Sybase Match Play Championship - 3rd Round & Quarterfinals

Jiyai Shin, Angela Stanford, Sun Young Yoo and Amy Yang are the Final Four at the Sybase Match Play Championship.  Shin defeated Beatriz Recari 4&3 and Michelle Wie 2&1.  Stanford took 20 holes to beat Amanda Blumenherst and then took down Catriona Matthew 5&3.  Yoo upset two top-12 seeds - Song-Hee Kim 1-up and Yani Tseng 2&1.  Yang dumped Morgan Pressel 4&3 and outlasted upstart Haeji Kang 1-up.

The third round was played Saturday morning.  Matthew advanced with a birdie on the first extra hole after M.J. Hur had evened the match with a birdie at 18.  Kang upended Jee Young Lee 1-up by winning the last two holes.  Wie took the lead over Karine Icher late on the front nine, went 3-up with four to play and held on to win 3&2.  Tseng was 1-up on Inbee Park through 11 but won four straight holes to take the match 5&3.  Stanford was down two to Blumenherst with four to go but won 15 and 17 to go All Square.  Blumenherst bogeyed the second extra hole, sending Stanford through to the quarters.  Yang and Pressel were square through 8 but Amy won three straight to seize control.  Through 4, Shin trailed Recari by two but she took the next three to go 1-up.  Beatriz evened them up with a birdie at 8 but Jiyai took 9 and 10 to take charge and then won 13 and 15 to end the match.  The wild match between Yoo and Kim featured only three halved holes.  Song-Hee led 3-up after 9, Sun Young ran off four straight to go 1-up and Kim squared it by winning 15.  Yoo took 16, Kim took 17 and Yoo won 18 - when the smoke cleared, Sun Young had won 1-up.

In the afternoon quarterfinals, Yang went 2-up early versus Kang but gave it back with bogeys at 5 and 6.  Amy birdied 9 and 10 to go 2-up again, and again she bogeyed twice in a row (11 and 12) to square the match.  Yang birdied 15 to take the lead, Kang answered with a birdie at 17 and at the final hole, Yang birdied the par-5 to make the semis.  Matthew jumped ahead of Stanford by two through three holes but wasn't able to win any more as Angela won six of the last eight holes.  Yoo was 2-up on Tseng as they went to the par-5 11^th.  Sun Young bogeyed it but Yani couldn't take advantage - the double-bogey sent her 3-down with seven to go.  Dormie after 14, Tseng won 15 and 16 to stay alive but a half at 17 sent Yoo through.  The final match to go off Saturday was #1 Shin versus #8 Wie.  Michelle led by one through 6 but bogeyed 7 to go All Square.  The two exchanged hole-winning birdies at 12 and 13 to remain tied.  Wie bogeyed 15 to fall behind for the first time in the match and Shin birdied 16 to go 2-up.  They halved 17, sending the #1 seed on to the semi-finals.

Angela Stanford will face Amy Yang in one semi while Jiyai Shin will take on Sun Young Yoo in the other.  You might expect the two higher seeds to prevail but don't forget - Yoo has beaten three top 12 seeds in a row (Kerr, SH Kim, Tseng) while Yang dumped Pressel and obliterated Juli Inkster.  In case you missed the action this afternoon (like I did - season-ending-baseball-party-duty called), Golf Channel will rebroadcast it tonight at 9:30 EDT.  Sunday's broadcast window begins at 2pm.