February 25, 2006	Saturday	Muharram 26, 1427

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CARLSBAD (California), Feb 23: Tiger Woods earned a hard-fought victory over Australian Robert Allenby on Thursday to advance to the final 16 in the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship.

On a day when all of the remaining big guns survived, top-seeded Woods sank a seven-foot birdie at the final hole to beat Allenby 1-up, advancing along with Fiji’s Vijay Singh, South African Retief Goosen and fellow American Phil Mickelson.

Woods, who posted a record 9 and 8 victory over the hapless Stephen Ames in the first round, had to work a lot harder against Allenby.

The world number one was at a disadvantage early after opening with two bogeys to go 2-down.

Next up for Woods is Chad Campbell, while Singh meets Ireland’s Padraig Harrington, who beat long-hitting Angel Cabrera of Argentina in 19 holes.

Second-seeded Singh also had his work cut out, outlasting plucky Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez 2 and 1, while Goosen beat Ben Crane 2 and 1.

Crane made an unlikely hole-in-one at the 16th, but it was too little, too late, and he promptly bogeyed the next to lose the match.

Mickelson won a battle of the heavyweights when he beat John Daly on Thursday. The fifth seed, Mickelson never trailed before closing out Daly 2 and 1 in delightful conditions at La Costa.

In other matches, Chris DiMarco, defending champion David Toms, Tom Lehman and Britain’s David Howell also advanced to the final 16.

Toms recovered from an early deficit to beat Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal 2 and 1, while DiMarco hammered Arron Oberholser 6 and 5.

Lehman, an underdog, at least on paper, continued his recent sizzling form to outlast Australian Adam Scott 1-up, while Howell beat Scott Verplank 3 and 2.

Second round results:

Bobby Jones Bracket

Tiger Woods bt Robert Allenby 1-up

Chad Campbell bt Henrik Stenson 1-up

David Toms bt Jose Maria Olazabal 2 and 1

Tom Lehman bt Adam Scott 1-up

Ben Hogan Bracket

Phil Mickelson bt John Daly 2 and 1

David Howell bt Scott Verplank 3 and 2

Geoff Ogilvy bt Nick O’Hern 21 holes

Mike Weir bt Bernhard Langer 20 holes

Gary Player Bracket

Vijay Singh bt Miguel Angel Jimenez 2 and 1

Chris DiMarco bt Arron Oberholser 6 and 5

Padraig Harrington bt Angel Cabrera 19 holes

Davis Love bt Carl Pettersson 1-up

Sam Snead Bracket

Retief Goosen bt Ben Crane 2 and 1

Shingo Katayama bt Colin Montgomerie 3 and 2

Luke Donald bt Shigeki Maruyama 4 and 3

Zach Johnson bt Sean O’Hair 1-up