Golf
Tiger overcomes Holmes in Match Play
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-21 10:59
"You can never really fancy your chances in this format," Lee Westwood said after making eight birdies in a 3-and-2 victory over Brandt Snedeker. "This is the kind of week where you unpack, but you don't move stuff too far away from your suitcase."
Woods appeared to have his bags packed.
He had said Tuesday that when players fall behind two or three holes, they generally lose. That looked certain when Holmes took a 3-up lead through five holes, and he staved off one charge with a birdie on the ninth to stay 2 holes ahead.
Woods had to take an unplayable lie in the desert on the 13th, swatting the bag with his driver after taking his drop. Then came a charge that sent cheers resounding across the desert fauna, starting with his birdie on the 14th.
"Very, very fortunate to advance," said Woods, who has not made it past the third round since winning in 2004.
Next up is Arron Oberholser, who is playing with an injured shoulder. He made his '08 debut by beating Mike Weir, 3 and 1. Oberholser grew up with Woods through the California junior golf ranks, but he has never faced him in match play, and could not recall playing against him in any format since a college event hosted by USC.
"I remember it because he hit some shots where I just sat there with my jaw on the floor," Oberholser said.
The Woods-Holmes match was among only eight that went the distance, the fewest number since 2002.
The blowouts came from Woody Austin, who birdied his first four holes against Toru Taniguchi; Niclas Fasth, who holed a bunker shot for eagle on No. 1 and buried Richard Green of Australia; and Byrd making Els wish he had taken that holiday in South Africa instead of changing his mind and coming to Arizona for an event that continues to haunt him.
All won by a 6-and-5 margin.
"You just don't know what to expect in match play," Fasth said. "It's like flipping a coin. It really doesn't matter who you play, except that nobody wants to play Tiger in the first round."
For the longest time, Holmes had no problems with that. And even in defeat, he took positives from making Woods beat him.
"I didn't fall apart, like you see some people," he said. "I gave him a battle, and today he just won."
