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Finals capsules: Accenture Match-Play Championship

Feb. 23, 2008

Championship Match
Tiger Woods (1) vs. Stewart Cink (6)
Tee times: 9:40 a.m. ET and 2:10 p.m. ET

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How Woods got there: He beat Stenson 2 up. This match-up of the defending champ and the game's No. 1 player didn't disappoint. Woods never trailed and played a bogey-free round of 5 under. He won the third hole when Stenson made bogey, but the Swede made a 6-footer for birdie at No. 7 to square the match.

Woods regained the advantage when he got up-and-down for birdie from a greenside bunker at the 10th hole. He held that 1-up lead until the par-3 16th when Stenson rolled in a 16-footer after Woods had missed from 26. The tide turned again at the par-5 17th, though, as Woods blasted out to 12 feet from the greenside bunker and made the putt for birdie. Facing elimination on the 18th hole, Stenson couldn't reach the green in two and eventually conceded Woods' 9-footer for the 2-up defeat.

"I felt like I was in control of the match all day," Woods said. "I was up early, and even though we got all square, he never took the lead."

How Cink got there: He beat Justin Leonard 4 and 2. Cink sizzled on the front nine -- making five birdies and an eagle en route to a 29 and a 4-up advantage. The first two birdies halved holes with Leonard, but then Cink exploded -- winning Nos. 4, 5 and 8 with birdies and then driving the par-4 seventh and making the 20-footer for eagle.

He leveled off on the back nine -- "I think that's being nice," Cink later said -- but he'd built such a cushion, Leonard couldn't come back. "I think physically, I ran out of gas a little," said Cink, who beat Angel Cabrera 3 and 2 Saturday morning. "Mentally, I got ahead of myself a little bit."

He can't afford to do that in Sunday's 36-hole finale.

What to look for: The two have played against each other since their junior golf days. Woods beat Cink 2 and 1 in the third round of the first Accenture Match Play Championship. They had two good battles at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational -- Cink winning by four in 2004 and Woods beating him in a four-hole playoff in 2006.

"Stewie can light it up," Woods said. "I believe he did the same thing to Sergio at the K Club. He can make a bunch of birdies, and he usually drives it pretty good. And anytime a person is a very good putter, you know it's going to be a good match."

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Consolation Match
Henrik Stenson (4) vs. Justin Leonard (13)
Tee times: 2:05 p.m. ET

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How Stenson got there: He lost to Tiger Woods 1 down. Stenson entered the match between the two former Accenture Match Play Championship winners as the only player who was undefeated at the Gallery Club at Dove Mountain.

Woods never led more than 1 up and Stenson made a 16-foot birdie putt to square the match at the 16th hole. The 10-match win streak ended, though, as Woods made birdie on No. 17 to go 1 up and Stenson never gave himself a

chance to force extra holes when he couldn't reach the 18th green in two.

"I knew it was going to be really hard, and I knew I had to play better than I did, obviously," Stenson said. "I put up a good fight, but I am still a little bit disappointed with a couple of holes there and two or three shots that were a little bit out."

How Leonard got there: He lost to Stewart Cink 4 and 2. Leonard ran into a buzz-saw in Cink, who shot 29 on the front nine. Leonard wasn't exactly standing still, making three birdies on the front nine, but when they made the turn, he trailed 4 down. The Texan didn't make a birdie on the back nine and he won his only hole of the day with a par when Cink took a detour in the desert at the 15th hole. It turned out to be a case of too little, too late. "I felt like it I could just get something to drop, they'd start going (in) because I was hitting a lot of really good putts," Leonard said.

"But for some reason, I really struggled reading the greens and I was off just that much."

What to look for: Both players will need to regain their focus after the disappointing losses. Stenson should have the edge because he has played well all week while Leonard needs to regain his confidence on the greens.