Woods' eagle on 18th ties international match

Tiger Woods eagled the 18th hole to give the American-British team a 6-6 tie Tuesday against the Nordic All Stars in the SAS Invitational Match Play Tournament.

Woods' spectacular finish on the par-5 hole at the Rungsted Golf Club north of the Danish capital enabled him to finish even with Denmark's Thomas Bjorn in the sixth and last match of the day.

"It was a good finish," Woods said. ``We had a good match. Thomas and I really played well today. We made a lot of birdies; there were a lot of good shots in there. I think it was appropriate that we ended up even."

Woods never got to the 18th green Monday, losing to Sweden's Jesper Parnevik 2 and 1 in Stockholm during the first day's action, which also included matches in the three other Nordic capitals of Copenhagen, Oslo and Helsinki.

The world's top-ranked player was in danger again against Bjorn.

A member of Europe's winning Ryder Cup team two years ago, Bjorn was one up with two holes left after making a birdie on the 16th.

After halving the 17th, Woods hit a perfect drive on the last fairway. His approach shot, using a 9-iron, was even better, stopping about 10 feet from the pin. Bjorn also had an eagle putt but missed.

"I wasn't really nervous, having played Tiger before," Bjorn said. ``We had a great match. He did what the No. 1 player in the world had to do -- eagled the last hole."

Anssi Kankkonen, an unheralded Finn who lost his European Tour card last year, was an unlikely hero.

Down three after 10 holes against Stewart Cink of the United States, Kankkonen reeled off six birdies in eight holes and just missed an eagle putt on No. 18 that would have given him the victory. They finished even.

Mark O'Meara, the American-British team captain, beat Sweden's Patrik Sjoland 4 and 3 for his second win in two days.

Last year, when the U.S.-British team prevailed by 1 point, O'Meara lost both matches after having won two majors, the Masters and the British Open. This time he won both after missing the cut in the British.

Per Haugsrud of Norway, who upset Colin Montgomerie in Oslo on Monday, beat Andrew Magee of the United States 4 and 2 and Robert Karlsson of Sweden defeated Steve Stricker of the United States 2 and 1 for the Nordics' other victories.

Montgomerie, Europe's top golfer the past six years, edged Parnevik 2 and 1.

As in Stockholm, the gallery of 12,000 gave Woods a bigger salute than the local player during player presentations.

"The fans were just unbelievable, like in Sweden where I played yesterday," Woods said. "To see them come out and support us players, not only root for their home players but root for any good shot, that is, I think, wonderful.

"You can see that their etiquette is very good. I can't wait to come back. It's wonderful to expand the game and go places where we traditionally haven't been. To see the growth of golf in Scandinavia is wonderful."

AP