Brit Luke Donald victorious at WGC-Accenture Match Play
The WGC-Accenture Match Play championship finally concluded at the par-72 Ritz-Carlton golf course in Arizona with the Englishman Luke Donald crowned the winner of the tournament after beating German, Martin Kaymer, in the final match. Donald was dominant
throughout the day as he never looked nervous playing against the world number one, Kaymer.
Conditions on the final day were not easy for both the players and it was windy throughout but Luke was unstoppable and had some excellent approach shots on a few holes to lift the title and the winner’s purse.
On a tough day which challenged both the finalist, Donald won the second hole with a long birdie attempt on the par-5 2nd. He made a long 300 yard drive which landed in the rough after which he had a long 250 yard shot for the green. His third
shot landed just inside 15 feet of the cup after which he holed a superb putt. Play was suspended after the first three holes due to bad weather conditions.
Kaymer had just climbed up in the World Golf Rankings to become the number one. He overtook the title from Lee Westwood, who fell down to number two. The German reached the final after which he was assured his number one spot.
Donald has been severely criticized with some observers saying that he is not a worthy player to be ranked among the top ten of the world. He was over-whelmed by his victory and also climbed in the world rankings overcoming Tiger Woods.
This much awaited win came after a drought of five years and it was his third PGA Tour title after the Honda Classic in 2006. He was doing everything right and won three of the first five holes.
The 33-year-old also etched his name in to the history books of the Accenture Match Play Championship by winning all of his matches. He was never down in any of the six matches he played. This has happened for the first time in the 13 year old history of
Match Play championships.
After winning the trophy he said, "It feels amazing. I had a bit of a monkey on my back. I hadn't won in the U.S. in five years and now the feeling cannot be described."
He is the second Englishman to have won the World Golf Championship after his compatriot, Ian Poulter, won last year. This is his career best ranking at the number three spot. This is also the first time in the last 19 years that the top four positions in
the world golf rankings are occupied by Europeans. The current rankings are Kaymer, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell.
The American Matt Kuchar was victorious against the left-hander Bubba Watson in the match being played for the third spot. Kuchar won by a margin of 2 up with one hole to play.
The turning point of the match was on the 11th where Donald stroked an 8-foot birdie putt to maintain his lead. Kaymer was lying much closer than his opponent but failed to make his putt and lost the hole. From thereon, the Englishman continued
to dominate the German and the match was finished at the 16th where Donald was three up.
This is the first time that the final match finished in 18 holes rather than 36 holes. Donald captured the prize money of US$ 1.4 million along with the trophy.
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