Woosnam coughs up lead to flu-ridden Woods
By STEPHEN WADE
AP Sports Writer
VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) -- On a damp, gray day that did
little to quiet his hacking cough, Tiger Woods made a great escape
at the World Match Play Championship.
He won on the first playoff hole of the quarterfinals Friday
as Ian Woosnam's putting touch vanished into the mist. The Welshman
missed 4-foot putts at the 34th and 36th holes -- either would
have won it -- then bogeyed the first extra hole.
"I got a lucky break when he ran it by, then lipped it
out," Woods said.
Woods has been ill since arriving in Britain for last week's
Dunhill Cup.
"I tried to grind it out on every hole," he said.
"Whether you're sick or not, you have to do that. I think
because I was under the weather, I was even more aware of that
than normal and tried to concentrate more.
"The coughing was the main thing. Just trying not to cough
when Ian was playing. When I tried to hold my cough, I started
to tear up."
In the other 36-hole quarterfinals at Wentworth Club, defending
champion Vijay Singh defeated Patrik Sjoland 7 and 6; Mark O'Meara
rallied to beat Colin Montgomerie 5 and 4; and Lee Westwood downed
three-time champion Ernie Els 2 and 1.
In Saturday's semifinals, Singh faces O'Meara and Westwood
meets Woods.
Westwood's game has been the best in the field. He has shot
21-under for 64 holes over two days. Singh isn't far behind after
shooting a 10-under 62 in Friday's first 18 holes to equal a tournament
record.
Woosnam, up by one after the first 18, fell two behind but
rallied to tie the match at the 29th, where Woods three-putted.
He won the next hole in which Woods drove his second shot out
of bounds.
Woosnam went 2-up with a 6-foot birdie putt at the 33rd, but
Woods rallied to get within one down when Woosnam three-putted
the 34th, missing a 4-footer to win.
At the 35th, he sank a 16-foot putt to halve, but at 36 his
short putt to win lipped out.
Westwood, who has a chance to dethrone Montgomerie as the European
money champion, led Els by three after 18.
Els -- in the final the past four years -- won the first four
holes on the second 18 to take a 2-up lead. But Westwood rallied
as Els bogeyed the 29th. Westwood tied it at 30 where he hit a
236-yard 3-wood to 2 feet for an eagle.
He then birdied the 31st to go 1-up and went 2-up with another
birdie at 34.
"The eagle at 12 (30th overall) was very important and
one of the best shots I've hit in a long time," said Westwood,
who had a 65 for the opening 18.
Singh, the PGA champion, led by 11 holes after 21 and was on
track to administer the worst defeat in the tournament's 34-year
history before Sjoland briefly staved off defeat.
"Seve (Ballesteros) once told me, if you're 10 up -- go
for 11," Singh said. "But when you're that far ahead
it's tough to keep going.
"It's fun to play when you're playing that good. I haven't
played that good in a long time. If I keep doing that, I have
a good chance of going all the way."
Sjoland was more to the point.
"The way he played was amazing," he said.
O'Meara, the Masters and British Open champion, trailed Montgomerie
by three holes after 15, but won nine of the next 13 to take a
6-up lead after 28. He closed him out at the 32nd, where they
halved the hole.
O'Meara had six birdies and an eagle during his decisive stretch.
The eagle came at the par-5 18th, where he made a 50-foot putt.
"When I was three down (after 15) I got mad at myself
and said I was going to birdie the next three," O'Meara said.
"I didn't, but I got a birdie and that eagle for a boost."
|
