GOLF WORLD MATCHPLAY CHAMPIONSHIP:GREAT PLAYERS can find positives everywhere they look and Rory McIlroy was only looking on the bright side in the wake of his Volvo World Matchplay Championship exit in Spain.
With Thursday's five-hole defeat to Angel Cabrera weighing like a millstone around his neck, the 20-year-old Ulsterman was happy to rediscover his putting touch, though it came too late to qualify for today's semi-finals.
One down with four to play against Simon Dyson in the morning, he turned things around with the putter to birdie the last two holes and win two up to keep his slim qualification hopes alive.
And while he cruised to a four-hole win over the erratic Swede Henrik Stenson in the afternoon - and putted superbly - Cabrera was in no mood for surrender after lunch as he recovered from a two-hole defeat to Stenson with a seven-hole demolition of Dyson to take his place in the last four.
The new round-robin format makes cricket's Duckworth-Lewis formula look straightforward, but the upshot was that Cabrera topped the group from McIlroy by virtue of the number of holes he won in his three matches: he was 10 up to McIlroy's one up.
The 40-year-old from Cordoba will now face England's Ross Fisher in the second of today's semi-finals.
American Ryder Cup star Anthony Kim survived a scare to deny Australia's Scott Strange in Group A and set up a mouth-watering semi-final showdown with Australia's Robert Allenby - the man who made late-night drinking allegations against him at the Presidents Cup in San Francisco three weeks ago.
As for McIlroy, his renewed friendship with his putting stroke and the cheque for €150,000 for a share of fifth place eased his pain considerably.
"I didn't start holing putts until today really and played well in both sessions," he said. "Henrik struggled and I'll finish second in the group, so it is not too bad for the Race to Dubai.
"I did what I could today, but Cabrera has just played too well against Simon this afternoon. I played well but all the damage was done yesterday."
He complained of feeling "wooden" with the putter recently, but holed his share yesterday and is now looking forward to a fruitful finish to the European Tour season in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Dubai over the next three weeks.
"I've got a bit more flow back in my putting," he said, "just taking one look at my target and hitting it. That's all I can do. I trust my line and hit it and if it goes in it goes in."
Fisher could yet gatecrash the Race to Dubai party after clinching his second matchplay semi-final appearance of the season.
The 28-year-old qualified thanks to a one-hole win over India's Jeev Milkha Singh, but he faces a massive battle against big-hitting US Masters champion Cabrera.
Beaten by Paul Casey in the WGC Matchplay semi-finals in February, Fisher came close to winning the US Open and the British Open, and believes it's time to win again after a 16-month drought.
"The Race to Dubai is a huge thing, a massive thing," said Fisher. "I'm a fair bit behind Westy, Martin Kaymer and Rory. Obviously it's great for me that I've made it to the semis and they haven't."
Kim looked certain to cruise into the last four but needed a career-best, 274-yard three-wood to four feet at the 18th to lose by only three holes to Scott Strange and send the Australian home by the slimmest of margins on the holes won rule.
Kim was relieved to survive the Strange "buzzsaw". Had he lost by four holes he would have been eliminated, but he produced the shot of the championship on the 18th to go through by the slimmest of margins.
Allenby topped group B with a two-up win over Oliver Wilson in a 'winner takes all' encounter, but refused to comment on his controversial remarks about Kim.
Beaten soundly by the Korean-American in the singles in San Francisco, he was quoted as saying Kim was the "loosest cannon on that team" and the "new John Daly" after friends told him Kim had come in "sideways" at 4am the night before their singles clash.
"Obviously he kicked my ass there," Allenby said. But he added: "I've been around this game for 18 years and said a lot of things and regretted a lot of things. I've apologised for the way it's come out and it's a dead issue in both Anthony and my books."
For his part, Kim, asked if he'd be getting plenty of rest before his 36-hole marathon today, grinned, ran through his plans for the evening and concluded that he'd "be in bed by 9.30".
Given Allenby's renewed confidence with the putter in his win over Wilson, the American might need his beauty sleep.
Day Two Results
(Par 72, seeded positions in brackets)
Group A
(1) Paul Casey (Eng) lost to
(8) Retief Goosen (Rsa) 1 hole
(9) Anthony Kim (USA) lost to
(16) Scott Strange (Aus) 3 holes
Group B
(4) Sergio Garcia (Spa) bt
(5) Martin Kaymer (Ger) 4 holes
(12) Robert Allenby (Aus) bt
(13) Oliver Wilson (Eng) 2 holes
Group C
(3) Henrik Stenson (Swe) bt
(11) Angel Cabrera (Arg) 2 holes
(6) Rory McIlroy (N Irl) bt
(14) Simon Dyson (Eng) 2 holes
(3) Henrik Stenson (Swe) lost to
(6) Rory McIlroy (N Irl) 4 down
(11) Angel Cabrera (Arg) bt
(14) Simon Dyson (Eng) 7 holes
Group D
(2) Lee Westwood (Eng) bt
(10) Ross Fisher (Eng) 2 holes
(7) Camilo Villegas (Col) bt
(15) Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 3 holes
(2) Lee Westwood halved with
(2) Camilo Villegas (Col)
(10) Ross Fisher (Eng) bt
(15) Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 1 hole
Today's Semi-finals(36 holes): (times Irish): 7.15 and 12.25: (9) Anthony Kim (USA) v (12) Robert Allenby (Aus) 07.30 and 12.40: (11) Angel Cabrera (Arg) v (10) Ross Fisher (Eng)
Tomorrow:36-hole final; 18-hole 3rd/4th play-off.
On Television:Today - Sky Sports 1 (9am-noon, 2pm-5pm).
