Casey never led the final at any stage, as Ogilvy took the lead at the first hole and never looked in any danger of losing it.

Ogilvy won the tournament at the 33rd hole as the two players halved the hole with birdies.

“The thing I’ll remember is I beat some really good players,” Ogilvy told the AFP. “I played really, really well the last three or four days. Every round I played better, which doesn’t often happen with golf.”

Ogilvy adds the 2009 title to the WGC Matchplay title he claimed in 2006. That year he went on to win his first major, winning the 2006 US Open.

Ogilvy’s final opponent, Paul Casey, was full of praise for the Australian, commenting on his unflappable demeanour in the face of intense pressure.

“What is tough about playing Geoff is that he doesn’t change,” Casey said. “His demeanor doesn’t waver, which is a huge attribute, especially in match play.”

Clark beat Woods 4 and 2 in the second round, and had the top seed beaten by the 16th hole. Woods’ performance in the second round showed little signs of the fluency he had displayed in his first match.

“Well, I lost,” Woods told the AFP. “I played really well today, but didn’t make enough birdies. When you’re playing match play you have to make birdies and I didn’t do that today.”

Woods elimination means that none of the top four seeds have survived the opening rounds of the 2009 WGC Matchplay Championship. Vijay Singh departed on Thursday, joining Padraig Harrington and Sergio Garcia on the sidelines.

“Tim’s a wonderful player,” Woods concluded. “He’s consistent and grinds it out and he made a bunch of birdies today. I just didn’t get the ball in the hole.”

Clark will face Ireland’s rising star Rory McElroy in the second round of the 2009 WGC Matchplay Championship.

Woods’ Australian opponent, Brendan Jones, never had a chance in a match where he failed to lead at any stage.

“I thought it would take me a little bit longer to get into the rhythm of the round,” Woods conceded after rocketing to a 2 shot lead within 2 holes.

“Walking down the fairway, it felt like business as usual,” he said. “I thought I would be more nervous on the first tee. It just came back down to playing the game again, and that felt good.”

Woods was besieged by adoring fans at each hole, but seemed to be oblivious to the throngs of spectators that crammed into the bleachers to watch each shot.

The WGC Matchplay Championship top seed will face Tim Clark in the second round of the tournament on Thursday.

“We’ll see what happens,” Clark said after defeating Retief Goosen. “I played him a couple of years ago, so I know what to expect. I’m not afraid of the match. I’m just going to give it my best shot, and if I lose, it’s not a big deal. And if I win, great. I’m not going to put any pressure on myself.”

While many believe that Woods could take months to return to top form, the world number one says that learning to cope with his knee injury has helped him perfect other areas of his game.

“My short game has gotten a little bit better,” Woods told the Press Association. “I’ve got more shots than I did before, just because I’ve spent so much time on it, chipping and all the different shots around the greens.”

“Some of the shots I had forgotten that I had over the years, I kind of remembered how to hit them again, which was kind of nice.”

Woods has also framed his injury enforced absence from the game as a much needed break from competitive golf, and an opportunity to work on and reinvigorate his game.

“The first few months are pretty tough,” Woods said. “You’re in quite a bit of pain, and it was just a lack of strength, mobility, just a lot of different things that you take for granted. That’s all taken away from you.”

“You start feeling pretty normal probably around five months, start feeling pretty good. But still, five months is a very long time. The six, seven-month mark you start feeling really good, and here I am at eight months out.”

Woods enters the 2009 WGC Matchplay Championship as the favourite in William Hill’s outright betting markets. He begins his title defence on Wednesday with a match against Brendan Jones of Australia.

The world number one has been out of action since injuring a knee in his impressive victory at the 2008 US Open, and golf fans have been eagerly anticipating his return to the game.

“I’m now ready to play again,” Woods said on his website last week.

Woods return to the PGA Tour is expected to have a significant effect on professional golf, which has experienced a measurable slump in attendances and public interest during his absence.

While Woods’ return is keenly anticipated by golf fans, most realise that he is unlikely to defend the WGC Matchplay title he won in 2008, and will require a few tournaments to shake off the rust and return to form.

Despite his long absence from the game Woods has been seeded first in the Bobby Jones bracket, alongside Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman, Mike Weir and Geoff Ogilvy.

Woods will face world number 64, Brendan Jones, in his first match of the 2008 WGC Matchplay Championship.

Phil Mickelson was one of the first heads to roll at the 2008 Accenture Match Play Championships as he lost to Stuart Appleby despite hitting seven birdies. Another high profile casualty was Adam Scott, seeded second in his bracket, who succumbed to world number 62 Jonathan Bird.

Needless to say the one top seed left standing at the end of the second round of the 2008 Accenture Match Play Championships was world number one Tiger Woods. Woods has already sent Aaron Oberholser and David Toms packing, and now has Australian Aaron Baddeley in his sights.

With the early departure of Phil Mickelson sinking the prospect of an intriguing match-up between the world’s top ranked golfers, the probably match up between Tiger Woods and Asian superstar K.J. Choi promises to be the highlight of the fourth round of the 2008 Accenture Match Play Championships.

The unique challenge of the Accenture Match Play Championships is clearly illustrated by the tournament’s history. In nine years of competition only one player has been able to successfully defend his title, and that was Tiger Woods in 2004.  This pattern does not bode well for 2007 Accenture Match Play Championships winner Henrik Stenson, who won his title without having to face any of the tournament’s top seeds. He did, however, take the title by beating Tiger Woods’ nemesis, Australian Nick O’Hearn.  

As the 13^th seed, Henrik Stenson will be teeing off his first round match against another Australian today, the 52 seed Robert Allenby. Whilst Stenson shouldn’t have much difficulty disposing of the Australian the rampant form of Tiger Woods does not auger well for Stenson’s prospects .

With Tiger Woods having won 8 of his last 9 tournaments, it’s unlikely that Stenson will become only the second player in Accenture Match Play Championships history to defend his title.

With seedings for the tournament just released it comes as little surprise to find world number one Tiger Woods given first seed for the 2008 Accenture Match Play Championships. Woods will tee of the tournament against 65^th seeded J.B Holmes. 

The second seed in the tournament goes to Phil Mickleson, who will square up against Pat Perez in the first round. World number three Steve Stricker claims the third seed to set up an intriguing encounter with Mercedes-Benz Championship winner Daniel Chopra in his first round tie.  

Ernie Els, who at first stated that he would not compete in the 2008 Accenture Match Play Championship, has had an abrupt change of heart. The Big Easy made 2008 Accenture Match Play Championship news when he stated that he would take his position amongst the world’s golfing greats on the 20^th of February, thereby knocking match play hopeful Anthony Kim out of the tournament.