Round 4 Capsules: Accenture Match-Play Championship

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents

BOBBY JONES BRACKET:

Match No. 57
Tiger Woods (1) vs. K.J. Choi (3)
Tee time: 9:35 a.m. ET
How Woods got there: He beat Aaron Baddeley on the 20th hole. This one was one for the ages. Woods made 12 birdies and one bogey while the young Aussie had 10 while dropping just two strokes to par. Six times, the two players matched birdies -- including the first three holes on the back nine after Woods had gone 1 up with a birdie at No. 9. "It was unbelievable how many birdies we made out there," said Woods. Baddeley drew even when Woods' tee shot at the 13th hit a marshal and veered out of bounds, then the Aussie gained his only lead of the day with a 10-foot birdie on the next.

When he couldn't two-putt from 48 feet at the par-3 16th, Baddeley conceded Woods' 3-footer for birdie to even the match. Both players barely missed eagle putts at the 17th hole and birdie putts at No. 18. They matched birdies at the 19th hole, then Woods polished it off with a 13-footer for birdie on the 20th after Baddeley missed from 27 feeet.

How Choi got there: Choi beat Paul Casey 1 up. Choi set the tone for the match when he made birdie on the first three holes, rolling in putts of 38, 12 and 12 feet. Casey got one back with a birdie at the next but Choi drove the seventh, a 320-yard par 4, and made the 16-footer for eagle to get the hole back. Birdies at Nos. 8 and 10 got Casey back into the match, but he could never pull even and Choi ended the affair with a 10-foot birdie on the 18th hole. Choi had never reached the quarterfinals in five previous appearances in the Accenture Match Play Championship.

What to look for: Woods has gotten better with every match while Choi has managed to do what he needs to get the job done. Both have won tournaments already this year, too. Choi, ironically, won the inaugural AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods. "As you know, he's been very consistent over the last few years," Woods said. "So I expect for that to be the case tomorrow and it will be a tough match."

BEN HOGAN BRACKET:

Match No. 58
Henrik Stenson (4) vs. Woody Austin (10)
Tee time: 9:48 a.m. ET
How Stenson got there: He beat Jonathan Byrd 1 up. Stenson admitted his legs a little bit tired yesterday after going 25 holes before beating Trevor Immelman. Byrd, on the other hand, had never seen the 15th hole in his first two matches. The defending champion eagled the first hole and never trailed against Byrd, who had already upset Ernie Els and Andres Romero in his Accenture Match Play Championship debut. At the same time, Stenson never held more than a 1-up advantage in the match against the game Clemson Tiger, who was hardly wearing his school colors in the pink pants and argyle sweater. Stenson was 7 under for his round and his last birdie, a 2-putt from 26 feet at the par-5 17th hole, put him 1 up and paved the way for his ninth straight win dating back to 200. Byrd missed a 12-footer to halve at No. 17 and then could get his approach no closer than 55 feet for the potential tying birdie at the 18th.

How Austin got there: He beat Boo Weekley 3 and 2. Each one of Austin's wins this week has been different. He won big over Toru Taniguchi, survived in 19 holes with Adam Scott and then basically just got the job done in beating his good friend in the third round. Weekley wasn't putting particularly well early, and Austin used three of his four front-nine birdies to build a 3-up advantage at the ninth hole. The two started trading 3-putts, or missed opportunities, early on the back nine, and Austin just hung on, closing out the match with a par on the 16th hole.

"Every chance I had to really put him in a headlock or whatever, I couldn't," Austin said. "And every chance he had to really get back in the match, he couldn't. So it was really kind of a weird match."

What to look for: The two faced each other last year at the HSBC World Match Play in Wentworth and it was a tight one. The 36-hole match was suspended due to darkness and Stenson came out the next day and birdied No. 18 to win the match. "I'm sure he wants to make it one-all rather than two nothing," Stenson said. "So it's going to be a tough match. He's a tough competitor, and there's not too many lakes for him to fall in here, either."

GARY PLAYER BRACKET:

Match No. 59
Vijay Singh (3) vs. Justin Leonard (13)
Tee time: 10:02 a.m. ET
How Singh got there: Singh beat Rod Pampling on the 25th hole. For a while, there was a question of whether there would be enough daylight to finish on a cloudy, cool day in the Oro Valley. Only two non-championship matches have gone longer at 26 holes. The match was tight throughout, with neither player leading more than 1 up until Singh bogeyed the 15th and Pampling birdied the next. The smooth-swinging man from Fiji responded with a 4-footer for birdie on the par-5 17th and won the 18th with a par when Pampling couldn't get up and down for par from the greenside bunker. Both players birdied the first extra hole, then halved the next five with pars.

The match ended after Pampling found the left rough off the tee at the 25th hole, which was No. 17, and hit his second into the desert and had to take an unplayable lie. Singh went on to two-putt for par and the win.

How Leonard got there: He beat Stuart Appleby 3 and 2. Leonard never trailed in his match as he made eight birdies in an 11-hole stretch. The first came at the fourth hole and gave Leonard a 1-up advantage. The Texan won the seventh hole with another birdie but Appleby eagled No. 10 with a deadly approach and a 4-foot putt to pull within 1 down. The two opponents matched birdies at the next two holes but Leonard broke the match open when he rolled in putts of 12 and 4 feet at Nos. 13 and 14. "I just felt like I had to keep making birdies just to maintain somewhat of a lead," said Leonard, who closed with two pars to advance.

What to look for: Even though the match ended as the shadows were creeping over the Sonoran desert, don't expect Singh to be tired. He's one of the most physically fit players on the PGA TOUR.

SAM SNEAD BRACKET:

Match No. 60
Angel Cabrera (4) vs. Stewart Cink (6)
Tee time: 10:15 a.m. ET
How Cabrera got there: Cabrera beat Steve Stricker 4 and 3. The reigning U.S. Open champion played solidly as he took down the top seed in the Sam Snead bracket and the No. 3 player in the world. The two players traded wins on the first two holes, but Cabrera gave himself a cushion by winning the third with a par and the fifth with a birdie to go 2 up. A string of three straight birdies that began on No. 7 -- the latter two for wins -- gave the Argentine a 4-up advantage when he made the turn. A 33-footer for birdie on No. 12 lifted Cabrera to a 5-up lead, and Stricker only delayed the inevitable with what was his third birdie of the day two holes later.

"I played very, very well, especially the front nine, and I think that's what made the difference," Cabrera said.

How Cink got there: Cink beat Colin Montgomerie 4 and 2. The American has now mowed down three straight European Ryder Cup players in Miguel Angel Jimenez, Padraig Harrington and Montgomerie this week With the victory, Cink avenged a 5-and-4 loss to Montgomerie in 2004. He didn't think he played particularly well -- in fact, Cink called his performance "pretty awful." He bogeyed the first hole, but made six birdies between the sixth and 16th to eliminate the Scott, who closed with nine straight pars.

"Sometimes when a player ... (is) hitting it all over the place and recovering well and making a few putts here and there that are very timely, it's demoralizing to your opponent, and I think that's what happened," Cink said. Montgomerie, who missed birdie chances on his last six holes, concluded "You can't do that and expect to win."

What to look for: Cink planned to hit the range Friday evening and try to find his rhythm and straighten out his driver. He doesn't hit it as long as Cabrera, but he's seasoned in match play after reaching the quarterfinals in 2005 and the third round twice, including last year. Cabrera is the type of player who can sneak up on you, though.