Tiger makes celebrated return and early departure

[February 27, 2009]  MARANA, Ariz. (AP) -- Golf waited eight months. Tiger Woods lasted only two days.

Woods had hardly any complaints about his first tournament since knee surgery in June, right after a momentous U.S. Open victory that made fans anticipate his return even more.

His swing looked as good as ever.

He felt no soreness or pain in his knee after walking 50 holes over three days, including a practice round.

What few people anticipated -- especially after Woods opened the Accenture Match Play Championship with a resounding victory -- was that he would be headed home after the second round Thursday.

Tim Clark made sure of that with a round that was close to flawless. The pesky South African made six birdies and no bogeys, ran off three straight birdies early on the back nine and closed out the world's No. 1 player with a 4-and-2 victory.

Woods tied for 17th, his first time out of the top five at any tournament since the British Open at Carnoustie in 2007.

If the loss was a surprise, it wasn't to Woods.

"That is the nature of match play," he said. "You can play well and go home and you play poorly and advance. I just happened to catch Tim playing really well, and I didn't make enough birdies to answer him."

Indeed, he would have beaten three players who will be back at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club on Friday.

So where does Woods go from here?

"To the airport," he said.

The good news for golf is that it won't have to wait eight more months to see him again. Woods likely will play next in two weeks at Doral in the CA Championship, followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill two weeks later, then on to Augusta National.

What he leaves behind is a Match Play Championship that will go on without him -- and without the buzz. By late Thursday, more than a few members of the media were on the phone with airlines to book flights out of the high desert in Arizona.

Phil Mickelson at No. 5 was the highest seed still alive heading into the third round Friday, having survived another late collapse to hang on for a 1-up victory over fellow Masters champion Zach Johnson.

The most compelling match figures to be No. 8 seed Geoff Ogilvy against No. 9 seed Camilo Villegas, the only part of the bracket still holding to form in the most unpredictable tournament in golf.

Ogilvy won in 19 holes against Shingo Katayama, the second straight day the Australian has gone to overtime to win. That's some good karma -- Ogilvy also went to extra holes in his first two matches back in 2006 when he won at La Costa. Villegas, meanwhile, has played only 26 holes in manhandling his opposition.

As for the buzz?

With a record-low five Americans left in the field, attention now might turn to Rory McIlroy, a 19-year-old whiz kid from Northern Ireland who won in Dubai last month and is the latest teenager who some believe could one day challenge Woods.

McIlroy, who birdied the last two holes to beat Hunter Mahan, would have been in line to face Woods in the third round, and a British reporter asked him how disappointed he was.

"I'm not," he said with a laugh. "It was either going to be Tim or Tiger, and I've got Tim. It's probably going to be a tough one, because you have to play well to beat Tiger, and obviously Tim did that today."

Did he ever.

"I knew I had to play out of my mind to beat him," Clark said.

He constantly put the pressure on Woods throughout a sunny, breezy afternoon. Clark closed him out when he hit his tee shot to 4 feet on the par-3 16th, which Woods conceded for birdie after failing to chip in from off the green.

"I was really working hard to keep myself calm and try to play my own game," Clark said. "I put a lot of iron shots pretty close, and I think perhaps he wasn't expecting that or not. But I don't think I'm ever going to intimidate Tiger Woods, let's put it that way."

This World Golf Championship suddenly has a British flavor.

While the Americans only have five players remaining, England has just as many.

Luke Donald won the last three holes over No. 4 seed Vijay Singh to win in 19 holes. Ian Poulter birdied the 17th hole to outlast Charl Schwartzel of South Africa, 1 up. Oliver Wilson made eight birdies and needed every one of them in a 2-and-1 victory over Anthony Kim. Paul Casey made short work of Mathew Goggin, 6 and 4; and Ross Fisher had the easiest match, a 6-and-5 win over Pat Perez.

Woods, the defending champion, had gone 82 consecutive holes without trailing until he caught a plugged lie in a bunker on the sixth hole and failed to save par. He squared the match with a 10-foot birdie on the next hole, and it was tied at the turn.

Then, Clark took over.

Starting with the par-5 11th, he won three straight holes with birdies, and was poised to go 4 up when Woods went bunker-to-bunker on the 14th hole. Woods, however, revived the gallery by blasting out of the sand and into the cup for a birdie to win the hole. Clark remembered what happened last year when Woods rallied from three holes down with a birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle blitz against J.B. Holmes.

"I figured, 'Well, here we go. It's about to start now,'" Clark said. "I figured the match was probably going to go to 18, even when I was 3-up with three to play. You fully expect him to do something."

The rally was on. And then it ended.

Woods' tee shot on the 331-yard 15th hit a cart path to the right of the fairway and headed into the desert. Only when Woods reached the ball did he learn it had gone over a fence and out of bounds.

Even then, he kept it interesting. Woods hit a driver for his third shot to 20 feet, and Clark expected him to make it to halve the hole. Instead, the putt missed on the high side, and the match ended one hole later.

Woods wound up playing 32 holes, and said everything felt great -- except for losing.

"I was really pleased, walking down these cart paths, and obviously playing and getting into the rhythm of playing," Woods said. "I have no soreness, have no pain. Now it's just a matter of getting back and playing, and playing more rounds."

For now, two rounds will have to suffice.

[Associated Press; By DOUG FERGUSON]

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