In one of the early shock results of the tournament, Padraig Harrington was beaten by Jeev Milkha Singh at the World Golf Championships - Accenture Matchplay Championship.

Harrington fell to the Indian player three and one, but was gracious in defeat.

“He out-putted me. I putted badly, he putted well. At the end of the day in match play, it's huge who putts the best. Not to have the lead after the first eight holes, you know, he was in the driving seat in every one of them. I didn't hole a 10-footer, but he holed them all. He played lovely,” Harrington told the Indo Asian News.

Singh was delighted with taking such a big scalp in the tournament:

“My putting was solid, especially on the back nine. In match play, whether you are playing someone as accomplished as Padraig, or the world No1000, you need to make the putts to close the match. It mostly comes down to a putting competition and I was lucky to hole a few.”

Graeme McDowell lost out to Luke Donald, 2 and 1, while Rory McIlroy was the only Irishman to proceed to the second round when he beat Kevin Na.

The County Down native will now take on England’s Oliver Wilson.