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TUCSON, Arizona: Tiger Woods needed 20 holes to subdue Australian
Aaron Baddeley Friday and reach the quarterfinals of the $8 million
WGC Accenture Match Play Championship.
It was the second hard-fought win in three days
for Woods, who avoided a first-round upset Wednesday by firing four
straight birdies to hold off J.B. Holmes.
Two days later, Woods was tested again by
Baddeley, who teed off at No. 16 up by one and missed two potential
match-winning putts over the final three holes.
“It was unbelievable how many birdies we made
out there today,” said Woods, who had 12 birdies to Baddeley’s
10. “It was just quality shot after quality shot.”
Woods, seeded No. 1 in the Jones division and a
two-time winner of this World Golf Championships event, was perfect
off the tee at the par-three 16th and squared the match when
Baddeley conceded the hole.
After both players birdied the par-five 17th,
Baddeley had a chance to finish off the upset at the par-four 18th,
but his right-to-left attempt from about 14 feet was short of the
hole.
Woods, meanwhile, drained an uphill par putt to
extend the match.
“I hit a good putt,” Baddeley said. “I
read it to go straight and hit it exactly where I wanted, and it
broke left the last two feet.”
Baddeley missed another chance on the first
extra hole, where he rolled his 15-foot birdie attempt left of the
cup.
Woods finally pounced, sinking a 20-foot birdie
putt to win it at the 20th hole.
In Saturday’s quarterfinals, the world No. 1
will face South Korean KJ Choi, a 2-up winner over Englishman Paul
Casey.
Defending champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden,
extended to 25 holes on Thursday, also advanced with a 1-up victory
over Jonathan Byrd.
Stenson next plays Woody Austin, who beat fellow
American Boo Weekley 3 and 2.
American Stewart Cink ended the run of
Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie with a 4 and 2 victory. Cink will
face US Open champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina, who beat Steve
Stricker 4 and 3.
Fiji’s Vijay Singh captured the last
quarterfinal berth, defeating Australian Rod Pampling in a 25-hole
marathon.
-- AFP
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