Luke Donald hoping to defend the title at WGC Accenture Match Play Championship
World number one Luke Donald will now be returning to the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Doral to defend the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship title he won last year.
Known for his penchant for the Match Play format, Donald pulled in the title with amazing ease on the final day, defeating Martin Kaymer of Germany by 3 & 2 in the final round.
The Englishman, bolstered with the newly gained confidence, went over to card one of the most brilliant seasons of his career.
There, he not only surged to the top of the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), but also pulled in the unprecedented accolade of topping the money lists on both sides of the Atlantic.
Donald said, “This is really where it all started for me for last year. My last win in America before coming here and winning was in 2006 at the Honda Classic. So it had been a while since I'd won on the PGA Tour. To come here and play against the best players in the world and to win in the fashion I did, gave me a huge amount of confidence”.
This will be the first event that the world number one will be paying in the current season. Donald has been a blistering success in the knock-out format right from his amateur career and has done well in most of the match play events in his career.
The early victory in the season helped the Englishman to win no fewer than four events throughout the year.
He made 24 appearances on both European and PGA Tours and finished for a healthy top-ten on 18 occasions. He finished runner-up in three events.
Donald soared to the top of the OWGR at the BMW PGA Championship, often touted as the fifth major by the Europeans, when he defeated the then number one Lee Westwood on the playoff.
He has stayed at the top since then and has refused to let go of the coveted position, although he faced stiff challenges by the youngster Rory McIlroy on several occasions.
Donald was praised by the giants of the sport Jack Nicklaus and others who lauded his hard work and dedication to the sport.
Considerably short in his drive, Donald decided to improve his short game to make up for the loss.
He remained bogey-free for several events on the calendar primarily due to his improved putting and short game. He held his nerves on so many occasions when he was challenged on the last hole.
The playoff hole at Wentworth was one of the toughest in the Englishman’s life as the world number one spot was at stake.
He maintained his composure to level-par the hole as Westwood succumbed to water hazard on the approach.
Top-64 players in the world will be hoping to make a breakthrough in the unpredictable Knock-out format in Tucson, Arizona, hoping to earn precious FedExCup points on PGA.
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