Woods drops opening match to Schwartzel at World Golf Final

Tiger Woods fell to Charl Schwartzel on Tuesday in his opening match of the Turkish Airlines World Golf Final on the PGA Sultan Course at Antalya Golf Club in Belek, Turkey. Woods shot 1-under 70, and Schwartzel carded 69.

The inaugural eight-man tournament, which is divided into two groups of four, features a medal-play format the first two days. Woods will have to win a pair of matches Wednesday to challenge for the $1.5 million first prize. He will play Matt Kuchar on Wednesday morning and Rory McIlroy later in the day.

“We have to both win in the morning,” Woods said of McIlroy. “We’re the two highest-ranked players in the world right now, and it will be a fun match either way, but it will obviously be a lot better if we both win in the morning.”

McIlroy will oppose Schwartzel on Wednesday morning. The other group is comprised of Lee Westwood, Hunter Mahan, Justin Rose and Webb Simpson.

Each win is worth a point, and a tie is worth a half-point. The top two players in each group advance to the semifinals on Thursday.

In Tiger’s match against Schwartzel, he battled back from a triple bogey on the ninth hole, then pulled even on the 17h hole. But at the 18th hole, Woods missed the green with his approach shot and finished with a bogey.