tay as Aston Villa manager, in numbers Garde left Villa

MARANA, Ariz. -- Graeme McDowell rarely felt as hopeless in match play as he did Wednesday at Dove Mountain. Overpowered and outplayed for much of the first round, he was 3 down with three holes to play as he watched the majestic flight of Gary Woodlands tee shot cover the flag on the 16th hole. McDowell figured it was a matter of time before he climbed into a courtesy car to be driven back to the clubhouse. "The Cadillacs were circling," he said. They must have looked like buzzards. In an opening round of comebacks in the Match Play Championship, none was more stunning than McDowell surviving to see another day of this most unpredictable event. Woodlands shot took a hard bounce and landed between two corporate suites. Bogey. With a wedge in hand, Woodland pulled it on the wrong side of the 17th green, and McDowell capitalized by making a 12-foot birdie. Woodland blasted out of the left bunker, over the 18th green and into the right bunker to lose a third straight hole. McDowell completed his improbable rally with a 6-foot birdie on the 19th hole to win. "Im sure hes extremely disappointed right now -- and Im extremely elated," McDowell said. "Im surprised to be sitting here, having won. Yeah, I hit a couple of quality shots down the last couple of holes, but he had mistakes, as well. Its a brutal format." It certainly was brutal for the 32 players headed for the airport. Such is the nature of this World Golf Championship, as cut-throat as it comes. "It feels like a Sunday afternoon on Wednesday," McDowell said, realizing that Thursday wont be much different. McDowell was among eight players who trailed with six holes remaining and somehow survived. Brandt Snedeker had to make two tough par saves just to stay alive on the 18th and 19th holes of his match against David Lynn of England. He won with an 8-foot birdie on the next hole. It was the only time all day he had the lead. Jason Dufner was 3 down with five holes remaining when Scott Stallings made too many mistakes, Dufner made one clutch birdie, and the PGA champion advanced in 19 holes with a simple par. Six matches went the distance. Five matches went overtime. The last one was Ernie Els, vexed by this format so many times that some years he didnt bother showing up. He was 2 down with three to play and outlasted Stephen Gallacher in 19 holes. "I feel for him," Els said, perhaps because he has been there himself. After a wild day, there was a small degree of normalcy on Dove Mountain. Only three of the top 10 seeds were eliminated -- Zach Johnson (3), Dustin Johnson (6) and Steve Stricker (9), who wasnt even sure he would play until his brother had liver transplant surgery last weekend. The better seed -- its really just a number -- won 23 of the 32 matches. "Seeds dont matter. Who you play doesnt matter," said Jordan Spieth, sounding wiser than his 20 years after a tough 2-up victory over Pablo Larrazabal of Spain. Henrik Stenson, awarded the top seed because Tiger Woods and Masters champion Adam Scott chose not to play, trailed Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand with five holes to play. The big Thai struggled with his putter, however, missing a 4-footer for par on the 14th to lose the hole, and an 8-footer for birdie on the 15th that would have given him the lead. Stenson made a 20-foot birdie putt on the 16th, and won the match when Aphibarnrat failed to match his birdie on the 17th by missing from 5 feet. "Im still in shock," Stenson said. "It was a tough match." Second-seeded Justin Rose held off Scott Piercy, and No. 4 seed Rory McIlroy had little trouble against Boo Weekley to advance to the round of 32 on Thursday. Zach Johnson, the No. 3 seed, went out in the opening round for the fourth straight year, this time to Richard Sterne of South Africa, 5 and 4. Dustin Johnson now has lost in the first round five times in six appearances. He never led in a 4-and-3 loss to Peter Hanson. The longest day belonged to Sergio Garcia, who missed a 6-foot putt on the 18th hole for the win over Marc Leishman of Australia. They went 22 holes before Garcia made a 6-foot birdie putt to advance. In other matches: -- Patrick Reed defeated Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., 1-up -- Harris English made his Match Play Championship debut with a 5-and-3 win over Lee Westwood. -- Billy Horschel made six birdies in 13 holes to beat Jamie Donaldson of Wales, 6 and 5, in the shortest match of the day. -- Rickie Fowler, coming off three straight missed cuts, caught Ian Poulter on a bad day and sent the Ryder Cup star packing with a 2-and-1 victory. "It feels like a big win after those missed cuts," Fowler said. "It was nice to be the underdog. I had nothing to lose." -- Bubba Watson was giving holes away early before winning three straight holes on the back nine in a 2-and-1 win over Mikko Ilonen of Finland. Still, no match epitomized the wild nature of this format than McDowells win over Woodland. They live down the street from each other at Lake Nona. They practiced together last week. They flew out to Arizona together. And they had to play each other in the first round on a course where Woodland figured to have a big advantage with his length. McDowell played a practice round with Brooks Koepka, the first alternate, to get used to being outdriven by some 50 yards. His worst fears were realized, especially standing on the 16th tee. He saw his agent on the phone, hopeful he could find him a good flight back to Florida. "I thought it was over," McDowell said. "Youre not coming back from 3 down against a guy thats playing as well as him. Yeah, Im still going to try to hit my shots. But it required a mistake from him to give me half a sniff, even." Custom Detroit Tigers Jerseys . The biggest shock of this seasons competition was on when Watford took a 2-0 lead after 30 minutes at Etihad Stadium, only for a remarkable Aguero-led comeback by City in the final half-hour. The Argentina striker produced clinical finishes in the 60th and 79th minutes to level the score before Aleksandar Kolarov put City in front in the 87th. Detroit Tigers Gear . Former two-time Olympic gold medallist Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle tested positive for the stimulant methylhexanamine in both her "A" and "B" samples, the German Olympic Committee said. https://www.cheaptigers.com/ . This time, Tebow was in a groove the entire second half -- not just in the waning minutes -- and his teammates on defence were getting gobbled up. Wholesale Tigers Jerseys .com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Detroit Tigers Shirts . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night.Nigel Pearson and David Moyes are the frontrunners to replace Remi Garde as Aston Villa manager, Sky Sports News HQ understands. David Bernstein, who joined the board in March, is understood to be heading up a three-man committee which will seek out a replacement for Garde, who left the club by mutual consent on Tuesday.Former manager Brian Little and Adrian Bevington - another new arrival at Villa this week in an advisory role - are the others involved. Who will be next Villa boss? David Moyes and Nigel Pearson head list of Aston Villa manager contenders Nigel Pearson is available after leaving Leicester last summer having saved them from relegation Pearson was sacked by Leicester in June 2015, despite a remarkable run of seven wins in their last nine games which retained their Premier League status.He has not managed since leaving the King Power Stadium, but former Villa midfielder Ian Taylor believes he may fit the bill due to his experience of Championship football.Taylor, who played for Villa from 1994 to 2003, said: He could be [the right man for the job]. I think hes got the experience of getting a team out of the Championship for sure. The right people have paid the price for Aston Villas poor form - according to their former striker, Ian Taylor Anyone who takes the job is going to have a big, big job. Theres going to have to be a big turnaround of players so there will be players coming and going.You need the right kind of players to play in the Championship. Ive played in that division myself and its relentless. Theres a lot of games and you need the right kind of characters to get out of there.Moyes has been without a managerial role since he left his position at Spanish side Real Sociedad in November. Former Aston Villa goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel is surprised by the timing of Remi Gardes departure The Scot spent more than 11 years at Everton and was chosen as Sir Alex Fergusons replacement as Manchester United manager in 2013, but lasted less than a year at Old Trafford.Moyes then made the surprise switch to La Liga but lasted one day short of a year and was dismissed following a ppoor start to this season having won just 12 of his 42 games in charge.dddddddddddd A look back at Remi Gardes short stay as Aston Villa manager, in numbers Garde left Villa after a poor run of results which saw him win only three times in 23 outings after replacing Tim Sherwood less than five months ago. Aston Villa fans ask for change at the club following the sacking of Remi Garde With Villa rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table, the committee is taking a realistic approach towards the fact a new man will probably not want to be associated with taking the team down to the Championship. Villa have lost their last five games, most recently when they were beaten 1-0 at Swansea An appointment is not expected immediately but an announcement is anticipated once the former European champions relegation into the Championship is mathematically confirmed. The right people have paid the price for Aston Villas poor form - according to their former striker, Ian Taylor In the meantime, Eric Black will remain in place as acting manager. Villa resume their league campaign at home to Chelsea on Saturday. Also See: Who will be next Villa boss? Gardes woeful record Villa stats Get a ￡10 free bet! ' ' '