The final of the Cisco World Match Play Championship on Sunday will be a Europe against United States affair, with Colin Montgomerie trying to gain some small revenge for the Ryder Cup defeat he and his team-mates suffered at the hands of the Americans at Brookline three weeks ago. Montgomerie handed out a seven and six thumping to Padraig Harrington, his Ryder Cup colleague, while Mark O'Meara, the defending champion, went through the pain barrier to beat Nick Price by one hole, achieving victory with a brilliant pitch shot on the final green.
O'Meara, again severely bothered by agonising pain in his neck, played what he called "a miracle shot" to pip Price at the post. It was the second day running he won by chipping in from off the green -- the day before he had holed out from 20 feet to defeat Craig Parry at the 39th hole of their quarter-final match. "As I was taking a look at the shot somebody in the crowd called 'Chip it in, Mark', but I thought to myself that it sounded a lot easier than it was. "I hit a perfect pitch, but any time it goes in like that there's a little bit of luck involved. And if you want to pick a time to be lucky that was pretty good. "I was fortunate, no question about it, and I'm going to have to play better to beat Monty. He's having a hell of a year and I'm going to have my hands full." Price agreed. "Neither of us played particularly well, but it was a good match, if only because it was so close," he said. "In a way it's probably as well I lost, because in this sort of shape I would have been cannon-fodder for Monty. "Mark is going to have his work cut out, too. I'm sure he knows that he will have to raise his game a notch to have a chance of beating Colin."
At one point in the morning round Price was four up, but the patient O'Meara forced himself to grind it out on the second 18. He did not get back to all-square until the 26th hole and did not lead for the first time until the 32nd against a man who had left his magical putting touch in the locker-room at lunchtime. He will have his work cut out to live with Montgomerie, who continued his remorseless form against Harrington, who did not help his own cause by going out of bounds at the 15th and 17th holes in the morning.
Montgomerie, the European No 1, world No 3 and second seed for the tournament, is to have the tooth that has been bothering him removed on Monday. It will be the first time he has ever had a tooth extracted, and he is not particularly looking forward to it. What excites him more is that he is seeking another first - in eight attempts he has never won the Cisco event. "It's very satisfying," he said. "Padraig has been playing very, very well for the last three months, and he has now arrived as a world player." "My mouth is numb and I'm not sleeping well, so to reach the final is a good effort. I'm trying not to think about having my tooth extracted, just about golf."
