Associated Press
Thursday, January 4

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Justin Leonard made a stunning escape to stay alive in the Accenture Match Play Championship on Thursday, beating Gary Orr of Scotland on the 20th hole on a day full of bizarre twists and an unlikely departure.

Stadler rides hot putter

The hard, fast greens at Metropolitan Golf Club were no problem Thursday for Craig Stadler. The Walrus matched the largest margin of victory in the three-year history of the World Match Play Championship by demolishing local favorite Craig Parry 7 and 6. Stadler, 47, is ranked 92nd in the world and was a late entry in the championship. But he progressed to the third round with an impressive seven birdies over his 12 holes Thursday. "It was obviously a short day, but a very enjoyable short day," the 1982 U.S. Masters champion said. "It's been a while since I have been 7-under after 12 holes. I putted very well today." Asked if enjoyed the sweltering temperatures around the century mark at the Metropolitan course, the affable Stadler said: "No. Most fat people don't." Stadler said he had reduced his weight from 245 pounds to 218 and his game suffered, so he is now at 240. He said however he was keen to shed another 35 pounds. "My wife started to diet in November 1999, a couple of weeks later I joined her," Stadler said. "I lost a lot of weight really quick, I lost like 55 pounds in 3½ months. "My golf game went to hell at the end of it. Probably unfortunately I decided to put back 10 or 12 to see if it helped my game and I started playing well again, and that put on another 10 or 12." Asked how he put the weight back on, Stadler said: "I started having fun again." In the third round, Stadler will play Andrew Coltart, who beat ninth-seed David Toms 3 and 2 in the day's second match. -- Reuters

Vijay Singh became the second top seed to get eliminated, as Toru Taniguchi built a 4-up lead at the turn and hung on for a 1-up victory over the Masters champion and No. 3 seed.

Only five of the top 16 seeds were still alive, including Leonard and Ernie Els.

"It's hard to stay on your game for six rounds," Leonard said. "I was lucky."

Steve Stricker and Craig Stadler felt that way, even though they played great. Both are in the 90s in the World Rankings, never dreamed of getting in the tournament a month ago, and now are in the final 16 of the $5 million event.

Ditto for Nick O'Hern of Australia, the 103rd-ranked player who has advanced farther in the Match Play Championship than Colin Montgomerie or Singh ever have.

Leonard had no reason to think he would be there much longer.

On a stifling hot day at Metropolitan Golf Club, Leonard appeared to be toast. He was 1-down to Orr on the 16th hole and so far into the bushes on the left that he had to play out back-handed with his putter just to get to the rough.

Then, he flared his approach to the right and pitched to a foot for a bogey.

Orr was sitting pretty in the fairway, but then collapsed. He pulled his approach into the bunker, skulled it out of thin sand across the green into another bunker, and failed to get-up-and-down, taking double-bogey.

Instead of being dormie, Leonard was all square, and he jumped on the opportunity by winning the 17th. Then came more dramatics.

Orr made a 15-foot putt on the last, and Leonard missed from 6 feet to force extra holes. Leonard missed another 6-footer that would have closed out the match.

"I started to think it wasn't meant to be," he said.

But Orr hit into the bunker on the 20th hole and made bogey to lose.

"I have to play a lot better the rest of the week if I want to continue," Leonard said.

Els, the No. 1 seed, also needed a comeback after falling behind three holes after four played. He finally shook off some jet lag to put away Hidemichi Tanaka on the 18th, 1-up, but it left him breathing heavily.

With a 1-up lead on the 17th, Tanaka was in the trees twice and had 75 feet left for par, while Els looked like he needed only a two-putt to win. But the diminutive Japanese star rammed home the putt, and Els had to hang on for dear life.

"I couldn't believe it," Els said. "Walking to the 18th tee, I thought maybe he was destined to win this golf tournament."

Els hit a 5-iron into 9 feet on the 18th, but Tanaka wouldn't quit. He hit his approach to 10 feet, then narrowly missed the birdie.

Next up for Els is Jean Van de Velde, another great putter capable of making them from everywhere.

"I should be used to the shock by now," Els said.

At least Els' match had a happy ending. PGA Championship runner-up Bob May figured to easily advance until Shigeki Maruyama dropped in mammoth putts on both the 17th and 18th to force extra holes, then won on the 22nd to advance.

Stadler's round wasn't nearly that dramatic.

The Walrus, No. 92 in the world and the 57th seed in the 64-man field, put an end to Craig Parry's heroics in Melbourne, defeating the local favorite 7 and 6 to match the largest margin of victory in the three-year history of the tournament.

Stricker, ranked 90th, once again played like the promising young star from a couple of years ago, using a hot putter to beat Scott Verplank 3 and 2.

Tom Lehman, the No. 4 seed, never trailed and defeated Jeff Sluman 3 and 2.