Casey, Micheel set for HSBC showdown

European PGA Tour | 2006 HSBC World Match Play Championship | Semi-Finals | 17 Sep 2006

England’s Paul Casey and American Shaun Micheel will go head-to-head over Wentworth’s West Course tomorrow for the 2006 HSBC World Match Play title and a £1m pay day – the biggest prize in golf.

A tense day of semi-final action saw Casey power past Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie 6&5 while Micheel edged out Sweden’s Robert Karlsson by two holes and as a result this year’s championship will provide a new name for the Mark McCormack trophy.

Casey, the No.12 seed, was first to book his place in Sunday’s 36-hole finale with a convincing 6&5 victory over his Ryder Cup team-mate Colin Montgomerie of Scotland.

The 29-year-old will be hoping to join an elite list of players who triumphed on their first appearance in the prestigious event that includes inaugural winner Arnold Pamer (1964), Tom Weiskopf (1972), Hale Irwin (1974), Isao Aoki (1978), Bill Rogers (1979), Greg Norman (1980) and Ernie Els (1994).

Victory would also see him become the third Englishman to claim the title, after Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood, and perhaps more importantly it would see him overhaul his compatriot David Howell at the top of the European Tour Order of Merit.

There is also more at stake for 37-year-old Micheel aside from the presitge and prize money as a win would promote him into the world’s top 50 players and assure him an invite to the WGC American Express event at The Grove later this month.

Casey’s latest success was his third big win of the week, following his 6&4 first round triumph over South Africa’s Retief Goosen and yesterday’s 5&3 win over Canada’s Mike Weir.

The Englishman, who has failed to progress past the first round of the WGC Accenture Match Play in four attempts, commented, "I got Colin on a slightly off day. I think I was very fortunate, I don’t know what it was, but that wasn’t Colin at his best simple as that.

“I did play some good golf at times, and I knew it was going to be a tough match, but he really let me off the hook.”

Montgomerie was magnanimous in defeat, saying, "I didn’t get any breaks really, but that’s like a football manager complaining about the fourth goal being off-side when you lose 6-0.

“He [Casey] played well, deserved this victory and the best of luck to him in the final.”

Casey took charge of proceedings in the morning as Montgomerie struggled to find the form that has propelled him past England’s David Howell and defending champion Michael Campbell of New Zealand in the earlier rounds.

After halving the first in par the pair exchanged holes at the next two before Casey put his foot on the accelerator. His first birdie of the day at the 4th followed by a Montgomerie bogey at the 6th opened up a two hole cushion and a further stumble from the Scot at the 8th and 10ft birdie putt at the 9th from Casey doubled that advantage.

An excellent tee shot at the short 10th set up Casey’s next birdie that carried him five holes ahead but Montgomerie clawed one back with a par at the par four 11th.

There was no separating the pair over the next three holes and when Montgomerie found trouble on the 15th a par was good enough for Casey to move to 5up.

Things got worse for Montgomerie when a superb five wood approach at the 17th set up an eagle for Casey but he offered his fans some hope on the 18th.

Despite finding a greenside bunker with his approach, he escaped successfully and earnt a roar from the crown with an 18ft birdie to close the gap to five holes once again.

But Montgomerie failed to get any momentum after lunch and after finding the sand on the 3rd could only manage a bogey that allowed Casey to turn the screw with a par.

A Casey birdie at the 4th took him to 7up and the match appeared to be heading for an extremely premature end.

But Montgomerie won two of the next three holes with Casey this stuttering with his putter. But the Englishman rediscovered his touch on the 8th sinking his putt from 25ft as his opponent

Again Montgomerie rallied claiming an excellent birdie on the 9th but that was to be the final highlight of his round.

Successive halved holes cranked up the pressure on Montgomerie and Casey closed in on the win with a superb eagle at the 12th.

And the contest was over on the 13th when, with two putts for the win, Casey rolled it close prompting the concession from Montgomerie.

And so the stage is set for this year’s HSBC World Match Play Championship Final.

Now just one win away from an historic triumph he added, “It would be great if I went on and won. It would be by far the biggest win of my career. It shows me that what I’ve been working on in my game is paying off.”

A victory tomorrow would also bring him a £1m pay day – a fact not lost on the K Club-bound star.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to play for that much money before, I don’t know whether that will start playing on my mind or not. Where else can we win £1m? Unless we get on ’Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ – and I can’t answer those questions, so this is the best opportunity I’ve got.”

In contrast to the first semi-final, Karlsson and Micheel were neck and neck for much of their clash and the result was in doubt until Karlsson conceded the 36th hole and with it the match.

The morning action saw Karlsson shade the opening nine before Micheel turned the tables on the back nine.

A rare bogey for the American at the first saw Karlsson take the early lead with a par and he stretched his advantage with a 25ft eagle putt at the par five 4th.

But it failed to spark the kind of run that saw the Swede tear up the course in his first round clash with World No.2 Jim Furyk.

Instead he found the sand at the short 5th enabling Micheel to take the hole in par but another flash of brilliance saw Karlsson restore his two hole lead.

His second shot to the par four 7th found the edge of the green and from there he chipped in for birdie much to the delight of the gallery.

But again Karlsson undid his hard work by finding the trees with his very next tee shot and as a result Micheel was able to claim the hole with a par again.

Karlsson’s advantage was wiped out at the long 12th where he found the sand and then three-putted from 13ft.

The tide turned completely at the 13th where Micheel sunk a 30ft putt for a birdie that gave him the lead for the first time in the match.

The golf was not either player’s best, perhaps the reflection of playing for a guaranteed pay day of £400,000, and this was underlined as Karlsson two-putted from 10ft at the 15th and still took the hole as Micheel could only manage a six.

Another Micheel birdie , this time at the par four 16th, put him back in the lead but the match was all-square at the next after Karlsson holed in four.

The disappointing round for the Swede continued at the 18th where he was forced to play his approach while standing in a bunker. Although he benefited from some fortune when his ball ricocheted kindly off a tree he still could not match the American’s birdie that enabled him to go into the break with a slender lead.

The pattern of the contest continued throughout the afternoon round with neither player setting the course alight but crucially it was Micheel who kept his nose in front.

He stretched his lead to two holes with a birdie two at the 2nd but Karlsson pegged him back at the 4th with a birdie of his own.

There was no separating the two over the next few holes until the 9th where both players found trouble before Karlsson took the hole with a bogey.

However the match did not remain on level terms for long as Micheel sunk a 14ft birdie on the next hole to restore his lead.

Twice more on the back nine the resilient Karlsson levelled the match with birdies but then had to watch Micheel snatch the match back.

With time and holes running out Karlsson summoned an excellent approach to the 17th that offered a superb birdie chance but any hope he had of levelling the match was snuffed out when Micheel holed his 11 footer for birdie.

Under the sort of pressure he is set to face at next week’s Ryder Cup, Karlsson kept the match alive by sinking his before the pair headed to the last.

Needing something special to take the match into extra holes Karlsson could only join his opponent in finding the sand beside the green and when he failed to get up and down his cap came off and he offered his hand to Micheel.

It was obvious to me that it was going to come down to the end," commented Micheel in the aftermath. "We were just trading holes back and forth and I think if I had made a few more putts early on it might have been a different story.

“We just had a nice match and I feel very fortunate to have come out on top today.”

A defeated Karlsson rued a series of missed putts that could have swung the match his way.

“This is that kind of course and it’s not easy to hole a lot of putts around here, but that’s the same for everyone. I really enjoyed the match today and I think we had a really good day, someone had to win in the end and I would just like to wish Shaun good luck for tomorrow.”

Looking ahead to his final showdown with Casey, Micheel added, "It’s going to be a tough day for me, playing here in England against an Englishman. I understand that they are going to want him to win and I’m going to have to deal with some things I don’t normally have to deal with.

“I just need to tidy up my game a little bit. I think if you put the ball in play, it doesn’t matter who you’re playing. You force the other guy to hit a good shot, but it works the other way as well.”

Source – HSBC
Photo – Anthony Powter