Holder
Mark O'Meara dramatically chipped in for an eagle at the 36th as he battled back
from a three-hole halfway deficit to beat Nick Price in the World Matchplay semifinals
on Saturday.
O'Meara, who
was nursing a sore neck as he secured a one-hole victory over the Zimbabwean,
now faces Scot Colin Montgomerie in Sunday's final -- a repeat of their second-round
match last year which the American won 5 and 4 on the way to the title.
Montgomerie, who lost his only previous appearance in the final to Ernie Els in
1994, defeated Irish Ryder Cup team mate Padraig Harrington 7 and 6 in the other
semifinal.
"I dodged the
bullet. I was very fortunate to win today," said O'Meara, who also chipped in
at the third playoff hole to beat Craig Parry of Australia on Friday.
This time he faced a 30-yard chip over a hillock at the last hole, but from the
moment he struck it he knew it had a chance.
"Someone
in the crowd said 'Chip it in'. I struck it perfectly, it landed perfectly and
rolled right into the centre of the hole," said the 42-year-old American, 15 days
older than his opponent.
It capped a great comeback for O'Meara, who struggled all morning with the sore
neck that has bothered him all week.
He trailed by three at lunch to another wonderful putting display by Price, who
holed from 30, 27, 25 and 12 feet in his round of 66.
But just as O'Meara felt better after icing his neck during lunch, Price's putting
went off in the afternoon.
"Actually
I felt my game slide in the morning. I tried to sort it out on the practice ground
but my feel left me," Price said.
By the 26th hole, O'Meara was level. He went ahead with a par at the 32nd but
bogeyed the 34th.
At the
last, his drive finished near the trees on the right with Price in a bunker. O'Meara's
second was short and in the rough while Price reached the front of the green.
PRICE FACES 55-FOOT
PUTT
But when O'Meara sank
his chip, Price was left with a 55-foot putt to stay alive. It rolled past the
hole.
O'Meara feels Montgomerie
will want revenge for his defeat last year. "He wants a little redemption. To
beat him I'll have to play better than I'm playing right now."
Montgomerie, the second seed who has never won this title in seven attempts, went
ahead decisively at the par-five fourth when he reached the green in two and two-putted
as Harrington drove into a ditch.
He slowly stretched his lead for the rest of the day as Harrington's driving faded
and fatigue overtook him.
Montgomerie felt numbness in his jaw from the troublesome tooth which forced him
out of last week's Alfred Dunhill Cup and which he will have removed on Monday.
He said he feared a Harrington
backlash after the Irishman won the second hole in the afternoon with a birdie
to get back to four down.
But five one-putt greens in succession from the fourth ensured his victory. If
he wins on Sunday it will be his sixth victory of the year, equalling the European
Tour record of the modern era.
Montgomerie sympathised with Harrington's fatigue and criticised the 12-man format.
"The sooner we get to a stage
where there are no seeds, the better. It is unfair to the players who aren't seeded,"
he said.
"Padraig has won
two games. I have won two games, yet I am in the final and he is going home. There
is something wrong."
