Accenture Match Play Championship - Woods escapes again

Tiger Woods could recall just one similar birdie slug-fest in his career after beating Australia's Aaron Baddeley over 20 holes in Friday's third round at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship.

"The only other match that was similar to that was the Match Play against O'Meara in '98, at Wentworth," twice winner Woods told reporters after racking up 12 birdies to Baddeley's nine in a tight battle of shot-making at Dove Mountain.

Woods lost to good friend and fellow American Mark O'Meara by a hole in a fluctuating final of the 1998 World Match Play Championship at Wentworth in south-east England.

"I think he was 11 under and I was 10 under. I thought that was a pretty good match."

On Friday, Woods and Baddeley treated the watching gallery to a thrilling exhibition of high-quality golf before the American world number one sealed victory with a 13-foot birdie putt on the par-four second, the second extra hole.

Woods had charged two up with birdies on the first two holes before his opponent piled on the pressure with six birdies in seven holes around the turn.

LEVELLED MATCH

Baddeley, 26, took the lead for the first time by rolling in a 10-footer on the 14th green but Woods levelled a tight match after hitting his tee shot to two feet at the par-three 16th.

"I felt that I was in control of the match the entire way around until I lost it on 14 and then went one down," Woods said after reaching the quarter-finals for the fifth time in nine appearances at the event.

"With four holes to go, I had to find a way to at least get that control back.

"It (the match) was unbelievable, really. I made, I think, two mistakes and gave him two holes, but he did the same. Every other hole it seemed like we birdied. It was unbelievable how many birdies we made out there today."

Woods, bidding for an eighth title in nine starts worldwide and a sixth in a row, will meet South Korea's K.J. Choi in the last eight on Saturday.

"K.J. is one of the best drivers out here," the 32-year-old said. "He drives it on a string most of the time and he's been very consistent over the last few years. I expect for that to be the case tomorrow and it will be a tough match."

Woods, winner of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa in 2003 and 2004, had not progressed beyond the third round for the last three years

Warm up stretches for golf (video: golf erercises)

Warming up for golf is very important, but unlike the tour pros most club golfers don't have 40 minutes or more to warm up. I am no expert so I have found a great video from Ramsay McMaster that will show you a fantastic 5 minute warm up. Ramsay has trained the likes of Arron Baddeley, Henrik Stenson and Geoff Ogilvy and really knows what he is talking about.

If you can get to the course 10 mintes early and perform these exercises I believe that you will be able to knock a few shots off your early hole scores.

Mercedes Benz Championship - Day 2 wrap

CANADIAN Mike Weir holed an 18-foot birdie putt at the last to grab a one-shot lead in the Mercedes-Benz Championship second round Saturday.

Three off the pace at the start of the day, Weir fired a blemish-free six-under-par 67 to take control at the halfway point of the 2008 PGA Tour's opening event.

The former Masters champion rattled up four birdies and an eagle at the par-five ninth for an eight-under total of 138 on the hilly Plantation Course at the Kapalua Resort.

Compatriot Stephen Ames also birdied the final hole, ramming in a 23-footer for a matching 67, to share second place with American Jonathan Byrd (69).

Brandt Snedeker, who held the outright lead for much of the day, had to settle for a tie for fourth at six under after three-putting from 17 feet to bogey the last.

Snedeker, the 2007 PGA Tour rookie of the year, returned a 69 to finish level with overnight leader Nick Watney (72).

Aussie Aaron Baddeley was three off the pace in a tie for sixth after a round of 71...

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Golf News: Baddley wins the Australian Masters

On the same course on which he honed his game playing pennant as an amateur, Baddeley finished the 72 holes of regular play at 13-under par in a tie with Chopra.

After watching the Swede hole a testing three metre putt to force the playoff, Baddeley joined him in a ritualistic journey up and down the 18th hole.

The pair played the 18th five times for the day without Chopra once hitting the fairway off the tee.

Four times he hit the ball into the right rough and once in the left, one of his recoveries coming up well short of the green in a bunker.

Each time he messed up he produced a minor miracle - until confronted with the easiest putt of the playoff.

With Baddeley having performed his own piece of magic to get out of the scrub, onto the green and into the hole in four, Chopra slid a 2.5m putt past the edge of the hole to break the deadlock...

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I was really impressed with Baddeley's game this week and thought he thoroughly deserved the gold jacket. He has had a superb year on the US tour and I can really see him stepping up again next year. In an interview after the win Baddeley revealed he almost quit golf in 2000, but after this amazing year I think that he will be very glad he stuck with the game!

Australian Masters - Day 2

Appleby holds a slender lead

Robert Allenby held a one-stroke lead during the second round of the Australian Masters at Huntingdale today. The overnight leader was 9-under-par for the tournament, having shot 4-under today through 11 holes.He claimed an eagle and a birdie on the opening nine holes and another birdie on the 10th hole.

Allenby, a two-time champion, shot a 5-under 67 in yesterday's opening round.

Aaron Baddeley held down second place following a 6-under-par 66 today...

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Baddeley has really impressed me this year. I always new he had the talent he just needed a bit of confidence to get him on his way. He finished the year 6th in the Fedex cup rankings and is really starting to become a golfer to watch.

Many of the Aussie golf commentators suggested he went to the US too early and should have started on the European Tour like Adam Scott, but I feel he did the right thing

What do you think? Leave a comment.

Golf News: Tiger is the king of Cog Hill - BMW Championship (FedEx Cup Playoff 3)

Tiger Woods has gone on to take his 60th tour victory at the BMW Championship and regains the lead on the FedEx Cup standings. Tiger, who has won at Cog Hill 3 times previous to this victory, had a fantastic round of golf and was deadly with the putter and posted a record equalling round of 63. Arron Baddeley and Steve Stricker also tried their best to stay with Tiger making some great birdies, but could not match the master.
The top ten:

Pos	Name	Country	Total	Strokes	1	2	3	4
1	Tiger Woods	USA	-22	262	67	67	65	63
2	Aaron Baddeley	AUS	-20	264	68	65	65	66
3	Steve Stricker	USA	-18	266	68	66	64	68
4	Adam Scott	AUS	-14	270	69	69	67	65
5	Tim Clark	SAF	-13	271	68	69	67	67
5	Justin Rose	ENG	-13	271	65	69	69	68
7	Stewart Cink	USA	-12	272	66	73	68	65
7	Camilo Villegas	COL	-12	272	65	69	71	67
9	Sergio Garcia	ESP	-10	274	68	70	69	67
10	Ian Poulter	ENG	-9	275	68	72	69	66
10	Rory Sabbatini	SAF	-9	275	69	72	68	66
10	Carl Pettersson	SWE	-9	275	71	68	69	67

The event saw some changes in the FedEx Cup standings with Camilo Villegas, Tim Clark and Stewart Cink all playing some great golf to come from outside the top 30 to finish within the cut off line. Unfortunately this means an early exit for Luke Donald, Jerry Kelly and Arron Oberholser who were all inside the top 30 before the event, but just missed the cut off line.
The Top 5 in the FedEx Cup standings:

1		Tiger Woods
2		Steve Stricker
3		Phil Mickelson
4		Rory Sabbatini
5		K.J. Choi

Realistically only the top 5 now have a chance at taking the FedEx Cup, but with 35 million dollars in the kitty everyone will be trying to win The Tour Championship next week.