India's Jeev Milka Singh and America's Anthony Kim laid down early markers with emphatic victories as the top seeds toiled on the first day of the World Matchplay Championship here on Thursday.
Kim stormed to the top of Group A by defeating two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa and English top seed Paul Casey, while Singh thrashed world number five Lee Westwood to take command of Group D.
England's Oliver Wilson tops Group B after defeating both Spanish 10th seed Sergio Garcia and Germany's Martin Kaymer by one hole, with Australia's Robert Allenby second thanks to a win over Kaymer and a half with Garcia.
Argentina's Angel Cabrera shares the lead in Group C with England's Simon Dyson after they both won their opening matches, while Dyson's compatriot Ross Fisher is level with Singh in Group D after beating Argentine Camilo Villegas.
In a break from the tournament's traditional format, players in each four-man group play in a round-robin format with the top player from each of the four groups progressing to the semi-finals on Saturday.
Casey, the world number four, was returning to action after an 11-week absence due to injury but lost his opening match against Strange when he missed a seven-foot birdie putt to tie the match on the 18th hole.
"I can't swing the way I want," said Casey, the 2006 champion, who had been sidelined with a torn rib muscle since The Open in July.
"I'm coming out of a lot of the shots. Scott played well, but having said that I gave him three holes on the front and you can't do that against anybody in this field."
Kim was three shots up on Casey at the turn and secured victory on the 16th, with all matches being played to completion so that statistics for aggregate number of holes won can be used to separate players on the same points.
Wilson overcame a neck complaint to beat Garcia one up in Group B before defeating Kaymer, who has only recently returned to action after breaking his toes in a go-kart accident, by the same margin.
Kaymer lost his opening match by one hole against Allenby, who was denied a second victory against Garcia when the Spaniard produced a birdie on the 18th that halved the match.
Singh was five up on second seed Westwood after just seven holes and went on to secure a resounding six-up victory with a birdie on the last.
Fisher followed suit, producing a birdie four on the 18th to wrap up a two-up win against Villegas that puts him level on two points with Singh in Group D.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy slumped to a five-hole defeat against Argentine Masters champion Cabrera despite being all-square after 10 holes.
Cabrera notched birdies on five of the last eight holes to claim the win, while Dyson also got off to a winning start in Group C when he beat Sweden's world number seven Henrik Stenson three-up.
The tournament, which has run since 1964, has left England's Wentworth Golf Club for the first time in its history after a two-year absence from the Tour schedule.
Players in Group C and D play twice on Friday, when Groups A and B will also conclude.
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
