MARANA, Ariz. -- Graeme McDowell rarely felt as hopeless in match play as he did Wednesday at Dove Mountain. Overpowered and outplayed for much of the first round, he was 3 down with three holes to play as he watched the majestic flight of Gary Woodlands tee shot cover the flag on the 16th hole. McDowell figured it was a matter of time before he climbed into a courtesy car to be driven back to the clubhouse. "The Cadillacs were circling," he said. They must have looked like buzzards. In an opening round of comebacks in the Match Play Championship, none was more stunning than McDowell surviving to see another day of this most unpredictable event. Woodlands shot took a hard bounce and landed between two corporate suites. Bogey. With a wedge in hand, Woodland pulled it on the wrong side of the 17th green, and McDowell capitalized by making a 12-foot birdie. Woodland blasted out of the left bunker, over the 18th green and into the right bunker to lose a third straight hole. McDowell completed his improbable rally with a 6-foot birdie on the 19th hole to win. "Im sure hes extremely disappointed right now -- and Im extremely elated," McDowell said. "Im surprised to be sitting here, having won. Yeah, I hit a couple of quality shots down the last couple of holes, but he had mistakes, as well. Its a brutal format." It certainly was brutal for the 32 players headed for the airport. Such is the nature of this World Golf Championship, as cut-throat as it comes. "It feels like a Sunday afternoon on Wednesday," McDowell said, realizing that Thursday wont be much different. McDowell was among eight players who trailed with six holes remaining and somehow survived. Brandt Snedeker had to make two tough par saves just to stay alive on the 18th and 19th holes of his match against David Lynn of England. He won with an 8-foot birdie on the next hole. It was the only time all day he had the lead. Jason Dufner was 3 down with five holes remaining when Scott Stallings made too many mistakes, Dufner made one clutch birdie, and the PGA champion advanced in 19 holes with a simple par. Six matches went the distance. Five matches went overtime. The last one was Ernie Els, vexed by this format so many times that some years he didnt bother showing up. He was 2 down with three to play and outlasted Stephen Gallacher in 19 holes. "I feel for him," Els said, perhaps because he has been there himself. After a wild day, there was a small degree of normalcy on Dove Mountain. Only three of the top 10 seeds were eliminated -- Zach Johnson (3), Dustin Johnson (6) and Steve Stricker (9), who wasnt even sure he would play until his brother had liver transplant surgery last weekend. The better seed -- its really just a number -- won 23 of the 32 matches. "Seeds dont matter. Who you play doesnt matter," said Jordan Spieth, sounding wiser than his 20 years after a tough 2-up victory over Pablo Larrazabal of Spain. Henrik Stenson, awarded the top seed because Tiger Woods and Masters champion Adam Scott chose not to play, trailed Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand with five holes to play. The big Thai struggled with his putter, however, missing a 4-footer for par on the 14th to lose the hole, and an 8-footer for birdie on the 15th that would have given him the lead. Stenson made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th, and won the match when Aphibarnrat failed to match his birdie on the 17th by missing from 5 feet. "Im still in shock," Stenson said. "It was a tough match." Second-seeded Justin Rose held off Scott Piercy, and No. 4 seed Rory McIlroy had little trouble against Boo Weekley to advance to the round of 32 on Thursday. Zach Johnson, the No. 3 seed, went out in the opening round for the fourth straight year, this time to Richard Sterne of South Africa, 5 and 4. Dustin Johnson now has lost in the first round five times in six appearances. He never led in a 4-and-3 loss to Peter Hanson. The longest day belonged to Sergio Garcia, who missed a 6-foot putt on the 18th hole for the win over Marc Leishman of Australia. They went 22 holes before Garcia made a 6-foot birdie putt to advance. In other matches: -- Patrick Reed defeated Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., 1-up -- Harris English made his Match Play Championship debut with a 5-and-3 win over Lee Westwood. -- Billy Horschel made six birdies in 13 holes to beat Jamie Donaldson of Wales, 6 and 5, in the shortest match of the day. -- Rickie Fowler, coming off three straight missed cuts, caught Ian Poulter on a bad day and sent the Ryder Cup star packing with a 2-and-1 victory. "It feels like a big win after those missed cuts," Fowler said. "It was nice to be the underdog. I had nothing to lose." -- Bubba Watson was giving holes away early before winning three straight holes on the back nine in a 2-and-1 win over Mikko Ilonen of Finland. Still, no match epitomized the wild nature of this format than McDowells win over Woodland. They live down the street from each other at Lake Nona. They practiced together last week. They flew out to Arizona together. And they had to play each other in the first round on a course where Woodland figured to have a big advantage with his length. McDowell played a practice round with Brooks Koepka, the first alternate, to get used to being outdriven by some 50 yards. His worst fears were realized, especially standing on the 16th tee. He saw his agent on the phone, hopeful he could find him a good flight back to Florida. "I thought it was over," McDowell said. "Youre not coming back from 3 down against a guy thats playing as well as him. Yeah, Im still going to try to hit my shots. But it required a mistake from him to give me half a sniff, even." Yeezy Boost 350 Moins Cher . In taking its goal tally to 99 in all competitions already this season, City delivered another demonstration of its lethal firepower at Etihad Stadium to set up a fourth-round match at home to another second-tier team -- Watford. Adidas Springblade Contrefaçon Pas Cher .Y. -- Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire will have less time to remain eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot under changes made Saturday. http://www.basketnmdpascher.fr/pas-cher-...-nmd-homme.html. On paper, it looks a little like Andre the Giant taking on a midget wrestler. It has all the makings of a rout with the Americans adding an eighth win in nine outings of this biennial event. The Yanks have eight players in the top 15 in the world while the Internationals have just one. Adidas Nmd Sans Lacet Pas Cher . Here is a look at all the moves through the first week of NHL Free Agency. The most significant deals will get the full Numbers Game column treatment, like these:Briere-for-Parenteau trade. Adidas Human Race Shop . The Henry Burris-led squad finished second in the East Division before advancing to the Grey Cup where they ultimately fell to the home field advantage wielding Saskatchewan Roughriders.BELLEVILLE, Ont. - David Tomasek had two goals in regulation time and was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Belleville Bulls upset the Oshawa Generals 6-5 on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. Remi Elie and Niki Petti had a goal and an assist each for Belleville (20-37-6), while Scott Simmonds also found the back of the net. Michael Dal Colle had a pair of goals and an assist for Oshawa (41-17-6), while Scott Laughton, Owen McDade and Bradley Latour chipped in as well. Charlie Graham started in net for the Bulls, stopping one of three shots in 5:46 of work. He was replaced by Michael Giugovaz, who turned aside 28-of-31 shots over 59:14. Ken Appleby made 39 saves for the Generals. Belleville went 2 for 4 on the power play, while Oshawa was 2 for 5. --- OTTERS 11 WHALERS 2 ERIE, Pa. — Andre Burakovsky, Michael Curtis and Torontoo Maple Leafs prospect Connor Brown had two goals apiece as the Otters cruised past Plymouth.dddddddddddd Connor McDavid scored and added three assists for Erie (47-14-2), while Dane Fox, Patrick Murphy, Kurtis MacDermid and Travis Wood rounded out the attack. Oscar Dansk made 18 saves for the win. Matt Mistele and Victor Crus Rydberg replied for the Whalers (25-31-7). Alex Nedeljkovic allowed three goals on five shots in just 3:52 of ice time. Zack Bowman stopped 19-of-27 shots he faced. --- WOLVES 4 COLTS 2 SUDBURY, Ont. — Ray Huether struck twice as the Wolves downed Barrie. Kevin Raine and Nicholas Baptiste also scored for Sudbury (32-21-10), while Franky Palazzese made 35 saves for the win. Tyson Fawcett and Garrett Hooey responded for the Colts (33-27-3). Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 23-of-26 shots in Barries net. --- ' ' '