Semifinal capsules: Accenture Match-Play Championship

By Helen Ross, Chief of Correspondents

Match No. 61
Tiger Woods (1) vs. Henrik Stenson (4)
Tee time: 2:10 p.m. ET
How Woods got there: He beat K.J. Choi 3 and 2. After an adventure in the desert on the first hole that gave Choi a 1-up lead, Woods squared the match with a 16-footer for birdie on the second. Then the game's No. 1 player -- and two-time Accenture Match Play Championship winner -- really got untracked on the back nine. He chipped in for eagle from 33 feet on the par-5 10th, then won Nos. 12 and 14 with birdies to go 3 up. Woods applied what was essentially the knock-out punch on the 15th hole when he made birdie from 32 feet when Choi was looking at a 4-footer that could have gotten him back into the match. So the two matched that hole with birdies and Woods got the win with a par on No. 16.

"I just had to stay patient," Woods said. "K.J. put a lot of pressure on me with his ball-striking. I just had to hang in there."

How Stenson got there: He beat Woody Austin 2 up. This was a last-man-standing affair. The two players matched birdies on the first two holes, then Austin gained a 2-up edge when Stenson bogeyed the fifth hole and Austin rolled in a 5-footer for birdie at the next. The American flirted with the sagebrush and cactus not once, but twice, in making bogey at the seventh hole and then Stenson got on a birdie run of four straight that left him 3 up at the 11th hole. The two then traded wins at the 12th and 15th holes to set the stage for a dramatic finale. Stenson missed a 24-footer for birdie and 7-footer for par at the 16th before Austin rolled in a 5-footer for birdie to narrow the deficit to 2 down. With the match dormie at the par-5 17th, Stenson couldn't convert for birdie from 26 feet and Austin extended the match with a 17-footer. The Swede put the pressure on his opponent, though, when he staked his approach to 3 ½ feet at the 18 th hole. Austin's landed 8 feet away, but he two-putted for par and Stenson made the birdie to seal the win.

What to look for: Woods is trying to reach the championship match for the four time in nine years. He won two of those previous events and lost to Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke in the other. Stenson, the defending champion, on the other hand, is riding a 10-match winning streak. This is the first time that two former champions have squared off in the semifinals. Don't be surprised to see this one go extra holes -- Stenson has reached No. 18 in every one of his matches this week, and needed 25 to dispatch Trevor Immelman in the second round. "Hopefully, I don't play 18 against him -- I'll knock him out before that," Stenson said. "I'm really looking forward to the challenge."

Match No. 62
Stewart Cink (6) vs. Justin Leonard (13)
Tee time: 2:25 p.m. ET
How Cink got there: He beat Angel Cabrera 3 and 2. The American never trailed in his match with the reigning U.S. Open champion. Cink broke things open when he made seven birdies in a 10-hole stretch that began at the fifth hole. Three of those enabled him to win holes, and suddenly Cink found himself 3 up through 15 holes. The Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup veteran gave one back with a bogey from the right rough at the 16th hole, but his final birdie, a 3-footer at No. 17, sent Cink into the semifinals for the first time in eight appearances.

"I played pretty solidly today," Cink said. "I drove the ball probably as well as I have in a long time today. I hit a lot of good irons and made some putts. It's just a good recipe for match play. It's hard to compete against someone when they're doing that."

How Leonard got there: He beat Vijay Singh 1 up. Leonard held the upper hand from the outset as he got up-and-down from a greenside bunker to win the first hole. Singh didn't figure to go willingly, and that was certainly the case as the big Fijian rallied from 3 down through 11 holes. Singh drove the green on the par-4 12th and two-putted from 35 feet to win only his second hole of the day. He got another with a par on the 12th hole, then squared the match when he two-putted from 15 feet at the par-5 17th. Leonard refused to fold, though -- rolling in a 10-footer for birdie after Singh missed his from 11 to seal the win.

What to look for: Leonard is the lowest seed remaining in the tournament, but he's a match-play veteran like Cink. He's played in four Presidents Cups and two Ryder Cups while his opponent has played in three each. Cink's record in the Accenture Match Play Championship is better at 12-8 to Leonard's 9-8, but this should be a tight one between two long-time teammates.