Woods Gets Win at Last

Getting a handle on match play isn’t that simple, as we have been told. Maybe it’s all about getting the speed right, which is exactly what Tiger Woods figured out Thursday on the putting surfaces at La Costa and also how Chris DiMarco dispatched Arron Oberholser.

DiMarco probably had it right when sizing up this match play business.

“Any win is a good win,” he said.

They arrive in different wrappings. DiMarco birdied the last four holes and closed out his second-round match at the Accenture Match Play Championship after only 13 holes, winning, 6 and 5, on a warm, sunny day that was remarkably upset-free for the top-seeded players.

Woods is in that group, although his 1-up decision over Robert Allenby didn’t deliver the same knockout power of his 9-and-8, first-round punch-out.

Woods lost the first two holes to Allenby with bogeys, but turned the match around when he made a 25-foot putt for a birdie at the eighth, the ball traveling nearly the length of the green before disappearing. With the match even after 17 holes, Woods pulled it out at the par-five 18th when he made a seven-foot putt for a birdie and Allenby missed his chance from 43 feet, after his approach found the greenside rough.

Woods said that putt at the eighth hole gave him some momentum when he needed it, with Allenby in closer for a birdie try.

“All of a sudden, it looked from potentially going back to 2-up for him [and] now we’re all square,” he said.

“It wasn’t a putt I was trying to make. It was a putt I was trying to have good speed. I always focus on good speed ... and it ended up going in.”

Traveling at its own pace, the year’s first $7.5-million tournament of the World Golf Championships has reached today’s third round, with 16 players still standing.

Among them are Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen, both of them seeded first in their brackets, as well as Phil Mickelson, who had two birdies and an eagle after making the turn in his 2-and-1 victory over John Daly.

Singh had seven birdies in his 2-and-1 decision over Miguel Jimenez and Goosen survived, despite Ben Crane’s hole in one on the 16th hole. Crane followed up his ace, a six-iron from 184 yards, with a bogey at the 17th and Goosen was safe, 2 and 1.

DiMarco runs into Davis Love III, who edged Carl Pettersson, 1-up.

In a discussion of his prospects the rest of the week, DiMarco launched into a personal pep rally.

“I like my chances because I know how competitive I am,” said the 2005 runner-up here. “There might be guys that are better than me, but as far as competitiveness and never giving up and always fighting and clawing, I don’t think there’s too many guys that have that.”

Woods, perhaps? They couldn’t meet until Sunday’s final, but that seems a long way off right now. Besides, Woods will have plenty to deal with today when he takes on Chad Campbell, a 1-up winner over Henrik Stenson after making a birdie on the 18th hole.

If Woods pushes his way past Campbell, he would play the winner of the David Toms-Tom Lehman match. Toms had three birdies in the last four holes of his 2-and-1 victory over Jose Maria Olazabal and Lehman birdied the last hole to defeat Adam Scott, 1-up.

Toms, the defending champion, is 20-5 in this tournament, second only to Woods’ 23-4.

Nine of the top 16 seeded players are still around, the most in the eight-year history of the tournament, with the top-ranked Woods foremost among them.

Woods said there was no danger of a letdown after his easy first-round victory over Stephen Ames, not in this type of format.

“That’s the beauty of match play. It’s all over again, let’s start again,” he said. “What you did yesterday is no consequence for what you’re going to do today. You have to block it out. This is it, you’d better bring it right now.”

Allenby said he played the last three holes with a cramp in his right calf and that it affected his swing on his second shot at the 18th, when the ball flew off-line to the right. He said he knew he was in trouble when Woods stood over the seven-foot putt for birdie.

“I wasn’t expecting him to miss that putt,” Allenby said. “At least I made it interesting.”

David Howell defeated Scott Verplank, 3 and 2, with four birdies in the last six holes and will play Mickelson today. Howell said it’s a match he’s anticipating. He said he didn’t care that Mickelson would be the crowd favorite.

“He’s a great player, isn’t he?” Howell said. “That’s all right. That’s not going to affect me. It’ll make it all the more fun if I win.”

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Play on

Today’s third-round schedule at the Match Play Championship:

* Tom Lehman vs. David Toms

* Chad Campbell vs. Tiger Woods

* David Howell vs. Phil Mickelson

* Geoff Ogilvy vs. Mike Weir

* Davis Love III vs. Chris DiMarco

* Padraig Harrington vs. Vijay Singh

* Shingo Katayama vs. Zach Johnson

* Luke Donald vs. Retief Goosen