BAMAPHIN 22
FinHeaven Elite
Tiger Woods had an easy time advancing Thursday in the Accenture Match Play Championship. And with Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and the other top seeds no longer around, his road to an eighth straight PGA Tour victory started looking easier, too.
Woods was 5-up through six holes and never serious challenged by Tim Clark, the South African recovering from a neck injury and playing his first tournament of the year. The result was a 5-and-4 victory, the shortest match of the second round.
Mickelson's up-and-down West Coast Swing came to a stunning end with an incredible up-and-down by Justin Rose.
Lefty figured the match would be all square going to the par-3 16th tee after Rose, who was 1-up, hit into the desert brush and had to chip out backward to the fairway, hitting his third shot 30 feet short of the flag.
Rose's par putt dropped on the last turn, however, keeping the lead and momentum on his side. Mickelson felt he had no choice to go after what he called a "carnival" pin on the 16th, and it went a 3 yards too far and off a shelf, leading to bogey.
Rose closed him out with a birdie on the 17th to win, 3 and 1.
"It looked like all I had to do was make par and the match would be even," Mickelson said. "That hurt the most."
Chad Campbell pulled off a valiant rally against Furyk, making an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to go overtime, then two-putting from 50 feet for birdie to win in 19 holes.
That left Woods, the No. 1 seed, as the only player among the top eight seeds still around.
http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/6496204
Woods was 5-up through six holes and never serious challenged by Tim Clark, the South African recovering from a neck injury and playing his first tournament of the year. The result was a 5-and-4 victory, the shortest match of the second round.
Mickelson's up-and-down West Coast Swing came to a stunning end with an incredible up-and-down by Justin Rose.
Lefty figured the match would be all square going to the par-3 16th tee after Rose, who was 1-up, hit into the desert brush and had to chip out backward to the fairway, hitting his third shot 30 feet short of the flag.
Rose's par putt dropped on the last turn, however, keeping the lead and momentum on his side. Mickelson felt he had no choice to go after what he called a "carnival" pin on the 16th, and it went a 3 yards too far and off a shelf, leading to bogey.
Rose closed him out with a birdie on the 17th to win, 3 and 1.
"It looked like all I had to do was make par and the match would be even," Mickelson said. "That hurt the most."
Chad Campbell pulled off a valiant rally against Furyk, making an 18-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to go overtime, then two-putting from 50 feet for birdie to win in 19 holes.
That left Woods, the No. 1 seed, as the only player among the top eight seeds still around.
http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/6496204
