CORNELIUS, Ore. - One down and five to go. Tiger Woods overpowered the Witch Hollow course at Pumpkin Ridge yesterday and dismissed J.D. Manning 3 and 2 to win his first-round match in the U.S. Amateur Championship.

A deadly driver that consistently split fairways 320 yards out made up for a shaky putter early in the match, as Woods came back from 1-down after six holes to win the next three holes.

The match ended on the 16th green when Manning missed an 8-foot birdie putt that could have kept it going.

Woods, trying to become the first player to win three consecutive amateur titles, plays Jerry Courville, 37, a longtime amateur with the kind of experience that could prove troublesome, in Thursday's second round.

Manning, a senior at Colorado State, didn't have that kind of experience, but he did stick with the 20-year-old Stanford student longer than expected.

The key shot was a 40-foot chip-in from the back fringe on No. 8 that put Woods 1-up and rattled Manning enough to lead to a bogey on the next hole.

''That was really the turning point of the match,'' Woods said about the intentionally bladed wedge down the slope from the back fringe.

''With the speed it was going, it would probably have gone off the green,'' he said.

Instead, it hit the stick and dropped in for a birdie.

''It took the wind out of my sails,'' Manning said. ''I think I lost my tempo for a couple of holes.''

And as much as that chip turned the momentum of the match, the next hole told the broader story.

Woods hit his tee shot 325 yards on No. 9 and was about 80 yards past Manning.

''We played different golf courses,'' Manning said. ''On No. 9, I'm hitting 2-iron in, and he's hitting 7, 8 or 9.''

Manning missed the green badly with his 2-iron, Woods hit his approach to 15 feet, and the two-putt par was good enough to win the hole and put him 2-up at the turn. Manning never got closer.

Three times on the front nine, Woods drove the ball well over 300 yards, knocking it 323 yards on No. 4, 332 yards on No. 7 and 325 yards on the ninth hole. He hit the 470-yard, par-5 14th hole with a drive and a 9-iron.

''We just kind of laughed at it,'' Manning said about constantly being outdriven by 80 yards.

Woods missed birdie putts of 15 feet or less on the first three holes before going 1-up, when Manning conceded the fourth hole after hitting his second shot out of bounds.

But Woods bogeyed No. 5 from the back bunker, and Manning birdied No. 6 to go 1-up. Woods squared the match on the next hole when he got within 15 yards of the 619-yard par-5 in two and chipped to 6 feet for a birdie.

Then came the chip-in on No. 8.

Courville, the 1995 U.S. Mid-Amateur Champion and a Walker Cup team member along with Woods, defeated Roger Tambellini 3 and 2.

''I'm even with him right now,'' Courville said about his match with Woods. ''I'm going to go out and play as hard as I can and see what happens.''

Courville is in his ninth U.S. Amateur and has played in 14 USGA championships.

Also advancing on Wednesday were Robert Floyd, the son of PGA Tour veteran Raymond Floyd, and Bo Van Pelt, runner-up to Woods in the 36-hole, stroke-play qualifier.

The longest match of the day was won by Charles Howell on the 24th hole over Jeff Golliher.

''If someone plays well and starts making putts, they can give him a run for his money,'' Manning said when asked if anyone could beat Woods. ''It won't be a cakewalk.''

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