Woods to Meet Baddeley

MARANA, Arizona (Ticker) -- Tiger Woods aims for a second consecutive dominant performance Friday when he takes on Aaron Baddeley in the third round of the $8 million WGC Accenture Match Play Championship.

After barely escaping with a first-round win over J.B. Holmes, Woods roared back with a resounding victory Thursday, defeating Arron Oberholser, 3 and 2. The top seed in the Jones Division, Woods improved to 26-6 all-time in this event. "Match play is an animal that's all about the moment," Woods said. "It's not about building toward Sunday. If you don't play well, you're going home." Woods avoided an early trip home Thursday courtesy of his easy win over Oberholser, who struggled in his first event of the season.

The world No. 1, Woods figures to have a tougher time against the fifth-seeded Baddeley, who advanced to the third round when 13th seed David Toms withdrew from the second round with a back injury. If Woods defeats Baddeley, he would move on to a showdown with either third seed K.J. Choi or seventh-seeded Paul Casey.

Woods hopes to avoid suffering the same fate as world No. 2 Phil Mickelson, who was ousted Thursday by Stuart Appleby. The eighth seed in the Player Division, Appleby holed nine birdies Thursday to upset the top-seeded Mickelson, 2 and 1. Appleby's next opponent will be 13th seed Justin Leonard, who upset fifth-seeded Lee Westwood, 2 and 1, in the second round.

Seeded third in the Player Division, Vijay Singh takes on No. 15 Rod Pampling. The other remaining top seed is Steve Stricker, who will face fourth-seeded Angel Cabrera in third-round action. Colin Montgomerie, the 15th seed, faces No. 6 Stewart Cink in the Snead Division's other match. In the Hogan Division, fourth-seeded Henrik Stenson faces No. 16 Jonathan Byrd while 10th seed Woody Austin meets No. 11 Boo Weekley.