RYDER CUP star and former champion Ian Poulter suffered his third first-round exit in four years from the WGCAccenture Match Play Championship.

Poulter, whose love of sleep means he happily describes himself as ‘‘half-man, halfmattress’’, was probably not best pleased to be out in the first match at 0725 local time at Dove Mountain.

And the Englishman’s mood will not have been improved by a 2&1 defeat to American Rickie Fowler, who led from the fourth hole onwards and will now face compatriot Jimmy Walker in the second round.

Walker, who has already won three times in the 2014 PGA Tour season, secured the first victory of the day with a comfortable 5&4 win over South African Branden Grace.

After the opening three holes were halved, Fowler won three of the next four and needed only one birdie to do so, although 2010 champion Poulter then reduced his deficit with a birdie on the eighth.

A par on the 10th was enough for Fowler to move three up once again and although he gave the next hole back with a bogey six, a superb eagle on the par-five 13th – with Poulter in trouble over the green – restored a threehole cushion.

In typical fashion Poulter refused to throw in the towel and won the 14th with a birdie from 18ft as Fowler missed from much closer, but further birdie chances went begging on the next three holes to seal his fate.

Finland’s Mikko Ilonen had looked like creating a shock when he led Bubba Watson by two holes with six to play, but lost the next three holes and Watson – who claimed his first win since the 2012 Masters in the Northern Trust Open on Sunday – sealed a 2&1 win on the 17th.

‘‘After number 11 I knew I had to fight hard and somehow I did it,’’ Watson said.

‘‘It’s very tough, with all the media and attention around me after the win on Sunday, to focus enough on golf so hopefully this match scared me enough that I will focus a little harder.’’ There was better news elsewhere for two more of the 25- strong European contingent, with Peter Hanson three up on Dustin Johnson after 10 and France’s Victor Dubuisson ahead of Kevin Streelman by the same margin at the turn.

Spain’s Sergio Garcia had been two down after three holes against Australian Marc Leishman, but birdies at the sixth and 11th got Garcia back on level terms.