Woods edges Baddeley in tight Match Play battle

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

MARANA, Arizona (Reuters) - Top-seeded Tiger Woods scraped past Australia's Aaron Baddeley after 20 tight holes 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, fought back from one down with three holes to play before rolling in a 13-foot birdie putt to seal victory at 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 at Dove Mountain's Gallery Golf Club.

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.

"You had to stay in it by making birdies," Woods said in a greenside television interview after piling up 12 birdies in a battle of high quality. "Matches like that are fun to be a part of."

U.S. Open champion Angel Cabrera reeled off three consecutive birdies from the seventh to beat American Steve Stricker 4&3.

The big-hitting Argentine had not reached the third round in any of his six previous appearances in the elite World Golf Championships (WGC) event.

"I played very, very well, especially on the front nine, and that's what made the difference," Cabrera told reporters after booking a place in Saturday's quarter-finals against American Stewart Cink.