Final foes have much in common, from their style to home club
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
MARANA, Ariz. -- In retrospect, they probably could have car-pooled and saved on gas money for the hour-and-45-minute trek.
But Geoff Ogilvy and Paul Casey, who live about five miles away from each other in Scottsdale, had their reasons that Friday two weeks ago when they headed southeast to play a practice round at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.
"Both of us drive cars that don't have many seats in them," Ogilvy explained with a grin.
Even though inquiring minds wanted to know, Casey politely declined to give the make and model of his ride for the trip down I-10. When someone mentioned that Ogilvy had driven his Porsche, though, the Englishman didn't miss a beat.
"He probably got here quicker than I did then," Casey said matter-of-factly.
Golf carts were the vehicle of choice once the two arrived at this toney desert enclave about 30 miles north of Tucson. And both credit that three-and-a-half-hour practice round with helping them find a comfort zone on the challenging Jack Nicklaus design.
Not surprisingly, then, Ogilvy and Casey find themselves in Sunday's 36-hole finale that will decide the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship title.
"I think it was a huge help playing with Geoff," Casey said. "I think seeing two golf balls sometimes even three or more golf balls off the tees, for a guy who hits it I think very similar distance to me ... that really assisted me.
"It's quite surreal that we're now going to be playing each other again in the final."
Ogilvy couldn't help but agree. "It's an incredible coincidence that we're the last two guys in the tournament," he said.
For Ogilvy, it's his third trip to the championship match in four years with a win in 2006 and a runner-up finish in '07. He also won last year's World Golf Championships-CA Championship, making him one of only three pros to own two titles in the global series.
"I enjoy the part of match play that you get so many clutch situations in this," Ogilvy said. "You could go all year and not have a must make putt and have a reasonable year on TOUR. I've had 15 this week. So we play golf to put ourselves in these situations."
Casey, who is 40 days Ogilvy's junior, has been making steady progress, too.
He didn't advance past the opener in his first four appearances but reached the quarterfinals in 2007 and third round in '08. And perhaps not so coincidentally, this success came after he won the European Tour's HSBC World Match Play in 2006.
"I've always been a guy who makes birdies and has my equal share of, should we say, blow-up holes," said Casey, who has yet to lose a hole this week. "And you can hide them a little bit in match play. It's not a great thing, but you can get away with it.
"So that win at (Wentworth) was huge. And I think that my confidence in match play and as soon as we moved to Arizona I felt very, very comfortable in this state. I know how to play golf here; and two, I've enjoyed the golf courses at Dove Mountain."
Both players, who are members of the same exclusive club in Scottsdale, Whisper Rock Golf Club, and play together often, already have wins this year. Ogilvy was a wire-to-wire winner at the Mercedes-Benz Championship while Casey, who is making his 2009 PGA TOUR debut this week, picked up the Abu Dhabi Championship to bring his European Tour total to nine.
Their games are similar -- predicated on power but with a deft touch around the greens. Ogilvy ranks first on TOUR in birdies, third in putts per round and four in scoring with an average of 69.40. Casey is averaging about six yards longer off the tee and with an average of 68.89 ranks fourth on the European Tour in scoring.
This week, though, they've taken a different approach.
Casey has won the first or second hole seven times in five matches and he's never trailed at all. Ogilvy, on the other hand, has been the closer -- winning his final four holes against Stewart Cink in the semis and making birdie on the last three to keep pace with, and eventually beat, Rory McIlroy in the quarterfinals.
"He's got a great feel for the first few holes and gets his nose in front and keeps going," Ogilvy said. "That happens when you're playing well."
Casey said their friendship should make Sunday's lengthy battle a pleasant one. They'll chat as they walk down the fairways. Their wives and caddies are friends, too. Ogilvy's prowess in match play, though, is certainly a concern.
"He's clearly a phenomenal match play player, a former champion," Casey said. "He knows how to play golf in the desert. There are no weaknesses that I see in Geoff's game. It's just very, very well rounded. Hits the golf ball long, putts well, he's got it all.
"I just have to go out there and worry about my own golf ball tomorrow. It's as simple as that. I think I'm a good match play player, but you can't predict anything. I have to approach tomorrow's 36 holes as I've approached all the other matches this week.
"Start fresh from the first tee and see what happens."
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