Miraculous escape by Day in Arizona desert

Jason Day of Australia acknowledges the crowd after sinking a putt on the 16th hole during the first round of the World Golf Championships (WGC)-Accenture Match Play Championships golf tournament at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona February 22, 2012.

MARANA, Arizona (Reuters) - Jason Day conjured a Houdini-like escape to squeeze through Wednesday's opening round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, beating Spaniard Rafael Cabrera-Bello after 19 holes.

Three down with three holes to play at Dove Mountain, the 24-year-old Australian won the 16th and 17th with consecutive pars as his opponent bogeyed and the 18th with a 12-foot birdie putt.

The world number seven then clinched victory in style at the par-four first where he hit his approach to three feet and knocked in the birdie putt.

"I felt like I won the tournament, and I just got through the first round," a laughing Day told reporters after his late escape on a sun-splashed afternoon in the Arizona desert.

"Man, it was just so up-and-down. I did kind of scrape through, but I'm glad I stuck in there and didn't give up.

"I've been working on a lot of things mentally, with my new mental coach ... I felt like I was very committed to each shot, which was nice. And I didn't want to give up at all."

Day, who reached the third round last year on his debut at the elite World Golf Championships event, made a slow start against Cabrera-Bello, double-bogeying the third and bogeying the fifth.

"I gave him a few shots on the first nine," said the Australian. "He was three up pretty quick on me. I just kept on hanging around, kept on hanging around.

"I wasn't hitting the greatest iron shots into the green but I was driving it really nicely today. He just missed a couple of six-footers on 16 and 17 and I had a nice shot into 18.

"And on the 19th hole, I feel like I nearly holed it, I don't know how close it came," Day said of his laser-like approach. "But I hit a great shot into that hole."

Day will face fellow Australian John Senden in Thursday's second round.

"I think the last time I played with John was at the Tour Championship last year," he said. "He's a very good ball striker and he can putt, when he's on. It's going to be a very tough match tomorrow."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Peter Rutherford)