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Wonderful Warren reaches semis
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Wonderful Warren reaches semis

Second seed Marc Warren shot an eagle on the 19th hole to secure his spot in the semi-finals of the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play on Saturday evening.

Marc Warren

The Scotsman overcame a shoulder blade problem and a three hole deficit to beat England's Tyrrell Hatton in a play-off, holing his second shot of the extra hole from 59 yards.

Birdies at the first and second saw Hatton take a two hole lead before Warren stemmed the tide by winning the third.

The Englishman took the fourth and fifth holes only for Warren to win five of the next six to put himself in the driving seat.

Warren was one up going into the final hole before Hatton levelled things up when he chipped in for a birdie.

But the match belonged to Warren, whose approach on the 19th took one bounce before diving into the hole.

He said: "To be fair it was one of the most bizarre matches I have ever been involved in.

"It started on the first with poor tee shots from both of us into a bunker and he ended up holing out from 100 yards for a birdie.

"He hit two other chips in after that, one into 18 to go to extra holes and I guess it was just my turn at the 19th to hole out.

"It was a good tee shot and I holed it from 59 yards. Yeah, I do not really know what to say. It was just really bizarre from start to finish." Marc Warren

The 34 year old will face Kiradech Aphibarnrat in the semi-final after he recovered from a shaky start to beat Michael Hoey 2 and 1.

Aphibarnrat was three down after four holes, but he went on to win four of the last seven to see off his opponent.

David Howell became the first man to qualify for the final four when he beat fellow Englishman Chris Wood 5 and 4.

A birdie at the third and an eagle at the fourth saw Wood take a two hole lead early on, only for his opponent to win four of the next five holes to reach the turn two up.

Howell holed his approach to the 11th for an eagle two and a par on the next was enough for him to move four up before he finally sealed the win at the 14th.

The former Ryder Cup player is looking forward to playing on day four. He said: "Obviously we all want to be in the final and we all want to win this championship.

"It has been a joy to play and everyone has enjoyed the match play. It is the first time in many years we have had it on the Tour.

"I have enjoyed it and I know all the guys have. I would like to get to that final and have a chance to win.

"I am looking forward to tomorrow (Sunday) and hopefully I can get the job done."

Howell will take on Robert Karlsson in Sunday's semi-final after the Swede beat home favourite Richie Ramsay by one hole.

Karlsson holed from 50 feet for birdie across the 16th green to take the lead for the first time in the match and chipped in for a par on the 17th to stay in front before closing out the match on the last.

"It was nice," said Karlsson. "I played reasonably well.

"I got a little behind in the beginning but he played great, so there was not much I could do.

"I kept going and made some good putts.

"At the end, a couple of bonus ones went in, but that happens."

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