Tiger roars at La Costa

Tiger Woods breezed into the quarter-finals of the Accenture world match play championship at La Costa in California today.

Tiger Woods breezed into the quarter-finals of the Accenture world match play championship at La Costa in California today.

The world number one and top seed crushed Australian Stephen Leaney by a record-equalling seven and six - after winning six of the first seven holes and twice holing from off the green for eagles.

Darren Clarke, who beat Woods in the 2000 final on the course, had himself matched that record in demolishing Davis Love in the second round, but the Irishman was involved in a far tougher struggle with Jim Furyk. They were level after seven.

Woods 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 made a 14-foot eagle putt on the 575-yard third.

READ MORE

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.

Leaney failed to get up and down from sand at the 204-yard fifth and Woods rubbed salt into his opponent's wounds on the sixth, chipping in from 28 feet for birdie.

A 10-footer for par gave him the eighth, but then came his first bogey of the week - a carless three-putt at the ninth that meant he turned "only" five-up.

It was Leaney's only success. He bogeyed the 10th after a poor drive and then saw Woods have his second eagle when the Masters and US Open champion holed out from a greenside bunker at the 526-yard 11th.

The tournament may be remembered so far for its upsets, but while Woods has been knocked out in the past by Jeff Maggert, Clarke and bottom seed Peter O'Malley he has now built up a record of 11 wins against those three defeats.

That makes him clear favourite for the first prize of just over a million dollars on Sunday.

Clarke and Furyk both birdied the third, Furyk won the fourth with another, but then the Ulsterman replied in kind on the next.

Woods's next opponent looked like being Ryder Cup teammate Scott Hoch, who after putting out Padraig Harrington in the second round led Japan's World Cup winner Toshi Izawa by two with eight to play.

German Alex Cejka, the only other European in the last 16, was one up after six on 2001 US PGA champion David Toms, America's top scorer at The Belfry last September.