Woods fell 2 down after the first two holes, but he drew the match all square with a 52-foot birdie putt at the seventh hole. He took the lead for the first time with a Titleist Scotty Cameron Buttonback Putter at the eighth hole, but errant drives at the 10th and 11th holes put him 1 down in the match through 11 holes.

At the drivable par-4 15th hole, Woods made a two-putt birdie to draw the match square. Then he made another birdie at the 16th hole to go 1 up.

Fernandez-Castano had a chance at the 18th hole to push the match into extra holes, but he missed an 11-foot birdie putt. Still it looked like the Spaniard had a chance to extend the match after Woods hit his bunker shot 10 feet pass the cup, but Woods made the putt to close out the match. Titleist Scotty Cameron Buttonback Putter

On Tuesday, Woods got a putting lesson from his pal, Steve Stricker, but he admitted that the tutorial didn't help him much on Wednesday. He missed several makeable putts during the roughly five-hour round.

"I hit a couple of bad putts today," Woods said. "I had a hard time reading these greens. I talked myself out of two or three putts."

At times his swing looked very efficient, but he struggled with his driver and distance control in the high altitude.

"I have to hit the ball a little better than I did today," Woods said after shooting what would have been a 1-over-par 73 in strokeTitleist Scotty Cameron Buttonback Putter
play. "I've got to get a better feel for my distances out here."