It’s Match Point for Woods

Now that he can almost smell the ink on the $1-million winner’s check, it’s time to ask this question: Is there anyone in the world better at match play than Tiger Woods?

If there is, he wasn’t there Saturday at La Costa.

The Tiger Woods World Tour continued on its merry way under suddenly sunny skies in the $5-million Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship, where today’s 36-hole final features Woods and Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland.

It’s a matchup that looks like this--one guy who owns a restaurant (Clarke) and another guy who eats in a lot of them, especially the ones with those big arches (Woods).

Clarke, who ruined the chance of a final between Woods and David Duval, was asked if anything came to mind on how to combat Woods.

“Can you give him a kick before we got out and play?” Clarke said.

There is one more shared experience between Woods and Clarke. They are both coached by Butch Harmon, who probably can’t decide which side of the fairway to walk down but who did have a prediction.

Said Harmon: “In 18 holes, anybody can win. Tiger Woods is hard to beat any time, but in 36 holes, Tiger Woods is really going to be hard to beat.”

Woods was impossible to beat in his two matches Saturday. In the morning, he came from 2-down through 11 holes to defeat British Open champion Paul Lawrie, 1-up, but he was only getting warmed up for one of his virtuoso match-play performances, in his afternoon semifinal against Davis Love III.

Woods had four birdies and two eagles in 14 holes on his way to a convincing 5-and-4 defeat of Love.

Who was convinced about what?

Well, Woods was convinced about his confidence level.

“Pretty high right now,” Woods said. “That pretty much sums it up.”

Love was convinced that Woods played better than he expected.

“He was phenomenal,” Love said.

And Harmon was convinced that Woods was at a high level.

“It’s pretty hard to play better than he did today,” Harmon said.

The statistics as they relate to the Match Play Tiger seem formidable. A 13-3 record in match-play events, 6-1 in 36-hole matches and now 19 under par in 61 holes in this tournament.

Still, Woods was fortunate to get past Lawrie, who was 2-up until the 12th hole, where Woods made a birdie. Lawrie bogeyed the next two holes to allow Woods a one-hole lead that he never gave up.

Love had defeated Miguel Angel Jimenez, 3 and 2, in the morning to draw Woods in the semifinal.

Clarke edged Hal Sutton, 1-up, in the morning to advance against Duval, who scored a 5-and-4 victory over Scott Hoch. But Duval had only one birdie and never led in 16 holes against Clarke, who closed him out, 4 and 2.

Duval and Love meet in a $700,000 consolation match with $400,000 going to the winner of that one. In the main event, the winner gets $1 million and the loser $500,000.

If it’s Woods, it would be his third victory in five events in 2000 and seventh out of his last nine. Whatever happens, Woods continues to act like a money magnet.

He accepted a $200,000 check Saturday for winning the West Coast Swing, which meant he played the so-called West Coast part of the PGA Tour better than anyone. That was added to the $250,000 he accepted Tuesday for winning the World Golf Championship last year--the three-event multi-tour mega-money showdown.

Of course, money is one thing and winning quite another. Against Love, Woods got off to a flying start with an eagle on No. 2 after knocking a three-iron to 18 feet from 235 yards. He birdied No. 4 when he made an 18-foot putt and No. 5 when Love conceded a 15-footer after Love had left his bunker shot in the sand.

Woods birdied No. 8 from 15 feet and No. 9 from 15 feet. His three-wood second shot landed in the front right bunker, but Woods blasted out to 15 feet and made the putt.

At No. 12, Woods drove into the trees, but came up with the round’s most memorable shot--a six-iron from 237 yards that stopped 30 feet from the hole. Woods made the putt for eagle.

Afterward, Woods said it was all there for the taking.

“This golf course is not playing that hard,” he said. “The fairways are soft and the greens are soft. And we’re playing lift, clean and place so there’s really no excuses.”

Clarke doesn’t act as if he wants any excuses, either. The 6-foot-3, 238-pounder seems about as loose as it gets. He didn’t even know today’s final was 36 holes until somebody told him on the cart ride to the locker room after the Duval match.

“I don’t know how I’m going to cope,” Clarke said.

Last week, Clarke and Woods worked with Harmon in Las Vegas. When Harmon saw Clarke, he asked if Clarke had been doing nothing but drinking ale and smoking cigars. Well, no, Clarke said. Well known for favoring pubs and avoiding working out, Clarke joked that his long winter workout program has finally paid off.

“My right arm is definitely stronger for going like this,” Clarke said as he made a drinking motion.

Clarke said he did have gym equipment in his garage, but that it gathered dust and his garage is filled instead with “wine and cars.”

Conventional wisdom is that there should be no upset over 36 holes and since Woods is No. 1 and Clarke is No. 19, well, you know what that means, right?

“Tiger is the best player in the world, that’s pretty obvious,” Clarke said.

“And over a 36-hole match, you’re more likely to get the best player to win.”

Clearly that would be Woods, who says he is glad to be playing 36 holes in the final.

“The best player that day is going to win the match,” he said.

On Saturday, it was Woods. The $1-million question is whether it will be the same answer today.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Match Play Results

At La Costa--Par 72

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

Tiger Woods (1) defeated Paul Lawrie (41): 1-up

Davis Love III (4) defeated Miguel Angel Jimenez (21): 3 and 2

David Duval (2) defeated Scott Hoch (39): 5 and 4

Darren Clarke (19) defeated Hal Sutton (11): 1-up

SEMIFINAL RESULTS

Tiger Woods (1) defeated Davis Love III (4): 5 and 4

Darren Clarke (19) defeated David Duval (2): 4 and 2

Note: Seedings in parentheses