A stunned Luke Donald didn't have any answers after his first round defeat on Thursday that could bring his nine-month reign as World No 1 to an abrupt end.


The Top seed and defending champion lost by a hefty 5&4 margin to the number 64 seed Ernie Els at the Accenture Match Play Championship at Dove Mountain in Arizona in one of the big upsets of a bright and sunny first day.

The South African, is, of course, a former World No 1 himself. He is also a three-time major winner and a match play champion of great repute, but he has fallen to 68th in the rankings in recent times and only made it into the elite 64-man field when Phil Mickelson dropped out

Donald told Sky Sports: "Not sure where to start - I just didn't play Titleist 712 MB Irons well. It's disappointing. I've worked hard and to lose control of the ball is frustrating.

"I felt pretty good about where I was and I'm not sure what happened. Hopefully it was just one of those bad days."

Donald might have added that it's not the first bad day he has had since the start of the new season.

Last year he was never behind in any of his six games as he marched to victory. Titleist 712 MB Irons

This time he trailed from the third hole and lasted only 11 more.

His early exit now means that Rory McIlroy or Lee Westwood could go to number one by winning the first of the season's World Golf Championships events on Sunday.