CARLSBAD, Calif. - Mud caked on the bottom of Tiger Woods' pants only made it look like he had a long, hard day at work Friday in the Match Play Championship.
Woods, Phil Mickelson and Davis Love breezed through second- and third-round matches, giving this fickle tournament a bevy of stars chasing the $1.2-million prize.
"For someone to make it through three matches, they're probably playing pretty good," Woods said.
Woods never trailed in either of his matches against Trevor Immelman and Fredrik Jacobson. He set a tournament record by winning his ninth straight match.
Love has been behind on one hole in three matches, and victories over Fred Couples and Adam Scott were never in question. Mickelson's pants stayed relatively clean, perhaps because he spent so much time in the fairway.
"Because I've kept it in play, the course seems to be so much easier," the left-hander said. "You'd think after 33 years I'd figure that out."
For the first time since this World Golf Championship began in 1999, five top-10 seeds advanced to the quarterfinals: Woods (1), Love (3), Mickelson (6), Padraig Harrington (9) and Darren Clarke (10). Woods won 5 and 4 in both matches. Mickelson was relentless against British Open champ Ben Curtis, beating him 7 and 6, and only gave Chris DiMarco a glimmer of hope before pulling away for a 3-and-2 victory.
Love might have benefited from the best match Friday - Adam Scott against Robert Allenby, which featured one clutch putt after another until Allenby missed a 2-footer for par and lost on the 23rd hole. The winner faced Love, who about two hours earlier finished off Couples. He built a 4-up lead and won 4 and 3 over Scott.
In other notable rounds, Jerry Kelly plowed through Vijay Singh 4 and 2, then built a 4-up lead and hung on against Chad Campbell, winning on the 18th. Stephen Leaney never trailed against Masters champion Mike Weir. Then he ended Colin Montgomerie's longest stay in San Diego with par on the final hole to win 1-up.
PGA TOUR: Heath Slocum shot 8-under 64, his second straight bogey-free round, for a two-shot lead in the rain-curtailed second round of the Chrysler Classic of Tucson. Michael Clark (65) and Geoff Ogilvy (66) were second at 11-under 133. Seventy-two players did not finish the round, which resumes this morning. The only one within two strokes of Slocum was Carlos Franco, at 11 under with five holes left. First-round leader Frank Lickliter shot 73 and was at 136.
WOMEN'S EUROPEAN TOUR: Playing on a promoter's invitation, former Florida State golfer Karen Stupples shot 5-under 67 for a two-stroke lead after the second round of the ANZ Masters in Gold Coast, Australia. Annika Sorenstam, making her 2004 debut, shot 70 and was four back of Stupples' 9-under 135. First-round leader Rachel Teske faltered with four bogeys on the back nine for 72-135.
NATIONWIDE-AUSTRALASIAN TOUR: David Diaz shot bogey-free 67 to lead the New Zealand PGA Championship by one after the second round in Christchurch. Jon Mills (71) was second at 6-under 138. American Ty Tryon, who in 2001 became the youngest to win a place on the U.S. PGA Tour, missed the cut after 71-78-149.
