Ian Poulter had a handy 2-up lead halfway through his 36-hole final with fellow Englishman Paul Casey at the Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday.

Poulter could have been even further ahead after going 4-up after 14 holes, before Casey halved the deficit after 18 holes at Dove Mountain.

"I'm in a good position," said 34-year-old Poulter, the ninth seed in the 64-man World Golf Championships event.

"I'm hitting a lot of fairways and putting myself in position.

If I do that, I'll make it tough on Paul."

A somewhat relieved No. 6 seed Casey said: "Two-down is better than 4-down. There's a lot of golf yet so it's all about this afternoon.

"I know he is going to make lots of good swings and lots of birdies. I've got to make a couple more than he does."

The faceoff between Poulter and 32-year-old Casey means it will be the first time an Englishman has won the event.

Earlier, Casey took just one hole to finish off Colombian Camilo Villegas in their marathon semi-final that was halted in darkness after five extra holes on Saturday.

They resumed at 7:10 a.m. at the par-four 10th and Villegas promptly bogeyed it to hand the match to Casey.