put the sand back over the top of it," Stricker said. "Yeah, it wasn't too good."
Stricker managed to hack himself out of the bunker, but couldn't get close enough to the pin put the pressure on McGowan.
McGowan, who reached the green in three conservative shots, then holed a 29-foot putt to put the pressure back on Stricker.
Stricker then missed a 27-footer that would have extended the match.
Like that, McGowan cemented his place in Match Play lore.
"It was quite exciting," he said, "when that one dropped in on 19."
On StarNet: View videos of Wednesday's first round at azstarnet.com/sports/golf
IF YOU GO
• Where: The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain
• When: Today through Sunday.
• Tickets: Visit worldgolfchampionships.com, call 1-866-942-2672 or purchase at the gate.
DON'T MISS THIS MATCH
No. 4 Ernie Els vs. No. 5 Retief Goosen, 12:18 p.m.
Two past U.S. Open champions attempt to better their so-so tradition in Match Play: Els is 10-10: Goosen is 13-10.
