Carlsbad (California): Chad Campbell's 1-up triumph over Tiger Woods on Friday was the most spectacular surprise on a day that saw a string of upsets at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship.
Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson were also eliminated from the $7.5 million tournament, as seven of the eight matches were won by the lower-seeded player.
Campbell got the ball rolling with his third-round victory over Woods, the top seed and a two-time winner of the event.
"I was confident I could make it a good match," Campbell said.
In medal play Woods would have been three-under par, while Campbell would only have been two-under.
But that's irrelevant in the head-to-head format, and Woods was never able to get ahead in the match.
After losing the fourth hole, he was never even able to square the match.
"I felt nice and relaxed because I am comfortable with my game right now," Campbell said. "I'm proud of myself for grinding it out and playing so well under pressure against the number one player in the world."
"He's a guy you definitely want to get up on, and starting out on the front nine I was able to make a lot of putts," Campbell said. "Even when you get up, you know he's going to do something."
Campbell built a 3-up lead after 10 holes, but Woods won the next two holes to get back into the match, lost the 13th and won the 14th. He remained 1-down going to the par-five 18th, where he missed the green with his second shot, before leaving himself with an uphill 12-foot birdie putt to force extra holes.
Woods holed from a shorter distance at the same hole to win his second round match on Thursday, and given his record in the clutch, it was hard to imagine him missing, but he did.
"I didn't make a bogey and lost the match," said Woods, who had started the tournament with a bang on Wednesday with a 9 and 8 rout of Stephen Ames. "It's frustrating because I had my opportunities. I didn't make anything on the greens today."
"That's match play, you've got to make putts. All my opportunities to put pressure on him by making putts, I didn't do it."
Campbell was careful not to make too much of his victory.
"The tournament is not over yet, just because you beat one guy," he said. "I wish they gave the trophy away today, but they don't."
Fiji's Singh, meanwhile, struggled down the stretch with three late bogeys to hand Irishman Padraig Harrington a 1-up victory at the first extra hole.
Harrington admits that he's not playing well, but he's still alive and kicking.
"He really let me back into the match," Harrington said.
"I was never threatening and eventually he didn't finish off the match, and then I got a couple of breaks. I really struggled with my shots today. I don't know
what it's going to be like tomorrow. I've done well to get this far. I have only poor expectations."
David Howell was somewhat more positive after knocking off Mickelson 3 and 1.
"It was going to be a challenge in his hometown but I've been playing nicely," said the Englishman, who heads the European Tour money list. "I wasn't nervous today, strangely. I guess it's a measure of where I stand in the world order nowadays. I'm a lot more comfortable in this situation."
In the day's most dramatic match, Australian Geoff Ogilvy recovered from 4-down with four holes left to score a most unlikely win over Canadian Mike Weir at the third extra hole.
"I didn't think I had any chance," Ogilvy said of his thoughts on the 15th hole. "I thought even if I birdie the last four holes, I'm not going to do it, because he's going to have a birdie."
Weir, however, made a sloppy bogey at the easy par-four 15th, while Ogilvy won the 16th with a birdie and the 17th with a par. He then birdied the 18th, but Weir had another chance to put the match away, only to miss a nine-foot putt.
Ogilvy delivered the killer blow at 21st hole, the par-five third, where he hit a three-iron to four-feet for eagle. "Momentum in match play, it's amazing what it can make people do," said Ogilvy, who has gone to overtime in all three matches this week. "From 15 on, I didn't hit a bad shot."
In other matches, Tom Lehman thrashed defending champion David Toms 4 and 3, Davis Love beat Chris DiMarco 3 and 2, Zach Johnson hammered Shingo Katayama 4 and 3, while Retief Goosen outlasted Luke Donald 1-up.
Third seed Goosen was the only higher-ranked player to win his match.
In the quarter-finals, Campbell meets Lehman, Ogilvy faces Howell, Harrington takes on Love and Goosen confronts Johnson.
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