MARANA, Ariz. — Moving from the California coast to the Arizona desert brought a change in scenery, a buzz from a crowd that had waited far too long to see the best players in the world, and a first-round victory by Tiger Woods.

But some things never change no matter where the Accenture Match Play Championship is held.

There was a shockingly short day for Stephen Ames, this one with a far happier ending.

A year after losing by a record margin (9 and 8) to Woods at La Costa in the first round, Ames got his name in the record books Wednesday with the second-largest margin, an 8-and-7 victory over Robert Karlsson.

"I was going to the 12th tee and my caddie told me, 'You just beat him,"' Ames said. "I go, 'I did?' I guess I was in a zone."

Shaun Micheel beat another top seed. He knocked out Woods in the first round five months ago in the HSBC World Match Play Championship in England, and took out third-seeded Adam Scott on Wednesday when the Australian three-putted the 21st hole.

Europe showed it doesn't need a Ryder Cup to show its mettle in match play. Its players won all four matches against U.S. foes, and at the end of the first day, Europe had an 11-10 advantage over the Americans in players still in the field.

Second-seeded Jim Furyk birdied three straight holes to seize control over Brett Quigley, eventually beating him on the 17th hole. In a battle of the lefties, fourth-seeded Phil Mickelson held off Richard Green of Australia for a 1-up victory.

Most of the focus is on Woods because of his PGA Tour winning streak. Woods needs to win six straight matches to run his tour streak to eight, and all that mattered to him was getting the first one.

Judging by the score, it looked simple enough. Woods never trailed and closed out J.J. Henry, 3 and 2.

"It was actually a pretty tight match," Woods said. "J.J. hit a lot of beautiful putts in the middle part of the round and even on the back nine, and those putts just didn't go in. Had they gone in it might have been a different story."

Next up is Tim Clark of South Africa, a gritty player who rallied against Robert Allenby of Australia to win, 2 and 1.