CARLSBAD, Calif. - Surprised to even be in the Match Play Championship, John Rollins was two holes from taking down Tiger Woods. He had a 1-up lead and a bad feeling.
"I told my caddie that he's due any minute to hit one of those towering shots that sit right by the flag," Rollins said. "He must have heard me."
Woods hit 8-iron from 171 yards, and the ball dropped 18 inches behind the flag, the start of a birdie-birdie finish that allowed him to survive a major scare Wednesday in the opening round at La Costa Resort.
Fifteen of the 32 matches went 18 holes, and a record-tying six were decided in extra holes.
Darren Clarke faced elimination when he chipped in for eagle from just short of the 18th green to force extra holes, and he beat Eduardo Romero on the 25th.
Colin Montgomerie was two down with three to play against Nick Price when he birdied the next two and won on the 20th.
Fifth seed Retief Goosen was the only top-10 player to head for the airport, blowing a 2-up lead and losing to Palm Harbor's John Huston on the 17th hole.
Woods was lucky to get another round. He twice made knee-knocking pars to stay close, tied the match with his 8-iron into the 17th and won a battle of wedges on the par-5 18th, holing a 20-foot birdie putt after Rollins hit into a bunker and was assured of bogey.
Rollins, who got into the $7-million World Golf Championship when three players withdrew, made only one birdie but was 2 up with five to play.
After Woods' birdie on 17, both laid up on the par-5 18th. Woods went first and hit an average shot to 20 feet. Rollins' shot sailed too far and took one hop into a bunker. With the green sloping away from him, he came up short in the rough. After Rollins' chip, Woods drained his birdie putt to win.
Today Woods faces Trevor Immelman, who beat Shigeki Maruyama.
LPGA TOUR: The year's first major lost its defending champion when Patricia Meunier-Lebouc withdrew after the birth of her daughter on Feb. 9. Meunier-Lebouc beat Annika Sorenstam by two last year in the Nabisco Championship. The Nabisco is March 25-28.
NEXT GENERATION TOUR: Seminole's Brittany Lincicome shot an opening 5-under-par 67 for a five-shot lead on the women's development tour at East Lake Woodlands.
- Times correspondent Dave Theall contributed to this report.
