By Norman Dabell
Casares, Spain - India's Jeev Milkha Singh battled through pain to create the upset of the opening rounds in the World Matchplay Championship on Thursday.
Singh, nursing a sore ankle that forced him to miss last week's Phoenix Open, not only defeated Europe's current number one and former Matchplay winner Lee Westwood but disposed of the world number five by a crushing six holes.
Because of the large defeat, Westwood now faces an early exit. The money-list leader's only consolation is that two of his Race to Dubai rivals, second placed Martin Kaymer and fourth-placed Paul Casey, can not make the weekend's semifinals.
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In normal matchplay knockout, Singh would have won 5 & 4 but he was able to add the extra hole because all round-robin group stage matches on Thursday and Friday go to the 18th.
"I thought I was facing a lengthy layoff when the ankle flared up but I got a lot of ultrasound and iced it up five times a day to be able to play this week," Singh, ranked 50 places below Westwood globally, told reporters.
"I played with a cart yesterday and that helped. The big test is going to be tomorrow when I have to play 36 holes."
Three birdies in the first five holes set up Singh's victory and left Westwood, who could win his remaining two matches and still go out, struggling to repeat his 2000 win in the event.
"It's been a while since I've played as badly as that," a disappointed Westwood told reporters.
Singh was one of the players who played just one round on Thursday and he now hopes his ankle stands up to two matches on Friday against Colombian Camilo Villegas and Briton Ross Fisher.
Anthony Kim came into the event as eighth choice of qualifiers from America but continued his impressive form at matchplay despite a poor year in stroke-play events.
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