Luke Donald wins Accenture Match Play Championship
Luke Donald smacked a score of 3 & 2 on Sunday to win the Accenture Match Play Championship at the Ritz-Carlton Club in Arizona.
The Englishman displayed a strong show of putters on the front nine holes at the Dove Mountain Course while carding three birdies in a row.
The 33-year-old golfer won three holes in the start and rocketed up with a score of 3-up. However, on the par-3 sixth, Martin Kaymer managed a birdie which eventually brought Donald’s lead down to 2-up.
He lost two more holes to the German and entered the back nine all squared. Donald tried battling Kaymer on the 10th hole by attacking the green but failed to earn a birdie and settled at square. However, that was the end of the struggling period
for Donald. He then smashed two birdies on the 11th and 15th holes to card a two-stroke lead over the German. He wrapped it up with a victory over one more hole and marched to the clubhouse as the winner of the Match Play Championship.
This is Donald’s first win since May 2010. He saw a lean patch in his career after he triumphed at the Madrid Masters.
“It’s been a long time since I won in the U.S. and to come here and beat the top 63 players in the world is very gratifying,” Donald said. “I felt like I hadn’t won my fair share for as good a player as I felt I was.”
Donald was ranked 177th in driving distance in 2010, but this time he seems to be gaining on opportunities that would help him in moving up. The 33-year-old player smashed longer and more accurate tee shots on Sunday which helped him save pars
at several holes.
He was extremely happy with his accomplishment and said, “I need to get better off the tee, a little bit straighter for the distance I hit it. I’m very diligent about working on my short game. I know that with my game off the tee and some of my iron play
there’s room for improvement if you look at my statistics, but I make up for it around the greens.”
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