News All Articles
Casey in command against Cink
Report

Casey in command against Cink

Paul Casey looked like making The Open Championship winner Stewart Cink yet another victim in Tucson, Arizona.

WGC - Accenture Match Play Championship - Round Three

After three successive 5 and 4 victories Casey marched into a four up lead after eight holes of their World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship quarter-final.

It was a clash between the last two runners-up in the event, Casey losing to Geoff Ogilvy last year and Cink to Tiger Woods 12 months earlier.

The other two English players in the last eight were having much tougher battles.

Oliver Wilson, facing his fourth European opponent in a row, fell three down to Spain's Sergio Garcia, but fought back to be only one down at the turn.

And in the top game Ian Poulter was one down to Thai Thongchai Jaidee with seven holes to go.

Colombian Camilo Villegas was winning the other game, four up on South African Retief Goosen at the turn.

Cink's problems started when he went in the water on the short third. Jaidee had done the same and Goosen put two balls in.

The only American left in then dropped another shot at the 185 yard sixth and Casey birdied the next two to press home his advantage and move in sight of the semi-finals - probably against Villegas.

Wilson, chasing his first professional victory after nine second places in his career, lost three holes in a row from the fourth, a run that ended with him needing two attempts to get out of sand.

Garcia bogeyed the next two, but returned to a two hole lead when his opponent messed up the tenth.

Casey had to take a penalty drop after driving wildly into the desert on the long 11th, but at three up on losing his first hole of the match he was still in a lovely position.

Not so Poulter or Wilson. Poulter levelled with a par five on the 13th, but could do no better than bogey on the next and was behind again, while Wilson went three down when Garcia powered two shots into a greenside bunker at the 583 yard 13th and got up and down for birdie.

Villegas was three up on Goosen with only six remaining.

Garcia was the first player into the last four, Wilson's wait for a first title going when he lost 4 and 3.

Casey was almost there as well, taking the long 13th with a brilliant eagle after hitting a 347 yard drive downwind and then a 225 yard approach to 16 feet.

Villegas stood three up with four to play on Goosen and Poulter led for the first time when Jaidee missed the green and bogeyed the 17th.

Read next