The Live Report, Round 4: Accenture Match Play
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By PGATOUR.COM Staff
MATCHES COMPLETE (6:29 p.m.): Ross Fisher's birdie on the par-3 16th hole pulled him to within 1 of Paul Casey, but the momentum was short-lived after Casey responded with a birdie of his own on the very next hole to close out the match 2 and 1.
As a result, Casey advanced to his first Accenture Match Play Championship final, where he'll face good friend and fellow Whisper Rock member Geoff Ogilvy. -- Brian Wacker
ONE MATCH OVER (5:42 p.m.): Geoff Ogilvy is headed back to the championship match of the Accenture Match Play Championship after Stewart Cink just conceded a birdie putt, giving Ogilvy a 4 and 2 win.
In a match that was tightly contested all day, Ogilvy took advantage of a major momentum swing on the par-5 13th when Cink missed his birdie attempt and Ogilvy made his. It was the first of three birdies in four holes for Ogilvy, who also added an eagle in that stretch.
"I felt like [13] was a pretty significant body blow," Cink said. "Geoff just played spectacular. I feel like I got cut down pretty god." -- Brian Wacker
DORMIE (5:35 p.m.): Geoff Ogilvy sent his match dormie with a brilliant 3-wood at the 343-yard, par-4 15th hole that rolled within 6 feet of the pin. Cink also drove the green, but his ball didn't quite get up the plateau and stopped 23 feet away.
When Cink couldn't convert his eagle putt before Ogilvy buried his, the Aussie led 3 up with three holes remaining. If he goes on to win, Ogilvy will reach the 36-hole final for the third time in the last four years. -- Helen Ross
OGILVY CLOSING IN ON ANOTHER FINAL? (5:23 p.m.): Geoff Ogilvy just took a 2 up lead thanks to a 12-foot birdie putt he just canned on No. 14. With only a few holes remaining, Stewart Cink is starting to run out of chances. -- Brian Wacker
OGILVY SURGES IN FRONT (5:08 p.m.): Just when it looked like Stewart Cink was about to take a 1 up lead on No. 13, he missed his 10-footer for birdie.
Just over 5 feet away, Geoff Ogilvy took advantage, sinking his birdie attempt to take a 1 up lead with five holes to play. -- Brian Wacker
CASEY GETS BAD BREAK (5:00 p.m.): Paul Casey's tee shot on the par-3 12th just plugged into the upslope just over the bunker so he'll get relief.
After attempting to drop it twice, Casey tried to place the ball, but the slope is so severe he had a hard time getting it to stay in place. After a few minutes, he was finally able to place it about 18 inches away from the original pitch mark. That left him a really awkward stance and he hit about as good as you could, leaving himself an 11 footer for par. -- Brian Wacker
OGILVY, CINK EVEN (4:40 p.m.): After maintaining a 1 up lead for most of the day, Geoff Ogilvy has fallen back to all square with Stewart Cink through 11 holes.
Ogilvy's tee shot found the bunker off the tee and he wasn't able to advance it much from there. His next shot came up short of the green, which Cink had reached in two. The way this match has gone it could come down to the final couple of holes. Cink has played Nos. 16-18 in 3 over this week, while Ogilvy has played them in even par with two birdies and two bogeys.
Meanwhile, Paul Casey has kept his 1 up lead thanks to pars on each of his last three holes. -- Brian Wacker
ALL-TIME MATCH PLAY LEADERS (4:10 p.m.) Geoff Ogilvy is nine holes away from another trip to the finals here, leading Stewart Cink 1 up at the moment. Ogilvy has had a pretty stellar record in this event with just two losses. Here's a look at the best records in the history of this event. -- Brian Wacker
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OGILVY CASHING IN AGAIN (3:50 p.m.): The 2006 Accenture Match Play Championship winner and 2007 runner-up, Geoff Ogilvy (No. 8), is the highest-ranked seed to survive.
Ogilvy is currently third in career money earned at the Accenture Match Play Championship with $2.140 million. No matter what happens in his match today -- he's currently 1 up through eight -- he is guaranteed to earn a minimum of $490,000, which would leave him just $5,000 behind David Toms.
If Ogilvy fails to advance to the finals, but wins the third-place match, he will pass Toms and move into second-place on the list.
Tiger Woods is the No. 1 money-earner here with $4,712,500, including the $95,000 he earned after being eliminated by Tim Clark in the second round.
Ogilvy is one of just nine players who have earned more than $4 million in World Golf Championship events. Of the eight players ahead of Ogilvy on this list, all but Henrik Stenson (15) have played 24 events or more. This is just the 10th WGC event for Ogilvy. Tiger Woods leads the money earned in WGC events with $20,920,833 from 30 starts. Padraig Harrington has the most number of starts in WGC events with 35 ($2,774,633). -- PGA TOUR Staff
MATCH UPDATE (3:30 p.m.): We're a little more than a third of the way through today's final four and so far Geof Ogilvy and Paul Casey have yet to surrender their leads.
Ogilvy has led from the start with the opening hole being conceded and moved to 2 up after a birdie on the second. He gave one back when Stewart Cink birdied the fourth hole, but got it back to 2 up on the very next hole with a par. That's where the two stand through seven holes.
Casey, meanwhile, wnt 1 up with an opening par and just went to 2 up after Ross Fisher failed to save par on the par-3 sixth hole.
Temperatures have also climbed considerably since this morning, when it was in the upper 40s. Currently, it's a picturesque 81 degrees. -- Brian Wacker
SEMIFINALS UNDER WAY (2:35 p.m.): Both semifinals are under way and it didn't take long for Geoff Ogilvy and Paul Casey to take the lead in their respective matches.
Stewart Cink conceded Ogilvy's lengthy birdie putt after failing to save par after he'd hit his tee shot into the desert right of the fairway. Ogilvy added a birdie on No. 2 to go 2 up.
Casey, meanwhile, went 1 up when Fisher also drove it right of the fairway and failed to save par on the par-4 first. -- Brian Wacker
FINAL FOUR SET (1:50 p.m.): The final four is set here at the Accenture Match Play Championship, where Geoff Ogilvy and Stewart Cink have both advance with 2 and 1 victories. They'll play against each other in the first of two semifinals beginning at 2:05 p.m. ET.
In the other semifinal, Paul Casey will take on Ross Fisher. Casey easily defeated Sean O'Hair, 4 and 3, while Fisher knocked off Justin Leonard, 2 and 1. They'll tee off at 12:20 p.m. ET. -- Brian Wacker
TOUGH TRACK (1:20 p.m.): Ernie Els said on Friday afternoon that the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club was getting firm and fast like a links course. With that in mind, it would have seemed logical that the two remaining competitors who have hoisted the Claret Jug would have an advantage. But that doesn't seem to be the way that things are playing out.
Stewart Cink is on the verge of closing out Ernie Els and Justin Leonard is trailing little-known Ross Fisher.
Links style or not, match play seems to lend no advantage. Another major champion has now made it to the semifinals on three different golf courses in the past four years. Geoff Ogilvy doesn't care if it is links style, classic or a par-3, he is just tough to beat. -- John Maginnes
CASEY FINISHES OFF O'HAIR (1:00 p.m.): It looks like Sean O'Hair's lack of match play experience cught up to him a little bit today. Unable to rally the way he had in each of his three previous matches, O'Hair lost to Paul Casey 4 and 3 after Casey closed out the match with a par on the 15th hole. Four of Casey's five matches this week haven't gone more than 16 holes. -- Brian Wacker
MCILROY'S RUN IS OVER (12:44 p.m.): The magic carpet ride of fresh-faced Irish teen Rory McIlroy just came to an end as he lost to Geoff Ogilvy 2 and 1.
Ogilvy, who has now reached the semifinals three of the last four years, closed out McIlroy with three straight birdies with the final one coming at the 17th hole.
Ogilvy will play the winner of the Stewart Cink-Ernie Els match. Cink is 2 up with four holes to play. -- Brian Wacker
YOUNG GUN (12:30 p.m.): If Rory McIlroy survives his nail-biter with Geoff Ogilvy and goes on to win the Accenture Match Play Championship, he would be the youngest winner in PGA TOUR history. But just barely.
The precocious teen from Northern Ireland would be 19 years, 9 months and 25 days old. Johnny McDermott was 19 years, 10 months and 12 days old when he won the 1911 U.S. Open.
Another 10 players won when between their 20th and 21st birthdays: Gene Sarazen (1922 Southern Open, U.S. Open and PGA Championship), Charles Evans Jr. (1910 Western Amateur), Francis Ouimet (1913 U.S. Open), Horton Smith (1928 Oklahoma City Open and 1928 Catalina Island Open), Raymond Floyd (1963 St. Petersburg Open), Phil Mickelson (1991 Northern Telecom Open) and Tom Creavy (1931 PGA Championship).
McIlroy would also likely jump into the top 10 in the Official World Golf Ranking -- which would make him the youngest ever to do so. -- Helen Ross
CASEY CLOSING IN (12:10 p.m.): Sean O'Hair just made a birdie on No. 12 to cut into Paul Casey's lead, but Casey still leads by 5 and is closing in on his first trip to the semifinals in this event.
Casey's previous best result here was a quarterfinal appearance in 2007. He lost to Geoff Ogilvy that year, 5 and 4.
Ogilvy, meanwhile, is 1 up through 14 holes against Rory McIlroy. Should both Ogilvy and Casey win, the earliest they would meet would be in the finals this time. -- Brian Wacker
MATCH UPDATE (11:46 a.m.): All the matches are pretty close right now, except for the Paul Casey-Sean O'Hair contest. Casey, a veteran of multiple Ryder Cup teams, is 5 up through nine holes.
In the day's opening match, Geoff Ogilvy has taken a 2 up lead on Rory McIlroy thanks to birdies on Nos. 11 and 12.
Stewart Cink leads 1 up over Ernie Els through 10 holes and Ross Fisher and Justin Leonard are all square as they make the turn to the back nine. -- Brian Wacker
COACH ON THE COURSE (11:30 a.m.): Just spotted Arizona Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt following the Ernie Els-Stewart Cink match.
Whisenhunt is a huge golf fan -- he was actually born in Augusta, Ga. -- and a scratch golfer. He's also played at Augusta National several times, including with Arnold Palmer.
As for the match itself, it's gone back and forth several times with both players winning holes. Cink, however, has maintained a 1 up lead the last few holes and both players just made the turn for the back nine. -- Brian Wacker
FAST COMPANY (11:10 a.m.): One thing is certain, the kid and the Aussie Iceman are making short work of their matches. I am not talking about a blow out here, I am talking about two guys who play ready golf.
It took them just a little more than an hour to play the first seven holes. As long as this match doesn't go extra holes, the winner should have plenty of time to enjoy his lunch.
Pace of play is not often an issue in the quarterfinals of the Accenture Match Play Championship and the logical assumption that a slower player could have an advantage by slowing down his opponent doesn't work. Either way, that won't be an issue with these two. Nice to see great golf played quickly. -- John Maginnes
O'HAIR IN TROUBLE (11:00 a.m.): It looks like the aggressivness that worked so well for Sean O'Hair through the first three rounds is hurting him a little bit today. A few of his shots haven't held the green and he's now made three costly bogeys and trails Paul Casey 4 down through five holes.
This is the third straight day that O'Hair, who has played in this tournament just once before, has trailed. But it's also the biggest deficit he's faced after trailing by only as many as 2 down in each of his previous matches. -- Brian Wacker
NOT SO EASY (10:41 a.m.): After taking a 1 up lead on the first hole, Ernie Els has since given three holes back and now trails Stewart Cink 2 down.
Cink evened their match with a birdie on the par-5 second, then took the lead with a birdie on No. 4, where he hit his approach to 12 feet before making the putt. He just extended it to 2 up when Els failed to get up-and-down from the fringe, missing a 7 footer that would have halved the hole. -- Brian Wacker
CASEY UP BIG (10:35 a.m.): Paul Casey isn't wasting any time in his match against Sean O'Hair. After opening with a birdie and an eagle to take a 2 up lead, Casey extended his lead to 3 up when O'Hair bogeyed the fourth hole when he pitched his third shot from behind the green back across it. He was unable to get up and down and made his second bogey of the day. -- Brian Wacker
ALL MATCHES ON THE COURSE (10:10 a.m.): All four matches are on the course here at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, where Stewart Cink has evened his match with Ernie Els by making a birdie of his own on the par-5 second.
Paul Casey, meanwhile, just extended his lead to 2 up after making eagle on No. 2. Casey, who reached the quarterfinals here two years ago, reached the second green in two, then sank an 8-footer for eagle.
Ross Fisher and Justin Leonard just finished the first hole with each making par to remain all square. -- Brian Wacker
CASEY UP EARLY (10:05 a.m.): England's Paul Casey just birdied the first hole for only the second time this week and the first time since Wednesday's opening round, draining an 8-foot putt to take a 1 up lead on Sean O'Hair, who at No. 12 is the lowest seed remaining in the tournament. -- Brian Wacker
MATCHES UNDER WAY (9:45 a.m.): Players were greeted with the coldest weather they've seen all week this morning with temperatures topping out in the upper 40s when the first match of the day, Rory McIlroy vs. Geoff Ogilvy, teed off about 20 minutes ago. The sun is out, however, and it should warm up significantly as the day goes on.
As for the matches on the course, it didn't take long for McIlroy to jump out to an early 1 up lead after he birdied the par-5 second hole. Meanwhile, Ernie Els is also out to a 1 up lead after draining a 32-foot putt for birdie on the first hole in his match against Stewart Cink. -- Brian Wacker
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