February 18th 2010, Arizona, U.S.A: Reigning Asian Tour number one Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, Asia’s first Major winner Yang Yong-eun of Korea and Indian ace Jeev Milkha Singh qualified for the second round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship after winning in their opening round matches on Wednesday.

Singh, a six-time Asian Tour winner, produced the biggest upset of the day when he defeated three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland 3 and 1 at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.

Singh, who welcomed a baby boy last month, made it through to the second round for the first time in three attempts.

“At the end of the day in match play, it all comes down to who holes more putts and I was lucky enough to do that,” said Singh.

Making his debut in the US$8.5 million tournament, Thongchai, proved his credentials as Asia’s best player when he dominated his match against the highly rated Ross Fisher of England.

The Thai moved into the second round with a 5 and 4 victory that was highlighted with an eagle at the eighth hole.

Thongchai, currently 50th in the world, is hoping that a good run will keep him in the top-50 while Singh, who is ranked 60th, is banking on a good result to move him into the top-50 of the World Rankings to qualify for the Masters tournament in April.

Yang, famous for defeating Tiger Woods at last year’s PGA Championship, recovered from early bogeys to eagle the 14th hole from 152 yards out followed by a birdie to take his match against Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen 2 and 1.

Asian Tour honorary member Vijay Singh of Fiji was defeated in his match against Tim Clark of South Africa on the final hole.