There was still all to play for in the third and fourth second-round matches on the West Course in the Cisco World Match Play Championship. Lee Westwood was five up after seven holes against Sergio Garcia but was pulled back to one up, and although Ernie Els went into lunch three up on Retief Goosen, the match was by no means over.
LEE WESTWOOD vs SERGIO GARCIA
Westwood hit the ground running against his 20-year-old opponent. Garcia had a bogey on the first to present Westwood with a soft lead, but the Englishman needed no luck as he birdied the second from 20 feet, the fourth from 30 feet, the fifth from three feet, the sixth from five feet and the seventh from three feet.
In seven holes Westwood had had just eight putts and was five up. Garcia pluckily birdied the eighth to cut Westwood's lead by one, but the third seed was still through the turn in 30 to Garcia's 34. Garcia had a mini-run of birdies of his own on the 10th, 11th and 12th, the first two of which he won to be only two down.
Westwood's own birdie bag was by no means exhausted -- he picked up strokes to par on the 12th, 13th and 14th and was now eight under par for the round. Garcia could only par the 13th to drop three behind again, but canned an 11-foot putt for birdie on the 16th to reduce Westwood's lead once again to two. Garcia had the last word of the morning when he birdied the home hole to go to the clubhouse only one down.
ERNIE ELS vs RETIEF GOOSEN
This was the first time the two South Africans had met in matchplay for 15 years, and Goosen was trying to get his name on the scorecard after losing the two matches he had lost to his compatriot when they werte juniors. However, although Els was never allowed to run away with the match, the only time Goosen was all square with his opponent was on the first tee.
Els had only a par four on the West Course's switchback first hole, but it was good enough to give him the lead, Goosen dropping a shot after missing the green and two-putting from 35 feet. The two Springboks halved the next five holes but Els went two up on the seventh after Goosen drove into a brook and had to drop out under penalty.
Goosen, one of the quiet men of the European Tour, recovered quickly to birdie the eighth, a magnificent five-iron leaving him no more than a foot from the hole. Els went two up again with a birdie on the par-three 10th but drove out of bounds on the 12th to give Goosen the hole. Els, twice the winner of the US Open, won the 13th with a birdie and went three up on the 17th. Both men birdied the last to leave Els in a powerful position.
