Tiger Woods slips to one down after 13 in the Match Play

Tiger Woods fell back early, climbed back into the lead, then struggled early in the back nine to go one down to unheralded Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano after 13 holes in the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Fernandez-Castano won the first two holes before Woods managed to square the match on the seventh hole, and Woods moved to one-up with a birdie on 8.

In the past, when Woods dominated golf and was the kind of front-runner who simply never faltered in the lead, the match would have been all but over. But Fernandez-Castano managed to stay in the hunt and take advantage of Woods’ mistakes.

On the back nine, Woods couldn’t find the fairway. He double-bogeyed the par-four 10th hole then bogeyed the 11th to fall behind.

Pars on 12 and 13 left Fernandez-Castano, who didn’t play an event on the PGA Tour last year because of a back problem, leading by one.

Woods, the former No. 1 who came into this tournament as No. 20, won this event in 2003, 2004 and 2008.

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