Subject : a tiebreaker. The thirteen-ranked Spanish player broke his opponent in
MARANA, Ariz. Portland Trail Blazers Black Friday Jersey . -- Rory McIlroy was walking down the stairs toward the driving range when he passed Lee Westwood and gave him the same message he had delivered earlier Saturday in the Match Play Championship. "See you in the morning," McIlroy said with a big smile. "Just like I told you." In 14 years of this fickle tournament, there has never been a semifinal match so compelling. McIlroy had another surge on the back nine to put away Bae Sang-moon, 3 and 2. Moments later, Westwood finished off Martin Laird by the same margin, setting up a Sunday showdown with more at stake than just a spot in the championship match. If either McIlroy or Westwood goes on to win the Match Play Championship, they would go to No. 1 in the world. "I think with both of us being up there in the world, and both of us with the possibility of going to No. 1, it gives the match definitely an extra little bit of spice," McIlroy said. The duel was not lacking spice in the first place. They were stablemates at International Sports Management until some testy exchanges last year. Shortly after McIlroy shot 80 in the final round of the Masters to blow a four-shot lead, Westwood got under his skin by saying the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland "has a pull hook in his bag under pressure." But it was McIlroy who was the first to win a major, setting records at Congressional on his way to an eight-shot win in the U.S. Open. Later in the year, when McIlroy left Chubby Chandler at ISM, Westwood tweeted that it was a bizarre move. McIlroy quickly un-followed Westwood and Chandler on Twitter. Both players say their relationship is no different than with other golfers. They dont spend as much time together, understandable because they no longer have the same manager. "Theres nothing strained about the relationship between the two of us. Its still the same as it was," Westwood said. "Rory said to me before I went out, See you tomorrow morning. And then today again there, he said, See, told you. Thats the trouble with kids nowadays. They think theyre always right, dont they?" A dull day in the desert ended with high anticipation for the final day. The championship match is at high noon. The McIlroy-Westwood duel gets under way as the sun begins to climb over the high desert. "I think its the match that most people wanted, and definitely the match that I wanted," McIlroy said. The other semifinal match Sunday morning features Hunter Mahan and Mark Wilson, assuring an American will make it to the final for the first time since Tiger Woods won in 2008. Mahan played the shortest quarterfinal match in the 14-year history of the event by beating Matt Kuchar, 6 and 5. Wilson, gaining more respect the deeper he goes in the bracket, had an easy time in his 4-and-3 win over Peter Hanson of Sweden. The 18-hole championship match will start about an hour after the semifinals. With a strong breeze, firmer conditions, tough hole locations and only four quarterfinal matches, Saturday at Dove Mountain was lacking excitement. For the first time ever, none of the quarterfinals matches reached the 17th hole. McIlroy and Westwood saved the day. For starters, its the first time the Match Play Championship semifinals have featured two of the top four seeds since 2004, when Woods and Davis Love III advanced. McIlroy is No. 2, and Westwood is No. 3. Plus, theres that small matter of No. 1 in the world. Westwood already has been No. 1 in the world, and said his priority is picking up his first WGC title. McIlroy already is a major champion, and would become the second-youngest player behind Woods to reach No. 1 in the world. "My priorities were to win major championships and win World Golf Championships because I havent ever won any," Westwood said. "Ive been at No. 1 couple of times. It would be a different way of thinking to me compared to Rory, who hasnt been No. 1. He may be thinking about it, but my main goal is to play well -- or play as well as Ive been playing -- tomorrow morning and try and win that match." Getting to this stage has been relatively easy. McIlroy had to go to the 18th hole in the opening round, but has had little resistance since then. He took the lead for good over Bae with a birdie on the 11th hole, then stretched his advantage when Bae chopped up the 13th hole and missed the par-4 15th green on the wrong side and had to settle for par. Westwood had a tougher time Saturday, but not for long. He had led in 48 of the 49 holes he played through the opening three rounds, and fell behind immediately to Laird. But starting with Lairds bogey on the sixth, Westwood won four of the next five holes. He holed a 6-foot birdie putt to halve the 13th hole and stay 2 up, then seized command when Laird took three shots to get out of the bunker on the 14th before conceding. An All-American semifinal is not nearly as surprising as the players in the match. "I dont think too many people picked me to win," Wilson said. He has a chance to win for the fourth time in 14 months, more than anyone on the PGA Tour in that time, but gets overlooked due to his medium-length off the tee. Wilson makes up for that with smart play and great putting, a deadly combination in this format. Even on the par 5s he couldnt reach at Dove Mountain, he played to the right angles and kept pressure on Hanson. Mahan escaped the opening round in 19 holes over Zach Johnson before bulling his way through the bracket with birdies. He only needed pars against Kuchar, whose belly putter went cold on him. Mahan, who won a WGC title at Firestone two years ago, won five holes with pars against Kuchar. He holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the ninth to go 5-up at the turn, then won the next hole when Kuchar again missed from 6 feet for par. "Matt couldnt find the putter today, which is rare for him, because hes a great putter," Mahan said. "I got lucky in that aspect. But I played solid, didnt make any bogeys and didnt give many holes -- and kept the pressure on him. That was nice to do." Indiana Pacers Black Friday Jersey . NHL hockey is returning to the Manitoba capital. The True North Sports and Entertainment group announced on Tuesday that they have completed a deal to purchase the Atlanta Thrashers and move them to Winnipeg in time for the 2011-12 season. San Antonio Spurs Black Friday Jersey . Sabathia did not get a decision on Monday against Tampa Bay, as he allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings. Hes 13-4 on the year to go along with a 3.42 ERA. Since winning six decisions over a nine-start stretch, Sabathia is 0-1 over his last two outings, but still has only allowed more than three runs once in his previous 10 trips to the hill.MADRID, Spain -- Serena Williams beat Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-1 to reach the Madrid Opens second round, however older sister Venus lost 6-4, 6-1 to Angelique Kerber on Monday. The ninth-seeded Williams fired 13 aces and 40 winners against Vesnina, who was struggling with her game on the slippery blue clay court. The Russian lost her balance in the sixth game and set up a break point for Williams, who pulled ahead to lead 4-2. Williams ninth ace of the match provided a set point for the ninth-ranked American to take the first set and wrap up the match against the 68th-ranked Russian in just over an hour. "Im feeling good but I wasnt thrilled," said Williams, who will face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia. "This is my first tournament in Europe so hopefully I will just keep my good form and just keep going," she added. Venus third tournament since being sidelined by illness is over after being broken six times by the 12th-seeded German. The seven-time major champion reached the quarterfinals at Miami and Charleston, North Carolina, earlier this season. Fifth-seeded Samantha Stosur rallied to beat Christina McHale 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 to reach the third round, as did French Open champion Li Na after winning 6-3, 6-1 against Silvia Soler-Espinosa. Petra Cetkovska also advanced, beating Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-4, 7-5. Defending champion Petra Kvitova beat Marina Erakovic 6-2, 6-3 in her first round matchh. Denver Nuggets Black Friday Jersey. Kvitova needed over an hour to beat Erakovic, with the Czech player saving all three break points against her while converting four herself. Also on Monday, Andrea Hlavackova, Ekaterina Makarova, Lucie Hradecka, Lucie Safarova and Sara Errani won their first round matches at Madrid Open. Local favourite Carla Suarez Navarro rallied to beat 15th-seeded Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to reach the second round. In the mens tournament, Spains Nicolas Almagro rallied to beat Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3. Almagro saved four set points before hitting long to lose the first set in a tiebreaker. The thirteen-ranked Spanish player broke his opponent in the opening game of the second after adjusting his game to the new court surface to win the match in three sets. "The court isnt very good, its very slippery," Almagro said of the unorthodox blue clay court that has been criticized by players after it was introduced for the first time in this years tournament. Other winners Monday included Serbias Victor Troicki, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia and American Ryan Harrison who beat Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5). Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain ousted 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic begins his title defence Tuesday against Daniel Gimeno-Traver, who beat Victor Hanescu 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3. ' ' ' |
