MARANA, Ariz. - Rory Sabbatini needs a heart transfusion. Fast.

On a day when Tiger Woods pulled off one of his most memorable comebacks ever, a day when Phil Mickelson shook off some monster putts from Pat Perez to pull off his own first-round win, Sabbatini quietly faded away in another big time event. This time, it’s the WGC Accenture World Match Play Championship.

The immortal Bradley Dredge took out Sabbatini as easy as could be, 4 and 3. And by the looks of Sabbatini’s swing, Dredge could have turned around and beaten him again if he had needed to in the Arizona desert. Don’t look now, but Sabbatini is in danger of playing himself out of big-time relevance. And that isn’t good news for anyone who appreciates a little drama.

Even Ernie Els, who only decided to come here last minute and got the No. 4 overall seed, couldn’t match Sabbatini in disappointment. Sure, Els took a worse beating (6 and 5, the worst first-round loss for one of the four No. 1 bracket seeds in the 10-year history of the event). But everyone knew Els was still in a shell after that Dubai collapse.

And at least, Ernie’s kids got to see the Grand Canyon.

Sabbatini’s left to explore his old college haunts (he went to the University of Arizona in Tucson and had a pretty big gallery) and look for the bravado he used to thrive on.

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