Woods & Clarke to meet in final

Darren Clarke beats Tiger Woods 4&3

The play was nothing less than spectacular. The results were nothing short of expected. The only thing Tiger Woods lacked today in the Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship was complete satisfaction.

"How many holes did I play -- 14?" he asked after dismantling Davis Love 5 and 4 in the semi-finals. "I could have been 14-under. Or better."

Then he flashed that megawatt smile, a sign that he may have been kidding.

Or maybe not.

With two eagles, four birdies, and no mercy, Woods delivered a command performance to reach Sunday's final and give himself a shot at his third straight World Golf Championship title.

The showdown against David Duval, however, will have to wait.

Standing in the way of true world domination is Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, who began working with Woods's coach a year ago and worked out with Woods -- on the range, certainly not in the gym -- when he arrived in America two weeks ago.

What could be more intimidating -- a 36-hole final against the No. 1 player in the world, or the chance to win $1 million?

"Neither," Clarke said after dispatching Duval with relative ease, 4 and 2. "If I didn't want to be in that position, I wouldn't be here. He's the best player in the world -- that's pretty obvious. I'm going to have to play particularly well to have a chance to beat him."

As Woods showed today, even that might not be enough.

Woods, who has lost only 10 out of 79 holes all week, flattened Love out the gates with a 3-iron from 235 yards into 18 feet for an eagle on the second hole, a 4-up lead at the turn and put on an exhibition that showed why Woods is the favourite every time he tees it up.

Just ask Love. It was the third time in four months that Love, the No. 4 player in the world, had a chance to knock off Woods. And just like at the Tour Championship and the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, it was never a contest.

"Somebody has to knock him in the dirt," Love said. "Me being 1-over after five isn't exactly knocking him in the dirt."

It might not have mattered what Love was doing.

After clawing out a 1-up victory over Paul Lawrie in the morning quarterfinals, Woods was as dominant as he has ever been in running his professional match play record to 16-4-1.

"In 18 holes, anyone can win. In 36 holes, Tiger is hard to beat any time," said Butch Harmon, the coach for both Woods and Clarke. "But he's really going to be hard to beat now."

Woods was 3 up after five holes when Love flubbed a bunker shot to end his streak of 55 holes without a bogey. With birdies to close out the nine, Woods was in command.

"I didn't expect him to do all that. He played pretty phenomenal," Love said.

Including a 10-foot birdie putt that Love conceded on No. 5, Woods made the turn in 6-under 30. He finished off in style -- first with an approach that he lashed out of the rough and around the trees on the 541-yard 12th hole to 25 feet for another eagle, then by gouging the ball out of the rough to a foot two holes later to close it out.

Duval was equally impressive, but not when it counted the most.

He made six birdies in his first 12 holes during a quarterfinal rout of Scott Hoch, but couldn't carry it into the afternoon semi-finals -- and couldn't carry out his end of a dream match between the best two players in the world.

"If I could have been in it playing Tiger, it would have been a bonus," Duval said. "But the disappointment is just not being in the finals at all."

He was never on target, making his only birdie on a 35-foot putt on the fourth hole.

Clarke is a long hitter with a penchant for birdies, twice shooting 60 on the European Tour last year. His advantage over Duval came on two of the toughest holes at La Costa, hitting it to five feet on the 446-yard fifth hole and to four feet on the 450-yard 10th for a 2-up lead.

He, too, finished the day in style with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 15th.

"Fourteen pars and a birdie -- you're going to lose," Duval said. "I got a good thumping. I got what I deserved."

Duval has to return Sunday to play an 18-hole consolation match against Love, with $400,000 going to the winner and $300,000 for fourth place.

The losers in the quarterfinals each got $150,000.

Clarke kept the Match Play Championship from an All-American semi-finals for the second straight year by rallying from 3 down after four holes to defeat Sutton.

Love won 3 and 2 over Miguel Angel Jimenez, while Duval was so impressive in his victory that Hoch quipped, "Where's Tonya Harding when you need her?" after Duval made yet another birdie on the 11th hole.

Woods had a few anxious moments -- and a bizarre one -- in the morning. He struck a branch on his back swing on No. 10, causing a branch to break and a pine cone to fall on his head. Because Woods didn't follow through and hit the ball, he violated rule 13-2 -- improving the area of his intended swing. The penalty in match play is loss of the hole, which put Lawrie 2 up.

But Woods made a key par putt to halve the 11th hole, then won the holes 12-14 when the Scotsman started missing fairways and greens, and held on for the 1-up victory.

He now gets a chance Sunday at golf's new Hat Trick. Woods won the NEC Invitational at Firestone and the American Express Championship at Valderrama, so this is the only World Golf Championship event he hasn't won.

And the series is only four tournaments old.

These are a far cry from majors, but Woods values them more than a regular PGA Tour event.

"Normal tour events don't have the best players in the world," he said.

Like it matters.