Mickelson, Woods, Singh fall out
As quickly as 1-2-3, the biggest stars disappeared Friday in the Match Play Championship at Carlsbad, Calif.
Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson all went down in surprising losses, with only Mickelson getting into the third round and none of their final matches going the distance.
The highest seed remaining after a wild day at La Costa was U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who rallied from 3 down with eight holes to play and beat hard-luck, worn-out Chad Campbell on the 19th hole.
No one had a longer day than Campbell, who played more holes Friday (43) than he did all week at the Nissan Open, where he lost a one-hole playoff to Adam Scott in a tournament shortened to 36 holes by rain.
Only two of the top-10 seeds were left going into the quarterfinals.
“That’s the beauty of this tournament,” David Toms said after eliminating Mickelson. “Phil and I were talking today. When he shot that low round at Spyglass (62), (he got) a big lead on the field. Here, you can do that in one match. And the next match, if you don’t play well, you’re gone.”
See ya, Tiger.
Woods had won 13 consecutive matches during his two-year reign of the Accenture Match Play Championship.
He played Nick O’Hern, an unheralded Aussie who hasn’t played in this event since he got in as the 39th alternate in Australia four years ago, the year none of the stars showed up.
Woods was no match. O’Hern hit most of the fairways, made all of his important putts and never trailed in a 3-and-1 victory, ending the match with a 3-iron from 200 yards out of the rough to 25 feet and holing the putt.
“If I play solidly, I have a good chance of beating anyone,” O’Hern said. “Tiger missed a few putts, which helped me out. But that’s golf. You take your chances.”
O’Hern hardly suffered an emotional letdown. He promptly birdied his first two holes and easily beat Luke Donald of England, 5 and 4, to reach the quarterfinals against Ian Poulter of England.
Singh was the first big name out the door, and while it’s always surprising when the No. 1 seed gets beaten, this one followed form.
Singh has never advanced beyond the second round, and 51-year-old Jay Haas extended that dubious streak with a 3-and-2 victory.
Mickelson was coming off two straight PGA Tour victories and never trailed in his first two matches, making four straight birdies early on to whip Angel Cabrera in the second round.
Toms couldn’t keep up with Lefty off the tee, but he kept it in the fairways and made enough medium-length birdie putts that Mickelson began to press, only to fall further behind. The match ended on the 16th hole.
When a marathon day of two rounds in the muck at La Costa finally ended in the gloaming, it was hard to figure out who was the favorite for the $1.3 million prize.
Robert Allenby saw no advantage that the top three seeds would be watching from home.
“That just says something right there in itself,” Allenby said after holding off Kirk Triplett, a former Pullman resident, for a 2-and-1 victory. “It doesn’t matter who you play. Anyone in this field can win.”
PGA Tour
Mark Calcavecchia made a 50-foot eagle putt on the next-to-last hole to vault over Billy Mayfair and into the lead of the Chrysler Classic of Tucson (Ariz.) at 15-under 129.
Calcavecchia, who started on the back nine, also had five birdies on the way to a 65. Mayfair shot a 67 early in the round and sat atop the leaderboard most of the day before Calcavecchia’s gem on No. 8.
Gavin Coles, Geoff Ogilvy and Lucas Glover were two shots off the pace after shooting 65, 66 and 67, respectively.
Champions Tour
Tom McKnight birdied three straight holes before lightning and heavy rain suspended play during the first round of the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in Lutz, Fla.
McKnight was 4-under-par through 13 holes. Don Reese also was 4-under through 13. John Harris was 4-under through 11 with four birdies and no bogeys.
Only 40 of the 76 pros, paired with amateur partners for the first 36 holes, were able to begin the round before play was stopped.
LPGA Tour
Michelle Wie shot a second straight 2-under 70 to trail leader Jennifer Rosales by five strokes heading into the final round of the LPGA Tour’s season-opening SBS Open in Kahuku, Hawaii.
The 15-year-old Wie, playing on her home island of Oahu, was tied for fifth at 4-under 140 and was one of the early starters who were forced to deal with intermittent showers and ocean winds whipping up to 20 mph.
Wie is trying to supplant Marlene Hagge as the youngest golfer to win an LPGA event. Hagge was 18 when she won the 1952 Sarasota Open.
Rosales, the first-round leader, had four bogeys and seven birdies in a wild round of 69 that moved her to 9-under 135. She managed to keep the lead with four birdies in the last five holes.
Wendy Ward, from Edwall, Wash., shot an even-par 72 for a two-day total of 5-over 149.
Tracy Hanson, from Rathdrum, Idaho, shot an even-par 72 for a two-day total of 144.