GOLF Els tops Clark to advance to semifinal
Ernie Els is seeking to tie the record in the World Match Play Championship.
VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) -- Defending champion Ernie Els defeated Tim Clark on Friday to reach the semifinals of the World Match Play Championship.
Els, who turned 34 on Friday, won 2 up and will next face Vijay Singh. Els is trying to equal the record of five titles at this event by Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros.
In other quarterfinals, Singh defeated PGA champion Shaun Micheel 1 up on the second playoff hole, the 38th; British Open champion Ben Curtis beat Chad Campbell 5 and 3; and Thomas Bjorn defeated Masters champion Mike Weir 5 and 4.
Curtis and Bjorn meet in the semifinals after finishing 1-2 in the British Open three months ago.
"It's long gone for me," Bjorn said. "It was in July. We're in October now."
The system
Players qualified through a system that takes into account performances in the four majors. First prize is $1.67 million.
Els shot a 3-under 32 on the front nine of the second 18 to push his lead to five holes -- and then nearly blew it.
"I've been in this movie before where I tried and tried and couldn't close a guy out," Els said.
Birdies on Nos. 5, 6 and 7 gave him the five-hole edge. But Clark, thanks to tee shots by Els on Nos. 13 and 15 that found the trees, won four straight holes. Els escaped by halving the 17th and winning the final hole against his South African countryman.
"I began to feel a bit more comfortable on the last few holes, but it was always going to be too late by then," Clark said.
Singh rallies
Singh rallied with four birdies in five holes, beginning at No. 6. Micheel evened the match with two birdies to take a one-hole lead after 16 but lost 17 with two shots out of bounds. Singh won the playoff with a par on the second hole.
Micheel also had problems off the course. He said he was robbed of about $2,000 in cash and credits cards Thursday night at a house on the club's grounds.
Curtis carded a 3-under 32 on the front nine and pulled away with two birdies in four holes as Campbell made two bogeys. Bjorn stretched his lead to six holes when Weir bogeyed No. 8 -- the 26th -- and then eliminated Weir with a birdie on No. 14.