Justin Rose suffered a surprise defeat on the opening day of the WGC-Cadillac Match Play on Wednesday - but was at least spared an instant exit in San Francisco.
The European Ryder Cup star came into the event on the back of winning the Zurich Classic on Sunday in his first appearance since finishing second in the Masters, but was never in front against Australian Marc Leishman before losing 3&2.
Leishman, who withdrew from the Masters as his wife recovered from a life-threatening illness, won the opening hole with a birdie and moved two up when Rose bogeyed the third, the Englishman having played his last 66 holes at TPC Louisiana without a dropped shot.
Rose, who was unbeaten in five matches and Europe's leading points scorer in their victory at Gleneagles last year, twice got back to just one down but a bogey on the 11th was followed by a Leishman birdie on the 12th and there would be no way back for the world number six.
The only good news for Rose was that a defeat no longer meant heading for the airport and a flight home, with the traditional straight knockout replaced by a round-robin format with the 64 players divided into 16 groups of four.
The other match in Rose's group had also been decided, with India's Anirban Lahiri - twice a winner on the European Tour this season - defeating Ryan Palmer 4&2.
Two more members of Europe's victorious Ryder Cup team also suffered defeats on Wednesday, with Ian Poulter losing 3&2 to former US Open champion Webb Simpson and Stephen Gallacher thrashed 7&6 by Hunter Mahan.
Poulter lost the opening hole to a birdie but ultimately paid the price for carding four bogeys in six holes from the third as Simpson gained a measure of revenge for losing to the Englishman in the 'Miracle at Medinah' in 2012.
Gallacher, who did not win a point from his two matches at Gleneagles, was an approximate three over par in defeat to Mahan and has now lost 11 of his last 12 singles contests in match play.
Masters champion Jordan Spieth was three up on Mikko Ilonen after eight holes until the Finn, who flew to San Francisco as first reserve and found out when he landed he was in the field due to Phil Mickelson withdrawing, holed out from a bunker on the ninth to reduce the deficit.
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