CARLSBAD, Calif. — Ernie Els usually shows up at every tournament expecting to win.

This is not a typical week.

"You check into the hotel and see you're booked for seven nights," Els said Tuesday. "But you know you might be leaving in a day or two. It's exciting for the fans. But you're on edge. And you're on edge the whole round."

Expectations?

"Not enormous," he said with a laugh.

Els speaks from experience. He remembers that first year of the Accenture Match Play Championship, when he was coming off a victory at Riviera and faced Paul Azinger in the first round. Els fell behind, and needing to win the 18th hole to force extra holes, hit his tee shot into the rough and headed for the airport.

A year later, Bob Estes gave him an opening by making bogey on the final hole in the second round. Els then missed his 4-foot par putt and was on his way out the door. Then came another second-round loss, this time to Tom Lehman, after Els blew a 3-up lead at the turn and missed a 4-foot putt to lose on the 20th hole.

The real killer was 2003, the last time the Big Easy graced these soggy fairways. He was 1 up and already in for par when Phil Tataurangi drained a 25-foot birdie putt to send the match into extra holes, winning when the Kiwi stuffed his tee shot into 2 feet.

Els returns after a two-year hiatus and believes he has learned his lesson.

Expect the worst.

"If you look past the first round, you're in trouble," he said. "Don't even look at your bracket, because crazy things happen in match play. You've got to prepare yourself for a tight match no matter what happens."

Let the craziness begin in the most fickle format of the year.

The Match Play Championship begins Wednesday with Els taking on Bernhard Langer, Retief Goosen playing Paul Broadhurst, Vijay Singh against Graeme McDowell and top-seeded Tiger Woods going against Stephen Ames.

By Wednesday afternoon, there will be 32 losers.

There will be no talk of "I played well and didn't get anything out of my round." No one will dare say, "I got off to a slow start, but I kept the damage to a minimum." Or that famous line, "I've just got to stay patient."

Odds are, no one will hear anything from 32 players because they will be too disgusted to say anything.

There is no such thing as an upset in this tournament.

That doesn't mean no one is upset.

Woods still remembers the time he lost to Peter O'Malley in the first round in 2002, his earliest departure in the six times he has played this tournament. He stuffed a wedge into 3 feet to seemingly square the match on the 17th hole, only to watch the Australian hole a 20-foot putt to win.

"It was not a good feeling," Woods said.

If anyone is looking for a favorite, it's not a bad idea to start with Woods or defending champion David Toms. Woods is a two-time winner of the tournament with a 21-4 record at La Costa, along with a 33-9-2 record in match play as a professional. Toms smoked the field last year and is 18-5 in this tournament.

Both know how far that will get them if they don't hit good shots or make the putts.

"It's the final round on the first day," Woods said, "because anything can happen."

Toms didn't even know who he would play in the second round, or the name of any other player in his bracket. All he knows is that Ian Poulter will be waiting for him on the first tee Wednesday, and he better play well.

"I'm sure he'll be ready to play tomorrow morning and make up for what happened in our match last year," Toms said. "And it should make for some great golf."

What happened last year was any golfer's dream.

They faced off in the semifinals and were all square through eight holes when Toms hit a 5-wood into 4 feet on the long ninth hole.

One up.

From 123 yards in the middle of the 10th fairway, Toms hit 9-iron that spun back into the cup for an eagle.

Two up.

On the par-5 11th, Toms rifled another 5-wood toward the green and it stopped 2 feet away for another eagle.Three up.

Poulter didn't quit, but there was nothing he could do. Toms didn't hit an approach outside 8 feet on his final 12 holes and went on to win, 3 and 2. Poulter played well enough to beat anyone that day except the guy who mattered.

"When you do that, you're going to win the golf tournament, and that's exactly what he did," Poulter said.

Indeed, Toms blasted Chris DiMarco in the final, winning eight of nine holes during one stretch in the morning round of their 36-hole final. His 6-and-5 victory was the biggest blowout in the seven-year history of this event.

"It's just so much unknown," Toms said Tuesday. "A lot of times, if you have 72 holes, you can make up for somebody getting hot one day and you can make up ground. Here, if somebody gets hot, there's not a whole lot you can do about it."

He spoke from experience — the good kind.

AP-ES-02-22-06 0317EST