Luke Donald sees off Graeme McDowell as Rory McIlroy is made to fight

Donald, who was unavailable for the 2008 Ryder Cup after undergoing surgery on his wrist, was runner-up on the US Tour's Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles two weeks ago and looks back to near his best.

At 7,849 yards, Dove Mountain is the longest course in European Tour history, but although Donald is one of the game's shorter hitters, the rest of his game still makes him a match for anyone.

McDowell, two down after seven, birdied the next three holes but did not win any of them.

Donald sank putts from 16 feet for halves and then went three ahead when his opponent bogeyed the long 13th. A putt of over 15 feet kept Donald in the driving seat two holes later and although he lost the short 16th and was in trouble on the next, McDowell bogeyed as well, his missed nine-footer meaning he had to shake hands. Now in danger of dropping out of the world's top 50 – a potentially huge blow to his hopes of a second Ryder Cup cap – McDowell was not the first European out of the event, though.

Henrik Stenson, winner in 2007 and a semi-finalist 12 months later, lasted only one hole against American Ben Crane before withdrawing. The Swede, whose compatriots Peter Hanson and Alex Noren were also quickly making exits, said: "It's flu or a virus or something like that. I started feeling bad on Monday but although I was a little bit better this morning, as soon as I tried to hit balls it was an out- of-body experience."

Hanson lost to Allenby 4 and 2, while Noren was crushed 7 and 5 by defending champion Geoff Ogilvy. There were a lot of eyes on McDowell's fellow countryman Rory McIlroy, a quarter-finalist last year and the fourth seed after his rise into the world's top ten. But the 20-year-old was in desperate trouble when he lost four of the first six holes to little-known American Kevin Na.

McIlroy needed to show his fighting qualities and did by winning the seventh, eighth – a conceded eagle there – and 10th, where he holed from 14 feet.

He had also birdied the ninth after an approach to three feet, but Na shared it with a six-footer and then went two up again on the 11th when McIlroy, favourite to win the par 5 after two shots, fluffed a chip and ran up a bogey-6. McIlroy eventually won through at the last and was joined in round two by Sergio Garcia, who beat American David Toms by two holes.

Ross Fisher fell at the first hurdle in his bid to do a Match Play double after his success in Spain last October. He was crushed 5&4 by Thai Thongchai Jaidee.

There was a superb fightback from Ian Poulter as well. He went from two up to two down against former Open champion Justin Leonard, but won on the 19th.

Out, though, went three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, who surprisingly lost three and one to Indian Jeev Milkha Singh.

Open champion Stewart Cink also recovered a four-hole deficit to beat Italian Edoardo Molinari on the last – while Molinari's brother, Francesco, lost on the 21st to Zach Johnson.