Friday, February 24, 2006
It's the first time in the history of this tournament that so many top seeds advanced.
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) -- Tiger Woods didn't remove his cap and shake hands on the 10th green Thursday. This time, he was lucky to be leading.
One day after he shattered the tournament record for the shortest match, Woods had to go the distance against Robert Allenby, squeaking by with a 7-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to advance into the third round of the Match Play Championship at LaCosta Resort.
"I'm advancing," Woods said. "That's a good thing."
Ultimately, that's all that matters in this most fickle tournament, which was reduced to 16 players after another wild day of dramatic shots and unlikely rallies.
Woods knew that his 9-and-8 victory in the opening round against Stephen Ames meant nothing when he teed off against Allenby. That much was clear to everyone else when he bogeyed three of the first five holes.
"That's the beauty of match play," Woods said. "Start again. What you did yesterday is no consequence for what you're going to do today. Whether it was a good day or a bad day, your opponent is right in front of you."
Turned into a battle
Allenby, the first player to sweep Australia's three majors, stayed in front of him all day. All square coming to the last hole, it turned into a battle of 3-woods from 246 yards away. Woods went left, away from the flag, into a bunker. Allenby went right, short-siding himself and catching a bad lie in trampled rough.
Even more interesting is how the Accenture Match Play Championship was shaping up after two days, with six of the top eight seeds still alive for the $1.3 million payoff Sunday. It's the first time in the eight-year history of this tournament that so many top seeds advanced through two rounds.
Vijay Singh is among them, a minor surprise even as the No. 2 seed. He had never advanced beyond the second round in seven previous attempts, overcoming a slow start to beat Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Third-seeded Retief Goosen also won, but not before Ben Crane made a hole-in-one on the 16th hole to make him sweat. Phil Mickelson missed several 5-foot putts, but he holed a 25-foot eagle putt on the 11th that sent him on his way to a victory over John Daly, a match that might have carried more buzz had it not been played in the morning.
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