Clarke swoops with eagles to progress

Darren Clarke fired two eagles in four holes as he booked his place in the semi-finals of the Accenture Match Play Championship today.

Clarke, winner of the title four years ago, beat Jerry Kelly five and three at La Costa and will face Davis Love for a place in the final.

The Irishman holed his third shot from 120 yards on the par five eighth against Kelly, and then holed from 14 feet for a more conventional three on the 11th.

It was electrifying golf in every sense of the word, for Clarke’s second shot to the 11th hit an overhead power cable which crosses the fairway.

That meant he had to take the shot again from the same place, without penalty, and the 35-year-old proceeded to fire it onto the green to take command of the match.

In fact it was Clarke’s third vital eagle of the week. Trailing Eduardo Romero in the first round, he chipped in for an eagle on the 18th to take the match into extra holes before eventually winning on the 25th hole.

“This course has been kind to me in the past and it certainly has again this week,” admitted Clarke.

“The game went almost exactly to plan and I am playing just about where I want to be.

“It also helped that I get along well with Jerry and we had a lot of fun out there.”

The only downside for Clarke is that his manager Chubby Chandler, who is a Bolton fan, will now miss Sunday’s Carling Cup final with Middlesbrough.

Padraig Harrington also eagled the 11th this morning but ultimately it was not enough to prevent him losing to defending champion Tiger Woods two and one.

Harrington was two over par and four down at the turn but hit a superb second to seven feet for eagle at 11 and then pegged another hole back when Woods bogeyed the 15th.

He then had a great chance to get within one hole but missed from 10 feet for birdie on the 16th, and Woods parred the next to complete victory.

“I struggled with my game as I had done all week,” admitted Harrington.

“The first few days I got through by making pars but today I was still struggling and didn’t hole the putts and it was always going to be difficult under those circumstances.

“It’s hard to raise your game and I just wasn’t there today. It’s good to get through a few rounds here, which I haven’t done in the past, but I really did not play that well this week and scrambled my way through.”

Englishman Ian Poulter lost out on the 18th green to Australian Stephen Leaney.

Poulter was three down with five to play to the Australian, who knocked Colin Montgomerie out on the final hole in the third round, but staged a brave fightback to take the match down the 18th.

And the 28-year-old could have taken it into extra holes only to miss a seven foot birdie putt on the last.

The other quarter-final was an all-American affair between Love and Mickelson.

They enjoyed a thrilling encounter with six of the first eight holes won with birdies, but the finale saw Mickelson make a mess of the 18th.

He looked to have the advantage when he hit a big drive and Love found rough off the tee.

But the left-hander tried to hit the green with his second and carved it way right into heavy rough, and then hit a tree with his attempted recovery, meaning Love’s par five was enough to win the match.