Spaniards Sergio Garcia and Josè Maria Olazábal alongside Sweden’s Niclas Fasth will carry The European Tour banner into the last 16 of the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play at La Costa Resort and Spa.
The trio survived the blistering heat on the Californian coastline to move one step closer to the 1,145,476 euro (£698,567) first prize, the only disappointment being the fact that both Fasth and Olazábal ousted fellow European Tour Members from the event, Fasth beating Vijay Singh 3 and 2 while Olazábal triumphed on the last green of an enthralling contest with Retief Goosen.
The 18th green proved also to be the scene of Garcia’s victory over fellow 22 year old American Charles Howell III, incredibly one of nine matches from the 16 which went either the full distance or beyond, compared to only six of 32 in the opening round.
Following the departure of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and David Duval, Garcia started the day as the highest ranked player in the field and the World Number Four began in fitting fashion, birdieing the first two holes to immediately grab the advantage.
But Howell III, the NCAA Champion in 2000, showed why he is highly rated on the US PGA Tour, winning the short third with a birdie of his own to set a trend which continued for the duration of the match. Whenever Garcia edged in front, Howell III would peg him back until the American eventually ran out of holes.
“It was a good win for me and between us, I think Charles and I played some pretty decent golf,” said Garcia, who now faces Scott McCarron, who held on for a one hole victory over Mike Weir, having been four up with five to play.
“More importantly Charles is a great guy and I really like hanging out with him because we always have fun together. I would have liked to have played him later in the week but, unfortunately, it was in the second round.”
Another tie which would have featured highly later in the week was the clash between Olazábal and Goosen, a match which had the classic elements of a match play contest, namely contrasting fortunes and a dramatic climax.
In the opening stages, it looked like Olazábal had booked himself an early lunch winning five of the first seven holes to leave Goosen ragged. But the 32 year old South African did not win the Volvo Order of Merit and the US Open Championship last year without possessing fighting spirit and he showed it in spades as the match turned for home.
Birdies at the eighth, 11th, 15th and 17th, combined with Olazábal’s bogey five at the 13th saw the match draw level and a betting man would have made the resurgent South African favourite coming down the last.
But Olazábal possesses guts in abundance too and dug deep to fire a seven iron to 15 feet behind the pin before rolling in the tricky downhill putt for a winning birdie three.
“I knew it was going to be a tough match, even when I was ahead, and I knew I had to play great golf to win,” said Olazábal. “And when I came to the last I knew I needed a solid tee shot to give myself a chance and I just played the best I could.
“Driving has been the key for me, that has been the difference between the last couple of years and the start of this season. Even though it is still not quite like it should be, there has been some improvement and once you start hitting more fairways, the game of golf gets a little bit easier.”
Olazábal now faces American Ryder Cup player Mark Calcavecchia, who recovered from being two down in the early stages of his match with Chris DiMarco to win 2 and 1, while Fasth, in his first WGC – Accenture Match Play outing, will face another American Ryder Cup player bound for The De Vere Belfry in September, namely Paul Azinger.
Despite admitting to limited match play experience as a professional, Fasth showed he is learning the requirements quickly with an assured performance against former Masters and US PGA Champion Vijay Singh.
The Swede, who will make his Ryder Cup debut in September, halved the first three holes with the Honorary Life Member of The European Tour before winning three in a row from the third to give himself a lead he maintained until he closed out the match on the 16th green.
“I’ve played two matches now and I feel I’ve done all right out there,” said Fasth, who beat Michael Campbell 2 and 1 on the opening day. “Obviously it’s a great chance to play some match play against the world’s best players and this, plus the Seve Trophy later in the year, is great experience for me.”
Aside from Singh and Goosen, other European Tour Members whose challenge ended in the second round were Ernie Els, who lost by one hole to Tom Lehman, Paul McGinley, who lost 2 and 1 to Kevin Sutherland, Peter O’Malley, who lost 2 and 1 to Nick Price, Adam Scott, who lost 3 and 2 to Brad Faxon, and Lee Westwood, who lost on the last green to John Cook.
Perhaps the most disappointed was O’Malley, who was brought back to earth with a bump after having been the talk of America following his first round dismissal of World Number One Tiger Woods.
“I suppose that sums up match play, doesn’t it,” said O’Malley. “I didn’t play that much different to how I did against Tiger but that’s the way it goes.”
