Round 3 Capsules: Accenture Match-Play Championship

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

BOBBY JONES BRACKET:

Match No. 53
Tee time: 1:54 p.m. ET
Tiger Woods (1) vs. Aaron Baddeley (5)
How Woods got there: He beat Arron Oberholser 3 and 2. Woods eliminated the mistakes that had plagued him in the first round when he rallied from a 3-down deficit at No. 13 by winning the next four holes. Woods never trailed in this match, winning the first hole with a conceded 5-footer for eagle and making five more birdies to build a 4-up advantage through 11 holes. Oberholser was playing just his second competitive round of the year after battling bursitis in his shoulder.

How Baddeley got there: He got an unusual second-round "bye" when David Toms conceded their match due to a back injury.

What to look for: Woods and Baddeley played together in the final group on Sunday at the U.S. Open at Oakmont last year. Baddeley held a two-stroke lead, but it quickly evaporated when he tripled the first hole, three-putting from 8 feet, and he went on to shoot 80. Of course, that wasn't match play -- and Angel Cabrera went on to win -- but Baddeley is well acquainted with the demands of playing with Woods. The Aussie reached the third round of the Accenture Match Play Championship in his debut last year, but Woods, who has a 26-6 record, is simply playing too well.

Woods and Baddeley were also paired together in the first two rounds of the 2007 Masters -- Woods shooting 73-74 and Baddeley 79-72

Match No. 54
Tee time: 2:08 p.m. ET
K.J. Choi (3) vs. Paul Casey (7)
How Choi got there: Choi beat Ian Poulter with a par on the 19th hole. The steady Korean was 3 up at the turn -- winning the third hole with a birdie and Nos. 8 and 9 with pars. Choi let Poulter back into the match with bogeys at No. 15, where he missed the green and a 4-footer for par, and the par-5 17th with a three-putt. Poulter's birdie at the 18th extended the match, but the colorful Englishman three-putted the first extra hole so Choi will be making his first appearance in the third round in five tries.

How Casey got there: He beat Bradley Dredge 2 and 1. This wasn't exactly a birdie fest -- in fact, Casey called it a "scrappy game." Of course, his standards were high after Wednesday's victory when he made nine birdies and his opponent had seven. Against Dredge, Casey didn't made his first birdie until the No. 10, but that two-putt from 18 feet on the par 5 evened the match. His second -- and last birdie -- came at the 15th hole and put him 2 up. A pair of pars finished it off as Dredge made bogey at the par-5 17th.

What to look for: Casey's putter may have let him down on Thursday, but he was hitting on all cylinders in the first round -- and he's had more success in match play overall, reaching the quarterfinals last year. Choi, who said he was "impatient" on Thursday, needs to shake off his stumble on the back nine. Casey, who says their lockers are always close together, calls Choi "sort of a quiet assassin."

BEN HOGAN BRACKET:

Match No. 49
Henrik Stenson (4) vs. Jonathan Byrd (16)
Tee time: 1 p.m. ET
How Stenson got there: Stenson beat Trevor Immelman on the 25th hole. With the exception of Tiger Woods' furious rally over the final four holes of his first-round match, this one had the most drama. The defending champion had the edge early, winning three of the first five holes, two of them with birdies, and going 4 up with a par on No. 8. Immelman clawed his way back into the match by winning three of the next four holes with birdies. The young South African then birdied No. 17 to square the match for the first time all day. Stenson earned the win with a great up-and-down from the greenside bunker on the seventh extra hole after Immelman had driven the green, putted his 27-footer six feet by and missed the putt for par.

How Byrd got there: Byrd beat Andres Romero 6 and 4. The upstart young American, who is making his Accenture Match Play Championship debut, hasn't gone past the 14th hole in either of his first two matches. He upset Ernie Els, top seeded in the Ben Hogan bracket, 6 and in his first match. Byrd has made 10 birdies in the 27 holes he's played in his first two matches -- and he has yet to make a bogey. He was in control from the outset against Romero, the surprise of last year's British Open when he tied for third.

Romero, who has only broken 70 once in his first seven rounds on the PGA TOUR, bogeyed the first two holes while Byrd birdied No. 4 to take a 3-up advantage. Birdies by the Clemson product at Nos. 12 and 13 put the match dormie and Byrd won with a conceded par on No. 14.

What to watch for: Byrd could play the spoiler for the third straight day. He'll have to remain patient, though, and this match figures to be much closer than either of his first two. Not to mention, Stenson is riding an eight-match win streak in the desert.

Match No. 50
Woody Austin (10) vs. Boo Weekley (11)
Tee time: 1:14 p.m. ET
How Austin got there: He beat Adam Scott 1 up. The American birdied the first hole to take the early lead and maintained it by matching Scott's birdie at No. 2. Austin didn't lead again, though, until he made a 10-footer for birdie on the 19th hole. Both players played well with Austin, who had an easy 6-and-5 win in the opener, making eight birdies and three bogeys in 19 holes and Scott shooting 5-under.

How Weekley got there: He beat Sergio Garcia 3 and 1. Taking down the European Ryder Cup mainstay was a big boost for the untested Weekley. The American was 2 down when Garcia trumped his birdie with an eagle at the 10 th hole. But Weekley squared the match with a par at the 11th hole and then gained a 1 up advantage with consecutive birdies at Nos. 12 and 13. He closed Garcia out when he chipped in for birdie from 35 feet at the 16th hole and rolled in a 12-footer for another at the par-5 17th.

What to watch for: These two are good friends, and Austin says "we're going to have fun because we'll probably be the most talkative of two people in a match." Weekley isn't completely healthy -- he's been taking medication and an occasional cortisone shot to combat a bout of bursitis in his shoulder.

Austin, on the other hand, warmed up for the Accenture Match Play Championship by playing a round in the snow. The edge in this battle of potential Ryder Cup teammates goes to Austin, who relishes the mano-y-mano aspect of the competition.

GARY PLAYER BRACKET:

Match 55
Stuart Appleby (8) vs. Justin Leonard (13)
Tee time: 2:21 p.m. ET
How Appleby got there: He beat Phil Mickelson, top-seeded in the Gary Player bracket, 2 and 1. Appleby hasn't made a bogey in 33 holes so far this week. He had nine on Friday against the No. 2 player in the world. Mickelson was up early, winning the first two holes with birdies, then bogeying the fourth but regaining the 2-up edge with an eagle on the fifth.

Appleby fought back, though, with a string of four birdies beginning on the seventh hole that took him from 1 down to 1 up. Mickelson's birdie at the 13th evened the match briefly, but Appleby rolled in birdie putts of 5 and 7 feet, respectively, at Nos. 15 and 17 to earn the hard-fought win. "(I) slowly just chipped away and moved in the right direction all day," Appleby said simply.

How Leonard got there: Leonard beat Lee Westwood 2 and 1. This was another match that showcased quality golf. The American never trailed against Westwood, who had never advanced past the second round in seven previous starts. Leonard made four birdies through the first seven holes, two to win and two to halve, but Westwood answered with two more at Nos. 8 and 9, so they essentially started over on the back. Leonard won the 13th hole with a par, halved No. 14 with a bogey and rolled in a 9-footer on the next to go 2 up. The match ended when the Texan got up-and-down for birdie, making a 6-footer, on the 17th hole. "I think the difference was really making the putt at 15," Leonard said.

What to watch for: Appleby hasn't exactly had a lot of success in individual match play. He's played in all nine previous Accenture Match Play Championships -- in fact, every World Golf Championships event in the series 10-year history -- but only once previously has he reached the third round. Not to mention, Appleby is 0-5 in singles at The Presidents Cup.

This year, though, he's playing with confidence, and this match could be the best of the day. Appleby's had three straight top-10s in PGA TOUR events while Leonard opened the season with four of his own. Both are intense competitors.

Match 56
Vijay Singh (3) vs. Rod Pampling (15)
Tee time: 2:35 p.m. ET
How Singh got there: Singh beat Niclas Fasth 1 up. Singh's round with adventurous, to say the least. He found himself 2 down at the second hole after a Fasth birdie and his own bogey. Singh then won the fourth with a par and the seventh with a birdie to even the affair but the back nine continued the see-saw affair. The big Fijian won two holes with birdies but lost a pair with bogeys before an up-and-down birdie from the bunker at the par-5 17th paved the way for victory. "I made three bogeys and gave him three holes, and you never want to do that on days like this," Singh said. "But I pulled it off."

How Pampling got there: Pampling beat Nick O'Hern 5 and 4. This time O'Hern learned what it felt like to be on the wrong end of an upset. The man who has twice taken down Tiger Woods in this event and has reached the quarterfinals three times never managed to assert himself against the surprising Pampling. Pampling won the first hole with a 16-footer for birdie, his first of six, and was 3 up by the turn. A 4-footer at the 11th hole, the second of three straight birdies, then put Pampling 4 up. He won No. 13 with a par and halved the 14th with another for the win.

What to watch for: Singh and Pampling are good friends. This is Singh's second trip to the third round in eight starts while the Aussie is there for the third time in three. Pampling probably is the more confident of the two, based on his performance in the first two matches.

SAM SNEAD BRACKET:

Match 51
Steve Stricker (1) vs. Angel Cabrera (4)
Tee time: 1:27 p.m. ET
What got Stricker here: Stricker beat Hunter Mahan on the 20th hole.

Stricker's match was one of four that went extra holes on Thursday. As a team, Stricker and Mahan went 2-1 at The Presidents Cup last fall, but that was ancient history in this hard-fought affair. Stricker made eight birdies and no bogeys, but still never led by more than 2 up. The two closed with a flurry of birdies. Mahan squared the match with a birdie at the 17th hole, then had to make a 15-footer on the 18th -- with Stricker in gimme range -- to extend the match. The two match birdies on the first extra hole but Stricker closed the match out when he made a bomb of a 45-footer on the 20th hole. "It was going fast, but it looked good all the way," Stricker said.

What got Cabrera here: Cabrera beat Luke Donald 2 and 1. Cabrera reached the third round for the first time with the hard-fought win over the Englishman. After trading wins over the first six holes, Cabrera went 1 up with an up-and-down birdie from the bunker at the drivable par-4 seventh. He won Nos. 9 and 13 with pars, then survived a double bogey at the 15th to eek out the win.

What to watch for: Cabrera, no doubt, will be hitting it past the winner of the 2001 Accenture Match Play Championship on every hole. Stricker is undaunted, though. He said Daniel Chopra and Mahan did, too. "I really feel like if I can hit good irons, I can put a lot of pressure on these guys who hit it past me because I can hit it in there first and all of a sudden it kind of forces their hand a little bit," Stricker said.

Match 52
Colin Montgomerie (15) vs. Stewart Cink (6)
Tee time: 1:41 p.m. ET
How Montgomerie got there: He beat Charles Howell III 1 up. It's hard to imagine Montgomerie, one of the best match players of all time, as a 15th seed. He's drawing motivation from the position, though, and knows he's racking up the world ranking points with every victory. The Scot found his rhythm on the back nine and rallied from 1 down at the 13th hole with three birdies on his next four holes. "I needed that," the 44-year-old Montgomerie said. "A pat on the back, although I can't do that. I'm too old."

How Cink got there: He beat Padraig Harrington 2 up. The victory gave Cink a 4-0 record over the Irishman, who he beat in the second round last year.

He also has two Ryder Cup wins over him. Harrington was 2 up through 5 holes but Cink evened the match with birdies at Nos. 7 and 8. Three more birdies, starting at the 10th hole, produced two wins and a halve, and suddenly Cink was 2 up. He lost the 17th hole with a bogey but settled the affair with a 17-footer for birdie on the last.

What to watch for: These two Ryder Cup veterans are intense competitors so this one should be a good match. Cink reached the quarterfinals in 2005 and the third round last year. Montgomerie has already topped his best performance by getting to Friday's match.

Montgomerie beat Cink 5 and 4 in round two in 2004... "I think he was like 7-under through 11 holes or something, and I just laid down and he steamrolled me,' Cink recalled. "Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a little bit better experience than that."