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Associated Press 19y

Woods, Singh sail away in soggy Match Play

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- So much for that dream match between
Vijay Singh and Tiger Woods. Their only contest at the Match Play
Championship on Friday was who was the first to clean out their
lockers.

Singh continued his dubious streak of never advancing beyond the
second round.

Woods lost for the first time in 13 matches, his two-year reign
ended by a little-known Aussie.

By the end of a marathon day at soggy La Costa Resort, they were
joined at the check-out line by Phil Mickelson, the No. 3 seed and
hottest player in golf who got knocked out in the third round.

As quickly as 1-2-3, the biggest stars disappeared in the
Accenture Match Play Championship.

"That's the beauty of this tournament," David Toms said after
eliminating Mickelson. "Phil and I were talking today, when he
shot that low round at Spyglass (62), you get a big lead on the
field. Here, you can do that in one match. And the next match, if
you don't play well you're gone."

The highest seed remaining after a wild day at La Costa was U.S.
Open champion Retief Goosen, who rallied from 3 down with eight
holes to play and beat hard-luck, worn-out Chad Campbell on the
19th hole.

No one had a longer day than Campbell, who played more holes
Friday (43) than he did all week at the Nissan Open, where he lost
a one-hole playoff to Adam Scott in a tournament shortened to 36
holes by rain.

Only two of the top-10 seeds were left going into the
quarterfinals.

The most shocking departure was Woods.

He had won 13 consecutive matches during his two-year reign of
the Accenture Match Play Championship. He played Nick O'Hern, an
unheralded Aussie who hasn't played in this event since he got in
as the 39th alternate four years ago in Australia, the year none of
the stars showed up.

Woods was no match. O'Hern hit most of the fairways, made all of
his important putts and never trailed in a 3-and-1 victory, ending
the match with a 3-iron from 200 yards out of the rough to 25 feet
and holing the putt.

"If I play solidly, I have a good chance of beating anyone,"
O'Hern said. "Tiger missed a few putts, which helped me out. But
that's golf. You take your chances."

O'Hern hardly suffered an emotional letdown. He promptly birdied
his first two holes and easily beat Luke Donald of England, 5 and
4, to reach the quarterfinals against Ian Poulter of England.

Singh was the first big name out the door, and while it's always
surprising when the No. 1 seed gets beaten, this one followed form.
Singh has never teed off in the third round, and Jay Haas made sure
that streak stayed in tact with a 3-and-2 victory.

Mickelson was coming off two straight PGA Tour victories and
never trailed in his first two matches, making four straight
birdies early on to whip Angel Cabrera in the second round.

Toms couldn't keep up with Lefty off the tee, but he kept it in
the fairways and made enough medium-length birdie putts that
Mickelson began to press, only to fall further behind. The match
ended on the 16th hole.

When a marathon day of two rounds in the muck at La Costa
finally ended in the gloaming, it was hard to figure out who was
the favorite for the $1.3 million prize.

Robert Allenby saw no advantage that the top three seeds would
be watching from home.

"That just says something right there in itself," Allenby said
after holding off Kirk Triplett. "It doesn't matter who you play.
Anyone in this field can win."

The other candidates:

-- Chris DiMarco, who dispatched John Daly in the morning, then
never trailed against Haas to win, 2 and 1. DiMarco has played only
his fellow Americans the first three rounds and gets another one
Saturday morning in the quarterfinals. That would be Stewart Cink,
who birdied the 18th hole and beat Davis Love III on the 20th hole.

-- Goosen outlasted Fred Couples in the morning, then rallied to
beat Campbell with a 4-foot birdie on the 19th hole. Next up is
Allenby, a dangerous player when the putts start falling.

-- Scott has looked the most impressive. He beat David Howell of
England, then overwhelmed Sergio Garcia in a match of the best two
players younger than 25. Scott won three straight holes to end the
front nine, then never gave the Spaniard a chance in winning, 4 and
3. He faces Toms in the quarterfinals.

-- Poulter kept a European presence at La Costa. The Englishman
won three of the last five holes and defeated Rory Sabbatini, 1 up,
to reach the quarterfinals for the second straight year. He faces
O'Hern, who is proving to be a dangerous player.

O'Hern had to made a 20-foot putt on the 19th hole to get past
Charles Howell III in the opening round, and he has breezed through
his next two matches, starting with Woods.

The lanky lefty jumped out to a 2-up lead with a 10-foot birdie
on the second hole, and when Woods missed a 3-foot putt on the next
hole -- a sign of things to come for the two-time champ.

"I didn't make the putts," Woods said. "That's the difference
between winning and losing a match."

It was the first time Woods lost in the Match Play Championship
since another unheralded Aussie, Peter O'Malley, knocked him out in
the first round three years ago.

This was nothing new for O'Hern. When he got into the tournament
four years ago, he dusted off the highest-ranked American in the
field, Hal Sutton, and probably should have reached the semifinals.
Instead, Steve Stricker made an improbable escape against O'Hern,
and went on to win at Metropolitan Golf Club.

"That was a tough loss to take," O'Hern said. "I always
wanted to get back to this tournament."

Now, there's no reason he can't win it.

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