GOLF: Neighbours Geoff Ogilvy and Paul Casey will meet in today's final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at Dove Mountain's Ritz-Carlton Golf Club 16 days after playing a practice round there together.
Australian Ogilvy and England’s Casey live less than 10 kilometres apart in Scottsdale, Arizona where they are good friends and members of Whisper Rock Golf Club.
"It'll be kind of like the Whisper Rock Club championship, sort of," said Casey after booking his place in the 36-hole final with a 2 and 1 victory over fellow Englishman Ross Fisher.
"It's quite surreal that we're now going to be playing each other again in the final."
Ogilvy, tournament champion in 2006, said he and Casey had decided to visit Dove Mountain on a reconnaissance trip before last week's Northern Trust Open.
"I saw him at Whisper Rock that week and I said I was coming down here," Ogilvy recalled after outplaying American Stewart Cink 4 and 2 in yesterday's semi-finals.
"He said: 'I'll go down there. Let's play.' So he came and we checked out the golf course. It's an incredible coincidence that we're the last two guys in the tournament.
"I don't know who the (Whisper Rock) members will be rooting for," added the Australian world number eight, who will be contesting the final for the third time in four years. He ended Rory McIlroy’s hopes with a 2 and 1 win over the Belfast teenager in the quarter-finals.
"We'll find out, I guess. We have had some games at Whisper Rock but we haven't played for a while. I can't specifically remember any specific match that we have had but we have played a bunch of times."
Asked whether he would find it difficult competing against a good friend in the title decider, Casey replied: "I don't think so. The match will be enjoyable from that standpoint.
"We have got stuff in common. We can talk while walking down the fairways. My caddie and his caddie get along very, very well. But it's not going to be an easy match.
"He's clearly a phenomenal match play player, a former champion. He knows how to play golf in the desert. There are no weaknesses that I see in Geoff's game.
"I just have to go out there and worry about my own golf ball tomorrow," added Casey, who will be bidding for his first PGA Tour title. "It's as simple as that."
WGC-Accenture Match Play Results
(US unless stated)
Final
Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) v Paul Casey (Eng)
(36 holes)
Semi-finals
Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) defeated Stewart Cink 4 and 2
Paul Casey (Eng) defeated Ross Fisher (Eng) 2 and 1
Quarter-finals
Rory McIlroy (NIrl) lost to Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 2 and 1
Ernie Els (Rsa) lost to Stewart Cink 2 and 1
Sean O'Hair lost to Paul Casey (Eng) 4 and 3
Ross Fisher (Eng) defeated Justin Leonard 2 and 1
