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TUCSON, Arizona: Tiger Woods cruised, Colin Montgomerie clawed his
way through and Phil Mickelson crashed out of the second round of
the $8 million WGC Accenture Match Play Championship on Thursday.
World No. 1 Woods, who had a narrow escape in
Wednesday’s first round, was never in trouble in a 3 and 2 victory
over Arron Oberholser.
“I played a lot better today,” Woods said.
“I did some work last night on the range, then did some work in
the room and came out today with a game plan of what I need to do to
warm up.”
Woods said he worked “in front of the mirror
to make sure that what I’m feeling is actually what I’m
doing.”
“In this game, feel and real are usually two
different things. I was making sure what I did last night on the
range was exactly what I thought I was doing.”
Woods will next face Australian Aaron Baddeley,
who advanced without hitting a shot when scheduled opponent David
Toms conceded the match because of a back ailment.
Second seed Phil Mickelson was eliminated,
beaten 2 and 1 by Australian Stuart Appleby in a well-played match.
The departure of Mickelson, top seed in the Gary
Player bracket, left Woods and Steve Stricker as the only bracket
leaders in the tournament.
Stricker, the No. 1 in the Sam Snead bracket,
defeated fellow American Hunter Mahan in 20 holes.
Henrik Stenson of Sweden kept his title defense
alive, but he needed 25 holes to subdue South African Trevor
Immelman.
Stenson was 4-up through eight holes, but
couldn’t close out the match for 17 more holes.
Colin Montgomerie produced a blistering back
nine to hold off American Charles Howell.
Howell took the lead with four straight birdies
from the 10th hole, but Montgomerie birdied three of the next four
holes en route to a one-up victory.
Montgomerie, 59th seed, who only barely
qualified for the World Golf Championships event, was delighted to
get through to the final 16.
He will get a shot at another potential US Ryder
Cup opponent, Stewart Cink, who beat Ireland’s Padraig Harrington
2-up.
Paul Casey was the only other Briton to join
Montgomerie in the third round, outlasting fellow Brit Bradley
Dredge 2 and 1.
Casey will play South Korean K.J. Choi, who
defeated Briton Ian Poulter in 19 holes.
-- AFP
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