Tiger Woods edged defending champion Henrik Stenson 2-up to reach the final of the Accenture Match Play Championship for the fourth time in nine tries.

Woods will face Stewart Cink, a first-time finalist after topping Justin Leonard 4 and 2 in the other semifinal.
Woods never trailed in his tight semifinal with Sweden’s Stenson, who tied him with a 15-foot birdie on the 16th, on Saturday. But the 17th hole has been somewhat of a charm for the World’s No 1 player, who might not be around if not for a 35-foot eagle putt he made in the first round, or Aaron Baddeley’s eagle putt that just missed to the right on Friday.

After hitting a tough bunker shot to 12 feet, Woods holed the birdie putt for a 1-up lead, and wound up with a 2-up victory when Stenson took four shots to reach the final green.

Cink, who was 7 under on his first nine holes in beating Leonard, last played in the final group with Woods last month at the Buick Invitational. Cink started that round eight shots behind.

This time, they start all square over 36 holes at Dove Mountain.

Woods will have an advantage in experience, among other things. Cink has never made it this far in the Match Play Championship, while Woods won in 2003 and 2004, and lost in the final to Darren Clarke in 2000.

Cink’s last victory was the NEC Invitational in 2004. Since that time, he is winless in 85 tournaments on the US PGA Tour, while Woods has won 22 times in 56 starts.

It will be the sixth all-American final in 10 years of this World Championship.

Nobody played better on Saturday than Cink, who until this year advanced as far as the quarterfinals only one time.

He built an early lead against US Open champion Angel Cabrera and pulled away with four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the back nine for a 3-and-2 victory to reach the semifinals. That he and Leonard went 16 holes was a minor miracle.