Spaniard Sergio Garcia, unusually using two putters, struck first blood in Wednesday's opening round at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship with a 3&2 victory over Australia's John Senden.

Making his seventh appearance in the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) event, Garcia birdied four of the first six holes before sealing the win on the 16th green.

The 28-year-old Spaniard carried two putters in his bag, using a conventional short one for most of the round and a belly putter for his last two holes.

"I wanted to take a safety net in case I didn't feel entirely comfortable," said Garcia after his opening round at Dove Mountain's Gallery Golf Club.

"I did make a decision early on and I went with it for pretty much the whole round. But then I hit a couple of not-very-good putts so I decided to go the safe route the last couple of holes.

"I liked the things we worked on with my putting yesterday, they feel good. But I still have a little work to do. I've got to get a little better at it."

Garcia, who has never advanced past the third round, shrugged off a poor opening hole with birdies at the second and third to take control of the match.

"I didn't have the best of starts, but I made a really big putt on three to get back to one up," he said, referring to a 34-footer for birdie.

"Apart from the first hole, I felt pretty good and it's always nice to finish with a birdie. I was pretty satisfied with that (win).

"The course is in very good shape and it's not playing too difficult at the moment so you know that, if you're playing fairly well, you can make a good amount of birdies. You've just got to believe in yourself and go out there and do it."

Garcia will take on U.S. World Cup player Boo Weekley in Thursday's second round.