Marana, AZ (My Sportsbook) - Geoff Ogilvy reached the final of the WGC- Accenture Match Play Championship for the third time in four years on Saturday when he knocked off last year's runner-up Stewart Cink, 4&2.
Ogilvy's opponent will be Paul Casey, who finally outlasted fellow Englishman Ross Fisher, 2&1.
Ogilvy, who defeated 19-year-old Rory McIlroy in Saturday's quarterfinals, won the 2006 title, then lost in the final to Henrik Stenson the following year. He has already hoisted the trophy once this season at the opening Mercedes- Benz Championship, so he would head into the final as a favorite.
But, he is playing a friend of his with some local ties as well. Casey and Ogilvy both live in Arizona and the two came to Dove Mountain earlier in the month to prepare for the championship.
"It'll be fun," said Ogilvy. "It's amazing. We both came down a couple weeks ago to check out the course. It's very coincidental."
Ogilvy jumped out on Cink with wins at the first two holes. Cink cut the deficit to 1-down, then got a gift of a hole at 11 when Ogilvy hit a five-wood 295 yards into a bunker. He missed a seven-footer and walked off the green clearly agitated.
"I lost that hole and was a bit flustered. Not flustered, but I was frustrated with that," admitted Ogilvy.
Casey won an ugly match against Fisher on Saturday after he beat Sean O'Hair pretty easily in the semifinals. Casey also has a victory under his belt in 2009. His came at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship on the European Tour, but on Saturday, Ogilvy was much more impressive.
Both players parred 12, then Ogilvy came up short and right with his second at the par-five 13th. He hit a beautiful pitch to four feet, but had to wait to see if Cink could convert a 10-footer for birdie. Cink missed, Ogilvy did not and the Aussie moved 1-up.
Cink hit a nice shot from a fairway bunker 30 feet short at No. 14. Ogilvy hit it to a similar spot, albeit about halfway closer. Cink missed, but Ogilvy went to school and cashed in his birdie putt. That win gave him a 2-up cushion with four to play.
At the driveable, par-four 15th, Ogilvy hit a perfect drive that took the hill left of the green all the way up to five feet. Cink hit a great tee ball 30 feet short of the stick, but missed his eagle putt. Ogilvy tapped in his eagle putt for a third win in a row and a 3-up margin with three to play.
Cink needed to win every hole from there to force extra holes and Ogilvy gave him little hope. Ogilvy hit his tee ball at the par-three 16th to seven feet. Cink came up short and right of the putting surface and missed his birdie pitch.
He walked up to the green and shook Ogilvy's hand to end the match.
Aside from an experience factor with this event, and fine form to open the season, what might make Ogilvy even tougher to beat on Sunday is the way he's closed matches.
Ogilvy polished off McIlroy with three straight birdies from the 15th in the quarterfinals. Against Cink, Ogilvy tallied three birdies and an eagle from 13.
"When you make birdies like that at the end, it's a nice way to finish," said Ogilvy.
His opponent on Sunday didn't play nearly as well in the semifinals.
Casey won the first hole after Fisher drove into the desert. He took the sixth when they both found the same bunker, but Casey saved par and Fisher could not from 25 feet.
Fisher two-putted for a birdie and a win at the eighth. They halved the next three with pars, then things fell apart for both.
They halved No. 12 with bogeys. Casey took the par-five 13th with a par after Fisher skulled two shots around the green en route to a bogey.
The 14th was a total disaster for both. Casey drove into a bunker and hit the lip with his second. Fisher's ball eventually landed in a bush and he caught it perfectly, but sent it over a television tower. When it was all settled, Casey missed a five-footer for bogey and they halved with double-bogey sixes.
Both players made birdie from virtually the same spot on 15, although Casey had to make a six-footer to halve the hole. He was 2-up with three to go, but Fisher wasn't ready to fold.
Casey hit a solid tee ball to 30 feet at the 16th, but Fisher knocked his shot to 15 feet. Casey missed, but Fisher calmly stroked home the birdie putt to trim it to 1-down.
Fisher hammered a drive into the sand, but had a good lie. Casey elected to use an iron off the tee at 17 and the decision paid off with a trip to the fairway.
Fisher's approach stopped 28 feet from the hole, but Casey's wedge spun back to 15 feet. Fisher missed his birdie effort and Casey closed out the match with a birdie at the 17th.
The 36-hole final begins Sunday morning and will continue in the afternoon. Cink and Fisher will play an 18-hole consolation match in the afternoon for third place.
