MARANA, Ariz. — One by one, the biggest names headed for the airport yesterday until Tiger Woods was the only player among the top eight seeds remaining at the Accenture Match Play Championship.

Phil Mickelson had designs on a comeback until Justin Rose scrambled backward out of the desert and made a 30-foot par putt to halve the 15th hole, leaving Lefty looking like a batter frozen by a 3–2 curve that dropped over the plate.

Jim Furyk backed off a 7-foot birdie putt three times and still went wide left, losing on the 19th hole to Chad Campbell. Vijay Singh celebrated his 44th birthday with birdies on his last two holes to extend his match, then missed a 6-foot birdie on the 19th hole and lost to Stephen Ames.

Woods had an easy time against Tim Clark.

And suddenly, his path to an eighth straight PGA Tour victory looks a whole lot easier.

“I played better than I did yesterday, which is great,” Woods said after making birdie on half his holes in a 5-and-4 victory. “Do a little bit of practice this afternoon and solidify some things, and tomorrow, hopefully I can play even better.”

But Woods, a two-time winner of this fickle event, knows not to look too far ahead.

Next up is Nick O’Hern, a short but straight-hitting Australian who beat Woods in the second round two years ago at La Costa. Still in Woods’s side of the bracket is Henrik Stenson, who won in Dubai earlier this month when Woods finished two shots behind. Another winner was Trevor Immelman, the last player to win a PGA Tour event that Woods played — the Western Open last July.

And as well as Woods has played for two rounds — he is one of five players who has never trailed this week — there’s always tomorrow.

“I’ve never played a match play event where all six rounds I’ve played great golf,” he said.