Wednesday, February 25, 2004
MSNBC - Tiger rallies at World Match PlayTiger rallies at World Match Play
Defending champ defeats Rollins 1 up; Mickelson also wins
Tiger Woods tees off within a large gallery during the first round of the Match Play Championship in Carlsbad, Calif., on Wednesday.
SportsTicker
Updated: 6:36 p.m. ET Feb. 25, 2004CARLSBAD, Calif. - There was the usual quota of upsets early in the first round of the Match Play Championship on Wednesday, but Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were among the favorites to win.
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Woods, the top seed overall, rallied from 1 down through 15 holes to defeat John Rollins 1 up.
Mickelson, who has started the year on fire after a disappointing 2003, outlasted Englishman Lee Westwoood, 3 and 1, at La Costa in this $7 million event, which is part of the World Golf Championships.
The second seed in the Sam Snead bracket, Mickelson was 1-down after eight holes against the 15th seed, but he won the next three to take the lead for good.
There were some tight matches, none more so than the one between Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland and Eduardo Romero of Argentina. Clarke was 2-down through 15 holes but birdied the 16th and eagled the 18th before winning on the seventh extra hole.
Clarke won this event in 2000, defeating Tiger Woods in the final.
Out in the first match of the day, Irishman Padraig Harrington was nowhere near his best but had enough to beat Japan’s Toshi Izawa, 2 and 1. It was Izawa’s first start of the year, and it showed as he dropped shots at five holes on the front nine.
One of the most impressive winners was Australian Stuart Appleby, who won five of his final six holes to rout Justin Rose of England, 5 and 4.
“I really got the lead late, so there was a lot of tension,” Appleby said. “It wasn’t an easy match until the last half hour. It became an easy match when I knew we were running out of holes and I was gaining the lead.”
In other matches, PGA champion Shaun Micheel edged England’s Paul Casey in 21 holes and British Open winner Ben Curtis pulled off a mild upset, 2-up, over Charles Howell III.
Defending champ defeats Rollins 1 up; Mickelson also wins
Tiger Woods tees off within a large gallery during the first round of the Match Play Championship in Carlsbad, Calif., on Wednesday.
SportsTicker
Updated: 6:36 p.m. ET Feb. 25, 2004CARLSBAD, Calif. - There was the usual quota of upsets early in the first round of the Match Play Championship on Wednesday, but Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were among the favorites to win.
advertisement
Woods, the top seed overall, rallied from 1 down through 15 holes to defeat John Rollins 1 up.
Mickelson, who has started the year on fire after a disappointing 2003, outlasted Englishman Lee Westwoood, 3 and 1, at La Costa in this $7 million event, which is part of the World Golf Championships.
The second seed in the Sam Snead bracket, Mickelson was 1-down after eight holes against the 15th seed, but he won the next three to take the lead for good.
There were some tight matches, none more so than the one between Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland and Eduardo Romero of Argentina. Clarke was 2-down through 15 holes but birdied the 16th and eagled the 18th before winning on the seventh extra hole.
Clarke won this event in 2000, defeating Tiger Woods in the final.
Out in the first match of the day, Irishman Padraig Harrington was nowhere near his best but had enough to beat Japan’s Toshi Izawa, 2 and 1. It was Izawa’s first start of the year, and it showed as he dropped shots at five holes on the front nine.
One of the most impressive winners was Australian Stuart Appleby, who won five of his final six holes to rout Justin Rose of England, 5 and 4.
“I really got the lead late, so there was a lot of tension,” Appleby said. “It wasn’t an easy match until the last half hour. It became an easy match when I knew we were running out of holes and I was gaining the lead.”
In other matches, PGA champion Shaun Micheel edged England’s Paul Casey in 21 holes and British Open winner Ben Curtis pulled off a mild upset, 2-up, over Charles Howell III.
