Accenture Match Play reports for semifinal matches
Feb. 28, 2009
Here's a quick look at each match from Saturday afternoon's semifinal round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Click here for the updated bracket.
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| Semifinal match reports |
| Players |
Score |
| GEOFF OGILVY, Australia, def. STEWART CINK, USA |
4 and 2 |
| Geoff Ogilvy reached the 36-hole championship match for the third time in the last four years when he knocked off Stewart Cink, who was bidding to make the finals for the second year in a row. Ogilvy never trailed, but Cink threatened to seize the momentum midway through the match when the Aussie had an adventure in a fairway bunker at the 11th hole and his eventual concession squared the match. Ogilvy was clearly frustrated, but promptly shook it off and won four holes in a row to eliminate Cink. The first came at the par-5 13th hole, where the Aussie sank a 5-foot birdie putt after Cink missed his from 10 feet. "That was a pretty significant body blow by leaving that putt short," Cink said., "Geoff just cinched the momentum and made birdie after birdie. ... It would have taken a special effort to have beaten him today." Indeed. Ogilvy made a 13-footer for another birdie at the 14th hole and then went dormie with a brilliant 3-wood at the 343-yard, par-4 15th hole that rolled within 6 feet of the pin to set up an eagle. Cink also drove the green, but his ball didnt quite get up the plateau and stopped 23 feet away. When he missed and Ogilvy made, the Aussie led 3 up with three holes remaining. He polished the match off with a win at the par-3 16th, where Cink missed the green and eventually conceded Ogilvy's 12-foot birdie putt when he didn't hole his chip for birdie. Ogilvy was pleased to have brought his best game on the grueling day when he had to beat Northern Irish prodigy Rory McIlroy as well as Cink, who has a 17-10 record at the Accenture Match Play Championship. "Two pretty satisfying guys to beat," Ogilvy said. "And I guess the most satisfying part was I played my best golf in the last few holes of each match, which is really nice." Next: Paul Casey |
| PAUL CASEY, England, def. ROSS FISHER, England |
2 and 1 |
| It wasnt pretty, but Paul Casey got the job done -- and he still hasnt trailed in 80 holes of match play this week. Casey won the first hole Saturday afternoon with a par after Fisher found the desert off the tee and went 2 up at the par-3 sixth after both men found the same greenside bunker but only one got up-and-down successfully. Fisher, a two-time winner on the European Tour who was playing in his first Accenture Match Play Championship, narrowed the gap to 1 down at the par-5 eighth, though, with a two-putt birdie from 47 feet. The next six holes were halved before Casey won the 13th with a par 5 after Fisher played ping-pong around the green. The 14th was eminently forgettable for both pros as Casey struggled to escape a fairway bunker, while Fisher was snared by the desert beside the green and the hole was eventually halved with double bogeys. The driveable par-4 14th was much kinder to the two, though, yielding birdies for halves before Fisher cut into the lead with a 17-footer for a win at No. 16. Casey closed out the match on the next hole with a 15-foot birdie putt after Fisher had missed from 34. "It was ugly at times," Casey acknowledged. "First time this week, I've halvled a hole in double bogey. ... But that's golf. Ross did the right thing and ground that hole out. He pushed me all the way. ... He was a tough, tough player and I wish him well tomorrow. He's still got a match to play for a lot of world ranking points and some cash." Next: Geoff Ogilvy |
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