Howell isn't looking ahead to Tiger match

CARLSBAD, Calif. - As he waits out the rain delayed opening matches, Charles Howell resists the urge to get ahead of himself. Bracket watching is the worst thing you can do in match play.

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But if he and Tiger Woods can take care of a couple of pesky Nicks - O'Hern of Australia and Price of Zimbabwe - Howell and Woods could be squaring off in round two of the Gary Player Bracket.

"Obviously I would love to play Tiger in the second round, but I've got to get there first," Howell said of going head-to-head with Woods for the first time since the third round of the U.S. Amateur in 1996.

The WGC-Accenture Match Play Champion-ship gets off to a belated start today at the sub-sea level quagmire known as La Costa Resort and Spa. Players understand that anything can happen in 18-hole matches involving 64 of the 65 top-ranked players in the world.

Howell, the Augusta native playing in his fourth consecutive Match Play, understands the fickle nature of the format.

"I need to get past the first round match and that's all I'm really looking at right now," said Howell of his pairing with O'Hern, the 33-year- old from Western Australia who reached the quarterfinals of this event at Royal Melbourne in 2001. "In this tournament I've lost a couple times in the first round. You know how match play goes, especially in this tournament."

Howell hasn't won a match at La Costa since beating fellow Georgian Stewart Cink 4 and 3 in the first round in 2002. Howell has lost three consecutive 1-down matches to Sergio Garcia, Niclas Fasth and Ben Curtis.

Howell and O'Hern compete between two of the more compelling matches of the day, featuring two-time defending champion Woods and hometown favorite Phil Mickelson.

Woods and Nick Price compete in one of only two matches pitting major champions. Justin Leonard and John Daly square off in another first-round match.

"I'm playing a three-time major championship winner," Woods said. "It's going to be a good fight and it's going to be a lot of fun."

Mickelson - coming off back-to-back wins at Phoenix and Pebble Beach - takes on short-hitting putting specialist Loren Roberts in the next-to-last match of the first round. He's still looking for the secret in match play.

"My Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup record hasn't been that great lately," Mickelson said.

Reach Scott Michaux at (706) 823-3219 or scott.michaux@augustachronicle.com.