Virginia Water, England ? Shaun Micheel must be wondering if fate is on his side at the World Match Play Championship.

He was the last to qualify for the 16-man field at Wentworth. He was the first player in two months to beat Tiger Woods. And, after dusting off another European Ryder Cup player, Micheel suddenly stands one match away from the richest prize in golf.

Destiny?

“You have to feel that way,” Micheel said Saturday after a 2-up victory over Robert Karlsson. “I don’t know if destiny is the right word, but I’ve been gaining a lot of confidence each day. Beating Tiger can’t do anything to hurt you.”

Paul Casey also marched to the final, beating Colin Montgomerie, 6 and 5. Micheel and Casey will play the championship match with 1 million pounds ($1.87 million) going to the winner, the biggest payoff of any official golf tournament in the world.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to play for that much money before,” said Casey, who could go to No. 1 in the Order of Merit on the European Tour with a victory. “Where else can we win a million pounds? Unless we get on ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,’ and I can’t answer those questions. So this is the best opportunity I’ve got.”

Karlsson became the first player this week to take Micheel the distance. Neither player led by more than 2-up the entire day. Micheel pulled ahead for the last time with a par on the 15th hole, then made a 12-foot birdie on the 17th to stay 1 up and was conceded a 4-foot birdie on the 18th after Karlsson failed to get up-and-down from a bunker.

Casey showed enough firepower to build a 5-up lead after the morning round and he stretched that to 7 up before Montgomerie tried to chip away. For every hole that went right came a hole that went terribly wrong.

“I didn’t get many breaks,” Montgomerie said. “But that’s like the manager complaining that the fourth goal was offsides when it’s 6-nil.”