Ireland’s Darren Clarke along with Australians Peter Lonard and Adam Scott will fly The European Tour flag in the quarter-finals of the World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play at La Costa Resort & Spa in California.
The trio all came through tight and testing third round matches, Clarke beating American Ryder Cup player Jim Furyk on the last green, Lonard seeing off fellow countryman Robert Allenby at the same spot, while Scott beat defending champion Kevin Sutherland 2 and 1.
The make up of the draw means that The European Tour will have at least one representative in the semi-finals as Clarke and Lonard come face-to-face in the last eight, while Scott, the youngest player in the field at 22, will face the oldest player left, 49 year old American Jay Haas.
In the second round, Clarke brushed aside Davis Love 7 and 6 but found the going tougher against Furyk. Indeed the Ulsterman birdied four of the first 11 holes but still only found himself one hole up.
An errant club selection at the 14th saw Clarke fly his approach shot over the green and lose the hole to see the match return to level and, as the nerves began to jangle, the duo halved the 15th and 16th with respective bogeys.
But the Irishman, who won the title in 2000 when he beat Tiger Woods in the final, kept his composure and showed his affinity again for the closing stretch at La Costa, winning the 17th with a par four and wrapping up a two hole victory at the last as Furyk again found trouble.
“I putted nicely all day without holing an awful lot but it is great to come through and I’m delighted to win,” he said. “I knew it was always going to be a difficult match against Jim. He is a world class player so it was always going to be tight.”
Quarter-final opponent Lonard continued to impress in his first appearance in the contest, his march to the last eight even more impressive with the realization that, an Australian event ten years ago aside, this week has been his first experience of professional match play.
“I’m still not really sure what I’m supposed to be doing but I must be doing something right because I’m still here,” said Lonard, whose match with Allenby never saw more than one hole in it before Lonard settled matters on the home green.
“As a player I don’t make a lot of mistakes and I don’t rack up big numbers which I think helps in this sort of event and on this sort of course. More experienced match play players have told me that pars are valuable and I think I’ve found that out to be true.”
Scott, a double European Tour winner in 2002, had seen off Bernhard Langer and Rocco Mediate in earlier rounds, but looked to be in trouble when he lost the first two holes in his match with Kevin Sutherland, who had already beaten Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose.
But the Australian battled back and birdies at the 11th and 12th helped bring the contest back to all square. When Sutherland found trouble at the 14th, Scott took the lead for the first time in the day and a superb birdie two at the 188 yard 16th put him two up with two to play, from where he made no mistake.
“Funnily enough I’ve struggled all week on the front nine but I’ve played the back nine really well – I suppose it’s best that way though,” said Scott.
“I wasn’t really too concerned that I lost the first two holes because there was still 16 to go, but having said that you don’t want to let your opponent get three or four ahead early on because that can be tough to claw back.
“The course is also playing much tougher with the rough being up and of course with it being so wet it is playing to its full length and the greens are so soft. You realise then, that you are going to make mistakes but the key is to stay patient and I did that today.”
Elsewhere, there was not such good news for the other two European Tour Members in the last 16, Alex Cejka losing the last two holes to go out to the 2001 US PGA Champion David Toms on the final green, while Stephen Leaney felt the full force of the power of Tiger Woods, losing six of the first seven holes to the World Number One before going down 7 and 6.
“I was probably about four over par for the 12 holes so I never really had a chance and he showed why he is the best in the world, he just doesn’t make mistakes,” said Leaney.
“I knew that was the key, I knew he wasn’t going to make mistakes and I guess that puts pressure on you from the start. But I just didn’t play as well as I know I can which is disappointing. Overall though, I achieved a lot by getting to the third round in terms of my world ranking so I’m pleased with that.”
Woods will now meet his Ryder Cup colleague Scott Hoch in the quarter-finals, Hoch having seen off Japan’s Toshi Izawa by 4 and 3, while Toms will complete the last eight line-up with a clash against Jerry Kelly, who produced the surprise result of the day, beating the third seed Phil Mickelson 3 and 2.
