KEY POINTS:
ARIZONA - Tiger Woods stayed in the hunt for an eighth consecutive PGA Tour golf title but Masters champion Phil Mickelson was knocked out in the second round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship here today.
Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, Luke Donald and Padraig Harrington also
exited as the tournament was left with only two of the top 10 seeds after the hottest day of the week at Dove Mountain's Gallery Golf Club.
World No 1 Woods, making his first Tour appearance since winning last month's Buick Invitational, cruised to a 5 and 4 victory over South African Tim Clark on another clear day in the Arizona desert.
Champion in 2003 and 2004 when the event was played at La Costa Resort, Woods won five of the first six holes before clinching victory at the par-three 14th.
"I'm pleased with how it went," a smiling Woods said.
"You've got to keep your opponent under as much pressure as you can and he was far enough back where he had to be aggressive."
Left-hander Mickelson, one up after nine holes against Justin Rose, lost 3 and 1 after the Briton sank a 35-foot birdie putt at the par-four 15th.
"The key was holing that putt, the first long putt I've made all week," said Rose, who knocked New Zealand's Michael Campbell out in yesterday's first round.
"It was a nip-and-tuck game and I finally got my nose in front coming down the back nine."
Australia's Geoff Ogilvy remained on track for a successful title defence, beating Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal 2 and 1, while Canada's Stephen Ames defeated Fijian Singh, the seventh seed, at the 19th hole.
World No 2 Furyk led fellow-American Chad Campbell by two after 14 holes before also losing on the 19th, Campbell having rolled in a 17-foot birdie putt at the last to take the match into extra time.
In other upsets, Swede Niclas Fasth beat sixth seed Goosen one up, Australia's Aaron Baddeley squeezed past eighth-seeded Briton Donald by a similar margin and Irishman Harrington, the 10th seed, lost to American Stewart Cink, also by a hole.
US Open champion Ogilvy, surprise winner when the event was held at La Costa for the final time last year, came back from two down to Olazabal after eight holes.
The 29-year-old sealed victory with birdies on 16 and 17 and will face Fasth in Friday's third round.
"It was a nice one to win because it was looking pretty bleak after eight or nine holes," said Ogilvy, who beat Davis Love III in last year's 36-hole final.
"He made a bit of a mess at 10 (taking a penalty drop) and I guess that swung the momentum. I felt like I was on top after that."
South Africa's Trevor Immelman knocked out US Ryder Cup player Chris DiMarco 3 and 1 and Ian Poulter overcame fellow-Briton Bradley Dredge by the same score.
"I knew I was going to have to play a pretty solid round as we all know how tough Chris is, especially in match play," said Immelman, who next faces Poulter.
"I felt like I hit the ball really well and was in control of the match. He got off to a little bit of a shaky start and I managed to get two up early."
Poulter, who reached the semifinals in 2003, was always in command of his encounter.
"Six birdies and no bogeys, so I'm pretty confident right now," said the 31-year-old Englishman after beating Dredge, who upset fifth seed Ernie Els in the opening round.
Second round scores:
Tiger Woods bt Tim Clark (South Africa) 5 and 4,
Nick O'Hern (Australia) bt Rory Sabbatini (South Africa) 2 and 1,
Aaron Baddeley (Australia) bt Luke Donald (Great Britain) 1-up,
Henrik Stenson (Sweden) bt K.J. Choi (Korea) 2-up,
Justin Rose (Great Britain) bt Phil Mickelson 3 and 1,
Ian Poulter (Great Britain) bt Bradley Dredge (Great Britain) 3 and 1,
Trevor Immelman (South Africa) bt Chris DiMarco 3 and 1,
Charles Howell bt Sergio Garcia (Spain) 4 and 3,
Chad Campbell bt Jim Furyk 19 holes,
David Toms bt Ben Crane 4 and 2,
Stephen Ames (Canada) bt Vijay Singh (Fiji) 19 holes,
Stewart Cink bt Padraig Harrington (Ireland) 1-up,
Shaun Micheel bt Rod Pampling (Australia) 1-up,
Paul Casey (Great Britain) bt Colin Montgomerie (Great Britain) 4 and 3,
Niclas Fasth (Sweden) bt Retief Goosen (South Africa) 1-up,
Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) bt Joe Maria Olazabal (Spain) 2 and 1.
- REUTERS
