Golf-Woods squeezes past Baddeley in tight Match Play battle

MARANA, Arizona, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Top-seeded Tiger Woods scraped past Australia's Aaron Baddeley in a 20-hole battle on Friday to avoid making a third-round exit at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship for a third year in a row.

The American world number one, tournament champion at La Costa in 2003 and 2004, came from one down with three holes to play before sealing victory with a 13-foot birdie putt on the par-four second, the second extra hole.

Woods had charged two up with birdies on the first two holes before his opponent piled on the pressure with six birdies in seven holes around the turn.

Baddeley, 26, took the lead for the first time by rolling in a 10-footer on the 14th green but Woods levelled a tight match after hitting his tee shot to two feet at the par-three 16th. (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)