Senden upsets Stenson; Day, Scott lose opening matches at 2015 WGC Match Play

Adam Scott and Jason Day lose their opening matches while John Senden knocks off a former Match Play champion.

Top seeds Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth both had solid first round victories (over Jason Dufner and Mikko Ilonen respectively) at the 2015 WGC Cadillac Match Play Championship. But it was a mixed day for the Aussies with our big names going down in some heavy defeats.

John Senden caused the biggest upset of the day when he beat world number 3 Henrik Stenson at the first extra hole on the opening day of the WGC Cadillac Match Play at TPC Harding Park.

Senden was not given much chance to knock off the big hitting Swede and as Stenson took a one hole lead going to the last hole, few expected the Australian to escape with a win.

But Senden went on to birdie the 18th to force extra holes before promptly nailing his putt from off the green to seal an unlikely victory at the first extra hole.

Marc Leishman looked in great touch when he knocked off one of the most in-form golfers in the world right now, Justin Rose. After making birdie on the first hole, Leishman held the lead all day before claiming victory 3&2.

Ben Everill also noted some good Australia v England banter between Leishman and Rose during their match:

Justin Rose completely botches an energy bar catch and Leishman doesn’t miss a beat. “Be like the Ashes later this year” #cmonaussie

— Benjamin Everill (@beneverill) April 29, 2015

No one expected Jason Day’s match to swing so quickly in favour of his opponent Charley Hoffman. All square through 11 holes, Hoffman made birdies at three of the next four to close the match 4&3. Day now faces South Africa’s Branden Grace before squaring off against Zach Johnson in his third match.

Adam Scott has never got past the second round of the WGC Match Play since 2005 and despite the new round robin format this year, the former Masters champion is once again struggling with match play.

After birdie at the first hole, Scott’s long putter went cold and made bogey at four of his next 10 holes to lay the match squarely in the hands of Italian Francesco Molinari who won the match 5&4. Scott will play Paul Casey and Chris Kirk in his next two matches.

Matt Jones was always goingto be hitting his approach shots first in his match against Dustin Johnson. Jones squared the match with birdie at the 13th and an upset loomed but Johnson promptly took the wind out of Jones’ sails with a great birdie at the 14th to eventually go on and win the match 3&1.