Tiger roars

Tiger Woods was off to a flying start against Australian Stephen Leaney in their Accenture world match play championship third-round clash at La Costa in California today.

The world number one and top seed did not even have to putt on the first hole, but when he did at the short second, he drained a 25-footer to go two-up and then Woods made a 14-foot eagle putt on the 575-yard third.

Leaney had hooked his opening drive, then clipped a tree with his second shot and saw the ball dive into the water short of the green. With his fourth shot, he was in a bunker and when he failed to hole from there, he conceded.

The tournament may be remembered so far for its upsets, but while Woods has been knocked out in the past by Jeff Maggert, Darren Clarke and bottom seed Peter O’Malley, he has built up a record of 10 wins against those three defeats.

That made him clear favourite for the first prize of just over one million US Dollars and in beating Carl Pettersson and KJ Choi in the first two rounds he had not had a single bogey.

Japan’s Toshi Izawa took the lead in the second match against American Scott Hoch, conqueror of Padraig Harrington yesterday. Hoch three-putted the second.

The only Europeans left – Darren Clarke and Alex Cejka – were involved in later matches, Clark against Jim Furyk and Cejka against another American Ryder Cup player in David Toms.

Leaney failed to get up and down from sand at the 204-yard fifth, and with that Woods went four-up.

Defending champion Kevin Sutherland, chasing his ninth straight victory in the tournament, won the first two holes off Adam Scott, but with Peter Lonard facing Robert Allenby, Australia were assured of at least one player in the last eight. They halved the first.

Woods rubbed salt into Leaney's wounds on the sixth, chipping in from 28 feet for a birdie that swept him five ahead.

Clarke and Furyk shared the first in par fours.

Woods was in danger of his first bogey of the week at the 423-yard seventh.

He drove in the rough, just missed the green and then hit his third shot 10 feet past.

But in went the putt and with Leaney bogeying again, the gulf was six.