MARANA, Ariz. — Tiger Woods must be mellowing with age.

There was a time when a comment from his opponent in the Match Play Championship, even tongue-in-cheek, would be an extra bit of motivation that Woods didn't need. Most famous at this event was in 2006, when Stephen Ames was asked about playing Woods and said that anything could happen, adding with a big smile, “Especially where he's hitting it.”

Woods beat him 9 and 8, the most lopsided score in tournament history.

But that was when Woods was No. 1 in the world. He is the No. 19 seed this week at Dove Mountain.

That was when Woods was winning two majors a year. Now he hasn't won a tour event in more than two years.

So when Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, who faces Woods in the opening round Wednesday, said that his opponent is “beatable,” Woods didn't seem the least bit bothered.

“I feel exactly the same way as he does,” Woods said. “I feel he's beatable, too.”

Then again, that goes for all 64 players in the field for the first World Golf Championship of the year. The difference in talent at this level of golf is miniscule. Over 18 holes of match play, it's even smaller.

are lucky enough to play someone even worse.

Only twice has the No. 1 seed lost in the first round — Woods in 2002 and Steve Stricker in 2010.

Stricker, the fifth seed who opens against Kevin Na, is coming off a five-week break designed to keep his head fresh and build up strength in his left arm, a product of a neck injury.

No one knows how long they will stay. The smart players don't even bother looking ahead in the bracket to see whom they might face in the next round. Ben Crane opens with Bubba Watson, interesting in that their caddies are sharing a room this week. One of them will be checking out Wednesday afternoon.

“If you get on a roll and you play well, you can run the tables here,” said Stricker, who did just that in 2001 as the No. 55 seed.

“I don't think it really matters where you come from, to tell you the truth,” he said. “They're all good players. There are 64 good players here, and they deserve to be here. They've shown that they've played well over the last year to be within that top 64. So you need to play well, just because everybody is good.”

Woods is a three-time winner of the Match Play Championship, yet this is the first time he has not been among the top four seeds. He shared the lead at Abu Dhabi going into the final round and tied for third, and he was in the penultimate group at Pebble Beach, four shots out of the lead, when he played with Mickelson and shot 75.

He is hitting the ball well. There are times when he is putting well. He is not yet winning.

As for the “beatable” comment? Woods said such things used to motivate him “quite a bit” when he was younger.

“But as I've matured and gone beyond that, it's just an opinion,” the 36-year-old Woods said. “What matters is how I go out and play, and how I'm progressing in my game. At the end of the day when I'm retired, I think I'll have mastered a pretty good record.”

Fernandez-Castano — known as “Gonzo” by the European press — won the Singapore Open last year for his fifth European Tour victory. This is his first appearance in the Match Play Championship.

Even though Woods no longer is not top of the world, the Fernandez-Castano is approaching it the same way so many others have before, that he has nothing to lose.

“It's a funny feeling because being 47th or 48th in the world ranking at the moment, you don't expect to be paired against Tiger Woods,” he said. “But those things happen. He's probably not at his best. And you have to look at it that way. Maybe it's a good chance to play good. And maybe I can beat him. That would be a great feeling.”

“As I said before, I'm the underdog. I have nothing to lose,” he said. “And at the same time, I don't think he's at his best. So it's a good opportunity. If I play well, I can beat him. I know I need to play good. He's a great match-play player.”