Early deficit for Casey

England's Paul Casey trailed Geoff Ogilvy over the opening holes as the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship final got under way.

Casey got off to a shaky start at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club near Tucson when, after a great approach shot at the par-four first hole, he missed his birdie putt from four and a half feet.

Ogilvy holed out from six feet and took a one-up lead in the 36-hole match.

The pre-match ceremonials were conducted in a relaxed atmosphere as England’s Casey and Australian Ogilvy are friends, and both members at the Whisper Rock Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.

They even played a practice round together at the new Jack Nicklaus-designed Ritz-Carlton course a little over two weeks ago and their preparations paid dividends as Casey advanced to the final with a semi-final win over fellow Englishman Ross Fisher yesterday.

Ogilvy, having knocked out two in-form players in Camilo Villegas of Colombia and Ireland’s Rory McIlroy in previous rounds, defeated last year’s runner-up Stewart Cink in his semi-final.

Ogilvy and Casey, the latter chasing a first PGA Tour win of his career, matched each other over the next two holes to leave the Australian one up after three.

Cink and Fisher contest an 18-hole match for third place later today, before the finalists begin their second round in search of the $1.4m (€1.1m) first prize.