Woods finds rhythm in pursuit of elusive title

With A long weekend in prospect, he hopes, Tiger Woods got his work done in short order yesterday by beating Stephen Leaney 7 and 6 in the third round of the Accenture World Matchplay. The result equalled the record winning margin for the event, as Darren Clarke had on Thursday, but the way Woods performed might have unsettled his future opponents had they not still been out on the course as the world No 1 wound down on the practice range.

Woods was gifted the first hole by Leaney, who pulled his drive badly and then found water. From then on there was little the Australian could do to get back into the match. Woods birdied the second, eagled the third and chipped in at the sixth. After the seventh he was six-up.

At the ninth Woods three-putted for his first bogey in three rounds but he soon won the next two holes. At the par-five 11th, while Leaney had a birdie putt ahead of him, Woods holed out from a greenside bunker for another eagle. "I wasn't trying to make it as I had with the chip at the sixth," Woods said. "I was just trying to get it close to force him to hole his birdie putt. I got off to a great start and he was not playing well so I just kept the pressure on."

This is only Woods's third event after a two-month lay-off following surgery on his left knee in December. He won his first event back, the Buick Invitational down the road in San Diego, before finishing fifth in Los Angeles last week. "I took a huge layoff and it takes a while to get back in the rhythm but I feel I am now," he said.

Woods plays Scott Hoch, a 4 and 3 winner over Toshi Izawa, in this morning's quarter-finals. The semis follow in the afternoon before Sunday's 36-hole final. Woods seems determined to make up for his first round exit last year. Having won all the majors, the Players Championship, the World Cup and the other two World Championships, this is the one title that has eluded his magnificent CV.

Three years ago he was beaten by our own Clarke in the final but asked if he was playing better than then, Woods replied: "Definitely." Nor will the workload required trouble the fitness fanatic. "It's one of the reasons I work as hard as I do."

Woods again declined to reveal whether he will be travelling to the Middle East to play in next week's Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour. But Ernie Els, the defending champion, did confirm his participation yesterday, the day after Colin Montgomerie decided to switch to the Doral event in Miami.

Clarke and Alex Cejka, the last two remaining Europeans in the tournament, were both involved in tight matches against their Ryder Cup opponents, Jim Furyk and David Toms, respectively. Clarke overwhelmed Davis Love in the previous round but had to wait until a birdie at the ninth to edge ahead of Furyk.

Meanwhile, the increasingly hysterical debate about whether Augusta National, home of the Masters, should admit women members took a more sinister turn when the American White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan announced they supported the club. The group has applied for a protest permit in Augusta for the week of the Masters, saying they want to stand up for the right of the club to choose whomever they want to be members.

Martha Burk, the chair of the National Council of Women's Organisations, has been leading a campaign to get Augusta to change its membership policies. She is planning protests in Augusta and has been joined by Jesse Jackson's Rainbow coalition.

Burk's campaign has already led to Augusta withdrawing its corporate sponsors while she has attempted to persuade CBS, who hold the television rights for the Masters, not to broadcast the tournament. Burk was not slow to offer a reaction to the KKK's announcement.

"I'm sure the Augusta National welcomes the support of the Ku Klux Klan because they seem bent on discriminating against women at any cost," Burk told newspapers in Atlanta. "Augusta National should not be shocked by the KKK's endorsement. They have behaved in a manner that attracts this type of support.

"They are going to have a real circus as this goes on. If I was Augusta National, I would spare my golfers, my members, my patrons, the city and citizens of Augusta, and the tournament all the trouble by simply opening membership immediately to women or announcing a plan to do so in a reasonable amount of time." This outburst brought a sharp response from a spokesman at Augusta National. "As a result of the controversy created by political activists, a number of organizations – some of them extreme – have sought to voice their political views," he said.

"Anyone who knows anything about Augusta National Golf Club or its members knows this is not something that the club would welcome or encourage. For our critics to try to capitalise on this sideshow is utterly reprehensible and has no place in any civilized discourse."

World matchplay championship (La Costa, Carlsbad, Calif) Second-round scores: T Woods (US) bt K J Choi (Kor) 4 and 3; J Leonard (US) lost to S Leaney (Aus) 6 and 5; P Harrington (Ire) lost to S Hoch (US) 3 and 2; Toshi Izawa (Japan) bt E Romero (Arg) 3 and 1; J Haas (US) bt S Maruyama (Japan) 1 hole; N Price (Zim) bt N Fasth (Swe) 2 and 1; K Sutherland (US) bt J Rose (GB) 1 hole; R Mediate (US) lost to A Scott (Aus) 1 hole; P Tataurangi (NZ) lost to P Lonard (Aus) 5 and 4; R Allenby (Aus) bt J Sluman (US) 1 hole; D Love (US) lost to D Clarke (GB) 7 and 6; J Furyk (US) bt S Lowery (US) 6 and 5; P Mickelson (US) bt B Faxon (US) 3 and 2; M Weir (Can) lost to J Kelly (US) 2 and 1; D Toms (US) bt C Riley (US) 1 hole; A Cejka (Ger) bt A Cabrera (Arg) 4 and 2. Third round: Woods bt Leaney (Aus) 7 and 6; Hoch bt Izawa 4 and 3; Scott bt Sutherland 2 and 1.